Colorado Rockies: 5 Bold Predictions for the 2017 Season

Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies — Jul 28, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story (27) beats the trow to New York Mets shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera (13) for a stolen base during the ninth inning at Citi Field. The Colorado Rockies defeated the New York Mets 2-1.Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Trevor Story is faster than you think. That’s what former Colorado manager Walt Weiss kept saying during his days in the Rockies dugout. While we know about Story’s home run power, we never really got to see the rookie take off on the basepaths.

Colorado Rockies

Before the premature end to his season with a thumb injury, Story had 27 homers … but just eight stolen bases in 13 attempts. It was part of a trend last season that saw the Rockies swipe just 66 bases overall.

But that was then and this is now. Bud Black is now running the Colorado dugout and said in a recent article that he wants to put more pressure on opposing pitchers by having Colorado run more. It’s a simple thought that could also make the Colorado offense even more dangerous than it already is.

Story will be one of the key components to an improved Rockies running game in 2017. USA Today is already predicting that the 24-year-old phenom will hit at least 40 homers this season. We’re certainly not going to argue that because that would be great for Colorado and its postseason chances.

However, we’ll go one step further and saw Story will steal at least 20 bases this season. If Story is going to step up his power game, why not step up the speed game as well? We think it will happen.

Colorado Rockies

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