Here’s What Colorado Rockies Fans Should Expect The Rest Of This Season

Mar 1, 2015; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher J. Gray poses for a portrait during photo day at Salt River Fields. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado Rockies On The Mound

You already know. Jon Gray is in town, baby. Yay! (Maybe?!)

Along with Gray, I’m all for the Rockies keeping Eddie Butler in the rotation even though I’m a little cooled off towards his stuff. We know Jorge De La Rosa is going to stay on the mound, assuming health, and I’d have to figure Chris Rusin and Yohan Flande (depending on others’ injuries?) have decent shots at getting at least a few more starts.

From there on, I’m more interested in getting youth up in Denver and learning than in really anything else. I’m sorry John Lannan — I know I’ve played you up — but at this point, you’ve probably lost your opportunity to come to Denver as a big league starter. Let the young guys do it!

For one, that means Tyler Chatwood. We’ve all heard rumblings that he was going to be ready in August or September of this year. Well, if that’s really true, I’d love to see him get a few starts and get his feet back under him after elbow surgery before he (hopefully) becomes an important part of the rotation in 2016.

It’s a shame Chad Bettis is likely going to be injured for a while (maybe the rest of the year, if the Rockies take it slow with him?), because he’s another guy who could use some seasoning in no-pressure situations.

As for the bullpen, get younger there, too. Expect Justin Miller, Scott Oberg, Christian Friedrich, and Tommy Kahnle to get a lot of opportunities in key situations.

The Rockies need to figure out what they have down there, specifically with those four (and the more consistent and soon-to-be-healthy Brooks Brown), and it’d behoove the club to go young rather than running Rafael Betancourt, John Axford, and Boone Logan out there too much.

We’ll talk about September call-ups in another post this week, but think Rex Brothers (the Rockies need to see what they have), Simon Castro (decent year in AAA), Kenny Roberts (up earlier this year!), and Nelson Gonzalez (Arizona Fall League guy ten months ago — does he have a future in Denver?). Any or all of those guys can and should make an impact down the stretch in preparation for 2016.

The bottom line on the mound is this: expect more of what’s been going on (iffy to bad starts, shaky bullpen, everything sucks), and relish in it. The Rockies are

rebuilding in the next two months

— er, auditioning younger guys for possible jobs next season.

It won’t always be pretty, and I know it’ll be tough to see Butler allow seven runs in three innings again, or watch Oberg blow a two-run lead in the ninth inning, but wouldn’t it be better with those two than 40-year-old Betancourt? At least maybe you’ll create a roster of young players that will wind up fairly formidable in 2016 and beyond.

Next: The Rockies Will Still Score Runs