Five Bold Predictions for the Rockies in the Second Half

The Rockies have two players that if they do what they have done in the first half of the season, either one of them could be the National League Most Valuable Player.

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Charlie Blackmon enters the All-Star break tied for lead in the NL in games played with 89, plate appearances (406), hits (117), and triples (13). He’s tied for 8th in the NL in HRs (20), tied for 10th in RBIs (61), 5th in batting average (.319), 20th in on-base percentage (.372), and 5th in the NL in slugging percentage (.583), and an OPS+ of 130. If you nearly double the numbers for hits, triples, home runs, and RBIs while maintaining the batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, that is a season that says “MVP”. However, he might be in competition with one of his own teammates.

It’s no secret that Nolan Arenado has had a great season and it could be argued that, on paper, he is the best player in the National League and maybe, just maybe, the best in baseball. That “on paper” argument can be seen in real life as entering the All-Star break, he is tied for the lead in the NL (with Blackmon) for games played (89), 5th in hits (106), 2nd in doubles (28), 4th in triples (5), tied for 19th in home runs (17), tied for the league lead in RBIs (with Marcell Ozuna of the Marlins) with 70, 15th in the NL in batting average (.301), and 14th in slugging percentage (.554).

He also leads the National League in fielding percentage, range, total zone runs, and Defensive Wins Above Replacement. He also leads baseball with 16 Defensive Runs Saved (his career high is 30).

Of Blackmon and Arenado, I think that Arenado would be the favorite of the two to win the MVP.

Next: Re-ranking the Rockies' 40-man roster

Final Thoughts

These are bold predictions and all of them might not come to pass but they have a legitimate chance of happening. Obviously, only time will tell if these can come to fruition but if they do, I would have another bold prediction…but we won’t count the eggs before they hatch.