Colorado Rockies: 3 Things You Should Know on February 7

One week from today, the Colorado Rockies pitchers and catchers will have their first workout. Yes, the long wait until the 2017 season begins is almost over.

While it’s still a week until the action gears up in Arizona, there are still plenty of things happening in Major League Baseball and with the Rockies leading up to spring training. Let’s take a look at three things you should know today.

By the way, a week from today is also Valentine’s Day so if you haven’t made your plans just yet, now is the time to do it. Hint, hint.

MLB Looking at Rule Changes?

“Is this the year baseball raises the strike zone? Is it the year the sport does away with the practice of lobbing four balls toward home plate to issue an intentional walk? Major League Baseball has made formal proposals to the players’ union to usher in both of those changes, sources told ESPN.com.” That’s the lead paragraph of this article that is certainly well worth a read.

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The strike zone modification is an interesting thought. According to the article, MLB is wanting to add some more action to the game. Last season, 30 percent of all batters each struck out or reached base by walk. That’s the highest “non-action” percentage in the history of professional baseball.

Of course, for anything to happen for the 2017 season, it has to happen now. Still, it’s interesting to see all of the ways that baseball is continuing to try to reinvent itself to reach a bigger fanbase.

Statistics Say…

If you love in-depth statistics and sabermetrics, you’re going to love this article on PurpleRow.com. Focusing on Called Strike Probability (CS Prob) and Called Strikes Above Average (CSAA), Eric Garcia McKinley takes a look at Jon Gray, Tyler Anderson, Tyler Chatwood and Chad Bettis and how they each performed in 2016.

Predicting the Lineups

We don’t often link back to one of our own articles, but we’re going to do it here.

Yesterday afternoon, we looked at how Colorado’s batting lineup might look against left-handed and right-handed pitchers. We also took a look into the crystal ball to see how the lineup might look at the end of the season if the Rockies are or are not in the playoff chase.

Next: Grading and Analyzing Colorado's 2016 Corner Infielders

Spoiler alert: We also made a pretty wild prediction about who the Rockies might acquire at the trading deadline to insert into their lineup for a little extra punch. Want to know who it might be? Check out our article here.