Colorado Rockies: MLB The Show 17 Season Simulation

The Colorado Rockies are experts’ “sleeper” team to make a playoff push this season. A season simulation of San Diego Studio’s ‘MLB The Show 17‘, theorizes that this Rockies club can make a run.

The latest installment of MLB The Show is a must have for any baseball fan that enjoys occasional (or frequent) gaming. Our friends over at App Trigger provide an excellent review of the game; they give the game a 8/10. Here is summary of their review.

"MLB The Show 17 takes smart, calculated approaches to improving its gameplay while expanding the Road to the Show Mode with its addition of an ongoing narrative. In an attempt to solidify an excellent baseball simulation experience, one with more control over minute details in all available gameplay modes, the development team builds upon a solid base. While this year’s edition is worth picking up no matter how long it’s been since your last copy, without expanding gameplay options, the series risks becoming the same old, year in and out."

The Show’s portrayal of the Rockies is spot on. Rosters are updated frequently (although it’s not reflective of the current 25-man roster as of yet). Additionally, the aesthetics of Coors Field are amazing. Everything from the fantastic Rooftop venue, to the raised fences in right-center are accounted for.

If you read the simulation Rox Pile ran last year, we had a gripe with the Rockies uniforms. In past editions of the game, the Rockies black and silver tops featured purple sleeves. As you’re aware, the Rockies use black sleeves, but due to licensing guidelines (speculation) the game got it wrong. This is not the case this year and this Show enthusiast is rejoicing!

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Now on to the simulation. As for methodology, we kept it simple. We started a new season in Franchise mode and downloaded the game’s most current live rosters. As a general note, the roster is not 100% accurate. For instance, the game currently has Jeff Hoffman in the starting rotation.

Also, long-term injuries are not taken into account. For example, Chad Bettis is still in the rotation, and oddly, there is no Greg Holland on the roster. Despite the temptation, no changes were made to the roster. We then set all game-play options to “Auto,” pressed the “Sim Season” option and let it do its thing. The results were positive.

The NL West was an intense four horse race. The Los Angeles Dodgers came out on top with 104 wins. The Rockies finished third with 84 wins, trailing Arizona by two games, and beating out the Giants, who had 81 wins. Unfortunately, the 84 wins was not good enough for the club to seize a Wild Card spot. App Trigger did a sim of their own. It did not go well for the Rockies.

In our sim, Nolan Arenado carried the club, leading the league with 45 homers and 121 RBIs. As you can imagine, offense wasn’t an issue. At season’s end, the Rockies ranked first in team speed, second in team defense, but only 24th in team pitching.

Tyler Chatwood anchored the staff with 12 wins, doing so with an ERA above 4.00. Wunderkind Jon Gray went 9-5 with a 3.83 ERA. Surprisingly, it was Carlos Estevez who led the entire staff with 2.50 ERA. Jeff Hoffman stayed in the rotation all season, but finished with a nasty 6.00+ ERA.

The offense was anchored by Charlie Blackmon, who had a another career year, hitting .327 with 28 long balls. Not trailing far behind was DJ LeMahieu who hit .350 and an astounding 20 home runs. Carlos Gonzalez, David Dahl, and Trevor Story all had 20+ homers as well. Predictably, Story struck out 221 times on the year. Awards wise, Chuck Nazty, DJ, and Nolan made the All-Star Game and won Silver Sluggers. Lastly, you can see Colorado’s top rated players on the game here.

In the end, the game was pretty high on the Colorado Rockies offense, but doesn’t see a big leap forward for the pitching staff. Keep in mind, Greg Holland was not on the roster for some reason. Notably, the simulation was par the course with 84 wins. Most season projections have the Rockies around 80 wins.

Next: Is This Arenado's MVP Year?

If you have MLB The Show 17, give the simulation a shot and see what you can come up with and let us know. If franchise mode isn’t your jam, there are a lot of features that make The Show worth your leisure. Until next year, Happy gaming!