Colorado Rockies: Four Players Who Are Rocking Spring Training

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Mar 20, 2016; Salt River Pima-Maricopa, AZ, USA; General view of the game between the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports /

Let’s face it. There has been plenty of bad news coming out of the Colorado Rockies spring training compound in Scottsdale lately. The announcement on Tuesday that Tom Murphy would miss four to six weeks with a hairline fracture in his forearm had some people wondering exactly what the Rockies had done to anger the baseball gods.

There’s also been some bad news as far as how some of the Rockies have performed thus far in spring training. We highlighted three performances that are underwhelming in this article. We should mention that Miguel Castro’s spring had gotten so bad that he has already been assigned to Triple-A to start the season.

OK, there’s plenty of bad stuff to talk about. But how about we focus on some good things here? Sure, there have been injuries, but at least Nolan Arenado didn’t hurt himself with his head-first slide for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, right? Jon Gray walked three batters in his outing yesterday against Oakland but he also struck out six. That’s called looking for the silver lining.

In our quest for the silver lining of Colorado’s spring, let’s take a look at four Rockies players who are absolutely having a monster spring so far.

*Note: All statistics are through March 14 games

DJ LeMahieu

Remember way back last season when DJ LeMahieu won Major League Baseball’s batting title? He had a pretty darn good year, setting career highs in a number of categories including total bases (273), doubles (32), triples (8), homers (11) and RBI (66).

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It may have been last year … but LeMahieu is showing no signs of slowing down in spring training. Through nine games, he was batting .462 (12-for-26) and had at least one hit in each of the nine games he had played. That includes a 5-for-6 stretch against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers on March 6 and 7.

The even-keeled and low-key LeMahieu just keeps doing his job and producing from the second position in the lineup. He and Colorado leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon made a lethal combination last year. When Blackmon got on base, LeMahieu would more often than not advance him at least one base.

Never fear, the duo has been doing the same thing for the Rockies in spring training. In fact, let’s look at how Chuck Nazty is tearing things up in Arizona next.

Charlie Blackmon

Having Charlie Blackmon as your leadoff hitter is one of the true joys of being a Rockies fan. As one of the game’s premier leadoff men, it’s no wonder why Blackmon was the subject of so many trade rumors this offseason.

Chuck Nazty has been doing damage in Arizona. In nine games, Blackmon is 11-for-23 at the plate (.478 average) with a homer and four RBI.

His best outing of the spring came on March 13 against the Kansas City Royals when he went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles. He also grabbed his only stolen base of the spring in that game as well.

That outing capped a 4-for-5 stretch for Blackmon where three of his four hits were doubles.

It’s safe to say that the top of Colorado’s batting order has been producing when Blackmon and LeMahieu are on the scorecard in the Valley of the Sun. However, that shouldn’t surprise everyone considering Blackmon earned his first Silver Slugger last season and LeMahieu was the best hitter in all of baseball.

Let’s take a look at one more player who is tearing it up at the plate before we start turning our attention to the mound.

Trevor Story

Wow, last season was a roller coaster of emotions when it came to Trevor Story. We all loved watching him make history with his home run barrage. At 27 homers and 72 RBI, it seemed like Story had the makings of a magical season ahead of him. However, a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb at the end of July prematurely brought Story’s storybook season to a close.

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The amount of work that Story put in in the offseason to overcome the injury has been evident since the Rockies opened camp in Arizona. In 10 games, Story is batting at a .333 clip (9-for-27) and has belted a team-high four home runs.

Entering Wednesday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Story had at least one hit in each of his last five games. That includes homers in three consecutive games between March 5 and 11 as well as a 3-for-3 effort against the Cincinnati Reds on March 12. Oh, and those three hits were all doubles.

One thing to note is that Story still doesn’t have a stolen base this spring. We expected him to turn on the wheels this March as one of our five spring training predictions. There’s still plenty of time for Story to show the speed he has. Don’t forget, he had just eight stolen bases last season. Three, however, came in the All-Star shortened month of July just before his injury.

Mike Dunn

When Mike Dunn was signed away in the offseason from the Miami Marlins, many believed him just to be a left-handed specialist that Colorado needed to sign to take the place of Boone Logan in the bullpen. Dunn, however, has shown more than that in his first few appearances with the Rockies.

Dunn has had five outings in Arizona without allowing a hit. During his five innings of work, the 31-year-old southpaw has walked just one batter while striking out six. He’s also needed just 42 pitches to complete these five innings, proof that he is being ultra-efficient on the mound.

He’s also a guy who could care less about all of the talk about Coors Field and altitude. A native of Farmington, N.M., Dunn is used to pitching at elevations a mile high or more.

“As we talked with the front office before I came here, they wanted to know a lot about me and my mentality,” Dunn told The Denver Post in this article. “Being around these guys, we’re not worried about the altitude, and that’s what they (the front office) wanted.”

Next: 3 Players Who Are Under-Performing For Colorado This Spring

It may be early, but Bud Black is liking what he is seeing from Dunn, both on and off the mound. He’s one of the six veterans expected to lead the bullpen who we discussed in this article.

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