Colorado Rockies Season Predictions from MLB The Show 16

According to most analysts, the Colorado Rockies aren’t suppose to compete until 2017 at the earliest. A full season simulation in the PlayStation 4 game, MLB The Show 16 suggests these 2016 Rockies are ready to compete now.

If you’re a baseball fanatic, but aren’t into gaming, MLB The Show 16 is definitely worth adventuring outside of your comfort zone. Check out the full review on our fellow FanSided site, App Trigger, by clicking here. The game allows you to everything from playing in a franchise mode, creating your own fantasy team, competing in season specific challenges, bringing a created player up through the minors, and much, much more.

In relation to the Rockies, The Show’s representation of the team isn’t far off. The aesthetics of Coors Field are breathtaking. Everything from the mountain backdrop to The Rooftop are present and very visible. One thing to mention is that the recently raised fences at Coors are not represented in the game.

For all the wonderful things the game does, there is one major gripe that I have. In relation to uniforms, you have a ton of options, but for the last few years, The Show has whiffed on the Rockies black and silver tops. In the game, it has the black top with purple sleeves. It’s quite horrendous and I’d really like this to be fixed in the future, but I digress.

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In the end, the simulation didn’t have the Rockies making the playoffs, but a lot of people will be surprised by just how well the club ended up doing. Before we get into the simulation, let’s break down how I ran the simulation.

Firstly, I used the Show’s Franchise Mode. I started a new franchise and downloaded the game’s most current live rosters. To accurately reflect injuries and demotions, I felt that I need to make some roster adjustments. For instance, I released Jose Reyes, demoted Tyler Matzek, and made other rosters moves to reflect the Rockies current day rotation and lineup. Also, I set all game-play options to “Auto”, and then pressed the “Sim Season” button. So clearly the process wasn’t perfect, but the results were pretty positive. Below you can see a screen shot of the lineup and rotation.

The NL West ended up being the best division in baseball in my simulation. The Los Angeles Dodgers won an astonishing 103 victories, while the San Francisco Giants got a Wild Card spot with 92 victories. The Rockies finished third with 87 victories, just missing the Wild Card spot to those darn Giants.

In this simulation, the Rockies rode the long ball and their pitching staff to a winning season. The club tied for third in the league with 211 home runs. In total, five different Rockies would hit 20 home runs or more. Carlos Gonzalez led the assault by leading in the league in home runs with 45. CarGo would also represent the Rockies in the Home Run Derby, but lost in the first round by one home run. Rookie sensation Trevor Story followed behind CarGo with 35 home runs of his own. Surprisingly, Nolan Arenado was third on the club with only 25 home runs.

Charlie Blackmon led the club in total offense by posting a WAR of 4.64. Impressively, Blackmon played all 162 games, launched 24 home runs, stole 24 bags, and led the league in triples. Ryan Raburn was the fifth Rockie with 20 or more home runs.

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As for the pitching staff, they finished with a sub 4.00 ERA, which would be a team record in the real world. Although Tyler Chatwood anchored the staff with 3.33 ERA, it was largely an improved bullpen that helps explain the surge in wins. Jake McGee (2.24 ERA) lead a vicious bullpen that included six other relievers who sported a sub-4.00 ERA.

Overall, the game was not very high on the Colorado Rockies offense with the exception of the long ball. The game was notably hard on Arenado. Although he hit 25 home runs (too little in my opinion), Nolan had an atrocious .201 average with an equally ugly .264 OBP. The game was very high on standout rookie Trevor Story however. In the sim, Story would mash 35 home runs to go with a .285 average and 85 RBI. The effort led to Story claiming the NL Rookie of the Year award.

Speaking of awards, ROY would be the only hardware the club brought to Blake Street for 2016, although the Rockies did send three players to San Diego for the All-Star Game: McGee, Arenado, and Blackmon. Nolan is a surprise considering how awfully he hit in the sim. Despite leading the league in home runs, Cargo was snubbed for an All-Star bid.

A lot of commentators will tell you that 87 wins for the 2016 Rockies is way too much. But then again, baseball is super weird. At this point in the season, playing .500 ball, the Rockies are already beating expectations, so I guess we’ll see what happens.

Next: Memories of Key Colorado Players While at Double-A Tulsa

If you have MLB The Show 16, give the simulation a shot and see what you can come up with. If nothing else, MLB The Show 16 is worth playing. The game play alone is breathtaking and is the most realistic baseball game you’ll ever come across (until next year’s installment I’m sure). Happy gaming!