Colorado Rockies Offense Causing Others to Salivate

A full season of Trevor Story: Story was only able to play in 97 games last year thanks to the tear of his UCL in his thumb. The guy was very durable outside of this freak injury so it is safe to bet he will be on the diamond for more games this year.

Since he hit 27 home runs, it could be projected over 150 games he could hit 40 dingers. Last season, he also slashed .272/.341/.567. Some amount of progression also isn’t out of the question for Story as he enters his second year as a pro. In the final two months of his season, June and July, Story’s average was .284 and .288, respectively. That’s a big difference from the first two months where he hovered around .260, showing some progression as he gained experience.

A full year of David Dahl:  A common theme for the Rockies will be more time with the young guys we fell in love with in 2016. Dahl was called up in July and absolutely raked in his first chance

at the major league level. He slashed .315/.359/.500 over 237 plate appearances. He will likely be the Rockies primary left fielder and the lineup will benefit from his bat for the whole year rather than Gerardo Parra, who struggled in 2016.

The Ian Desmond acquisition: Desmond will help the Rockies in a couple of ways. He is a very good hitter. In a successful 2016 with the Rangers, he accrued his fourth career 20/20 year with 22 homers and 21 stolen bases. He slashed .285/.335/.446. You would maybe hope for a little more power from a first baseman but Desmond’s versatility and ability to play almost every position will be huge for the Rockies.

I see him moving all around the diamond as the Rockies give another starter the day off. This will allow them to sub in a good hitter, like Jordan Patterson at first base, and not lose anything defensively with Desmond playing up the middle or in the outfield. The Rockies also make up for lack of power at first base with Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon’s power at shortstop and center field, positions not usually thought of as housing complete sluggers.

More depth: I already touched on Desmond being huge for the Rockies but they have better options everywhere in 2017. Gerardo Parra, although a huge disappointment in 2016, should be an above average fourth outfielder. Murphy and Wolters could both be a starting catcher. Murphy in particular was impressive in his time in the majors in 2016. He hit five home runs in only 449 plate appearances.

The “other guys”: The fact I have written this much about the Rockies offense without mentioning Arenado, CarGo, LeMahieu and Blackmon says something.

I think Nolan will rightfully be in the top 3 in the MVP next year as the improved team will get him a little more national love. CarGo will continue to be an extremely streaky hitter, but there is not a more intimidating player in the league when that guy is hot. DJ is coming off his best year where he won the National League batting title, and continued to hit for more power, I expect more of the same in ’17. And Blackmon was the second best offensive center fielder in baseball last year, trailing only Mike Trout. There is no reason to expect this to change in 2017.

Next: Analyzing and Grading Colorado's 2016 Corner Infielders

Next year is going to be a season with a lot of runs both at Coors Field and away from it. More and more people will realize what a special group the Rockies are putting together.