Colorado Rockies: 3 Reasons for Optimism with the Offseason

The Colorado Rockies offseason thus far has been a little confusing for most of us as fans.

The national media has continued to give the front office a hard time not agreeing with the vision that Jeff Bridich has for the Rockies in 2017. There are a lot of question marks, and there is still a possibility for more moves. Regardless, here are three reasons to be optimistic for the 2017 season with what has taken place over the past couple months.

The bullpen will be better

There have not been any big moves in free agency or through trades to greatly improve the bullpen, the weakest part of the team in 2016. While lefty reliever Mike Dunn will be joining the team, this seems to be more of a lateral move to replace Boone Logan.

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

However, I believe the bullpen will be a great deal better in 2017 for a couple of reasons. The first is a full season of Adam Ottavino who I think will anchor the bullpen as the closer and be very good at it. He had modest success in 2016 pitching 27 innings while earning 7 saves and an ERA of 2.67. I think he will be even better this year because he will have less concerns with lingering problems from Tommy John surgery. His K/9 of 11.7 and WHIP under 1.00 in 2016 also suggest good things will be coming. Beyond Ottavino, the bullpen will count on Jason Motte or Jake McGee to rebound and find some of their effectiveness that both have enjoyed throughout their respective careers. At least one of these two will likely rebound, and I think it will be McGee who battled injury for most of 2016.

There will also probably be some new faces coming out of the pen for the Rockies. I think that Miguel Castro or Jairo Diaz will be effective in high-leverage situations for the Rockies. Castro came over in the Tulowitzki deal and impressed early last year before suffering a shoulder injury early in the year and not being able to find his effectiveness again. Diaz had Tommy John surgery last spring and will likely be ready early in the year if not for spring training. He has a huge arm and has impressed the Rockies since being acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels. He had an ERA of 2.37 for the Rockies in 2015 pitching in 21 games.

With guys like Chris Rusin, Jordan Lyles, Eddie Butler and other “failed” starters in the mix for bullpen opportunities, there will be more options than is typical for a Rockies bullpen in 2017, which is never a bad thing.