Colorado Rockies: Who’s In or Out of the All-Star Game
Later tonight on ESPN, the rosters for the upcoming All-Star Game will be announced. Which Colorado Rockies will make an appearance in the Midsummer Classic? That’s the million-dollar question at the moment.
When we had our last look at fan voting, Colorado’s Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story were trailing their counterparts from the Chicago Cubs in the race to start the game. Did they catch up or will the North Siders dominate the left side of the infield? We’ll know tonight.
Heading into the final days for the All-Star voting, Colorado manager Walt Weiss and several Rockies insisted that more Colorado representatives should be in the All-Star Game besides Arenado and Story. Some of those mentioned included Charlie Blackmon, Tyler Chatwood, Carlos Gonzalez and DJ LeMahieu.
So who’s in and who’s out of the All-Star Game? We’ll find out for sure tonight but here’s our best guess at what we’ll see revealed later this evening.
Nolan Arenado — IN
This is probably the easiest call of the night. Arenado has not only had a terrific offensive season (22 homers and 66 RBI, heading into Monday’s action) but he’s also worth the price of admission any night for the work he does in the field.
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Even if Kris Bryant gets the starting nod, Arenado should have plenty of opportunities to wow the crowd with the defensive abilities we’re lucky enough to see every time he takes the field.
Trevor Story — OUT
No rookie has ever burst on the scene the way that Story did in April with his 10 homers and 20 RBI. However, his nine homers and 30 RBI since then have brought him back to earth in the minds of the nation and his 105 strikeouts are the third-highest in the Majors.
Definitely putting a dent in Story’s All-Star credentials are also the finger injury he suffered just over a week ago and the emergence of LA’s Corey Seager, who was named the NL Rookie of the Month in June and has batted .446 in his last 15 games.
Charlie Blackmon — OUT
We all know the value of Chuck Nazty, from his great defense in center field to his ability to get on base game after game after game. Blackmon has also proven his durability, seeing action in every game since returning from the disabled list.
However, the nation will look at Blackmon’s lower number of stolen bases this season and see other outfielders with gaudier numbers.
Tyler Chatwood — OUT
Chatwood would’ve made a great case to become the first Rockies pitcher to participate in the All-Star Game since Ubaldo Jimenez in 2010. However, a back injury suffered in Miami in mid-June shelved him for almost three weeks and essentially killed his chances of appearing in the Midsummer Classic.
Luckily for Colorado Rockies fans, Chatwood is scheduled to start on Tuesday in San Francisco. The Rockies will be glad to see his 8-4 record and 3.15 ERA (including 5-0 and 1.25 ERA away from Coors Field) back on the mound.
Carlos Gonzalez — IN
CarGo caught fire at just the right time, hitting .364 with eight homers and 29 RBI in June. Despite hitting just .100 in July (heading into Monday), CarGo has put together impressive overall numbers and has enough highlight-reel homers this season to grab the nation’s attention.
DJ LeMahieu — OUT
We would love for DJ to be in his second consecutive All-Star Game, but it just doesn’t look to be in the cards. Chicago’s Ben Zobrist will likely be the starter thanks to the fan vote, and Washington’s Daniel Murphy is having a spectacular season.
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LeMahieu certainly has a chance with his .327 average (trailing only Murphy in terms of qualifiers at the position) but it’s not going to be enough to push him into the Midsummer Classic.