Colorado Rockies Countdown: Top Five Right Fielders

The Colorado Rockies are now on the verge of entering a golden era. Armed with a top farm system and young talent, the Rockies are primed for sustained success.

Before we look at where the Rockies are headed, let’s take a look at where they’ve been. Rox Pile has evaluated every position on the diamond with only right field remaining. Right field is perhaps only of the Rockies best all-time positions in terms of the depth and talent that has been consistent at the position.

To compile our rankings, Rox Pile used Fangraphs‘ list for career Wins Above Replacement (fWAR), which serves as a great guideline for positional players. The fWAR statistic allows one to evaluate a player’s contribution over time with a specific team. Therefore, fWAR allows us to completely negate what a player has done in their career while not wearing the purple and black.

Also as a general rule, this list consists of players that have at least 500 plate appearances with the club. The 500 PA rule approximates to about 1.5 years of service time and gives a large enough sample size for accurate evaluation. As an added stipulation, the players on our list needed to have played a majority of their innings in the field at the position being evaluated.

Luckily, the “majority rule” doesn’t exclude any player from this list who would have been on it otherwise. Without further ado, here is Rox Pile’s list of the top-five right fielders to ever sport purple pinstripes. Let us know in the comments section what you think!

4.  Jeromy Burnitz (2004, fWAR 3.1)

Like Mr. Hammonds, Jeromy Burnitz’s tenure in Colorado would only be a brief stop during an impressive 14-year stint in the Majors. Also like Hammonds, Burnitz’s brief stop equated to one of the best seasons in his career.

During the 2004 season, Burnitz launched 37 home runs (one shy of his career high), which was good enough for the eighth-best mark in the National League. To go along with his power, Jeromy hit for the highest average of his career while in Denver (.283). Jeromy would tally the second highest RBI total of his career in 2004 with 110. Considering his impressive offensive output, Jeromy would finish 23rd in the MVP race in that ’04 campaign.

Drafted 17th overall in 1990 by the Mets, Jeromy, an Oklahoma State star didn’t become a full-time starter until the 1996 season. Burnitz would make his rounds in the Majors as a journeyman, stopping at a total of seven different organizations, including two separate stops with the New York Mets.

In the rarest of feats, Burnitz would combine with then rookie teammate Matt Holliday to become the first ever Rockie teammates to hit back-to-back jacks twice in the same game. The amazing moment was accomplished May 18, 2004, against the Cincinnati Reds.

3.  Brad Hawpe (2004-2010, fWAR 3.7)

Finally, a player that spent more than one season in Denver. Armed with one of the most unorthodox swings you will ever see, Brad Hawpe provided much of the offensive power that propelled the Rockies to two playoff appearances during the last decade.

Through 2006 to 2009, Hawpe consistently provided an on-base percentage of over .380, 22 or more home runs and collecting over 80 RBIs each season. Hawpe was finally awarded for consistently by being selected to his one and only All-Star Game in 2009.

A Fort Worth native, Brad would play his college ball at LSU, where he would win a College World Series in 2000. Following the championship run in 2000, Hawpe was drafted in the 11th round by Colorado later that year. Hawpe would climb the Rockies farm system quickly, earning two minor league All-Star appearances and claiming a Carolina League Most Valuable Player award along the way.

In seven years with the club, Hawpe hit for a .280 average to go along with 118 home runs and 464 RBIs. After his 2009 All-Star season, Hawpe didn’t last much longer in the Majors. During the 2010 season, the Rockies would release Hawpe and then after bouncing around with a few organizations and not breaking the big leagues again, Hawpe called it quits in 2013.

2.  Michael Cuddyer (2012-2014, fWAR 4.2)

After 11 seasons with the Minnesota Twins, the team that drafted him in the first round, Michael Cuddyer made his way to Colorado via free agency prior to the 2012 season.

At the age of 34, Cuddyer had the best hitting season of his career while with Colorado in 2013. During that campaign, Cuddyer hit 16 first-half home runs, earning him a spot on the National League Home Run Derby squad. Cuddy’s 15 total bombs in the derby were good enough to earn him a third-place finish. That was the best finish in a Derby by a Rockie since Larry Walker‘s 1997 second place finish in Cleveland.

Cuddyer went on to finish 2013 with a .331 average, which earned him the National League Batting Title, a 20th place finish in the MVP vote, and also the only Silver Slugger award of his career. Michael would hit in 27 consecutive games that season, which was at the time a franchise record (you can find the new record holder occupying the #2 spot on our third baseman list).

In 2014 the Rockies honeymoon came to an end when Michael’s season was ended early by injury and then choose to move on during the free agency process. But, before his exit Cuddy provided one more spark of magic. In an August game against Cincinnati, Cuddy would hit for the cycle for the second time in his career, becoming the seventh Rockie to accomplish the feat. Cuddyer is only the 30th player to hit for the cycle more than once, and only the third to do it in both the American and National Leagues.

In 2015, Cuddyer would play his last season as a New York Met. Making his first ever World Series appearance. At the conclusion of 2015, Cuddy announced his retirement from the game he loves.

1.  Larry Walker (1995-2004, fWAR 44.4)

As one the best to ever do it, Larry Walker is one of greatest all-around players in Major League history, let alone club history. Walker’s career fWAR of 68.7 (Rockies career fWAR 44.4) is actually better than the career fWAR of Todd Helton, opening the door for a debate of who the Rockie best all-time may be. That’s a discussion for another article.

Walker’s 1997 season is the greatest individual season by a Rockie, and one of the greatest all-around performances of the last half century. Walker hit for a .366 average to accompany an NL leading 49 home runs, 130 RBIs, 33 stolen bases and 409 total bases. Prior to 1997, the last time an NL player eclipse 400 total bases happened in 1948. To this day, Larry Walker is the only player in Major League history to steal 25 or more bases and have a slugging percentage over .700. Walker’s ’97 season would produce the only MVP award in Rockies history.

Although his MVP trophy might be his favorite piece of hardware, it certainly isn’t the only thing on display in the trophy case. After a decade in purple pinstripes, Walker would win three batting titles, five Gold Gloves (seven total), two Silver Sluggers (three total), and be selected to four All-Star Games (five total).

As you can imagine, Walker occupies the top spot on several franchise records. Walker’s Rockie career average of .334 is tops all-time, as he also holds the single-season record with .379 average in 1999. Walker also holds the single-season record for runs scored (143), total bases (409), and home runs (49).

Next: The 5 Biggest Moments of Colorado's 2016 Season

The greatest part of Walker’s game was that he was a pure five-tool player. A Rockies record .334 career average obviously speaks to Walker’s ability to hit for average. In respect to power, Larry is tops all-time in club history with an isolated power metric (ISO) of .284 (for context, Helton has an ISO of .223). Speed may be Walker’s most underrated tool, but he managed to steal 126 bags in his Rockies career, good enough for second all-time. In regards to defensive, you don’t win seven Gold Gloves without striking fear into base runners and batters alike when the ball comes to your side.