Colorado Rockies: Early prediction of 2017 postseason roster

Are you enjoying the Colorado Rockies having plenty of weapons at their disposal on the bench and in the bullpen right now? Well, that will change soon enough.

When the calendar turned to September, the Rockies (along with the rest of Major League Baseball’s teams) were able to expand their rosters past the 25-man limit they had played with throughout the season. That opened the door for players such as Mike Tauchman, Ryan McMahon, Shane Carle, Zac Rosscup and others to play key roles when the opportunity presented itself during a game.

Need a pinch hitter? No problem. How about a pinch runner? Yep. How about a left-handed specialist who will face just one batter in the sixth inning? Easily done. When the roster is expanded, Colorado can even use nine pitchers in a game as it did in Tuesday’s win over the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field.

However, when the Rockies enter the postseason (and yes, we believe they will secure the National League’s second Wild Card spot), the roster drops back to the 25-man limit that the Rockies were tasked with during the first five months of the season.

So who will make the postseason 25-man roster? We have an idea and some explanations. We will tell you those on the next page.

Catchers (2) – Jonathan Lucroy and Ryan Hanigan

Lucroy was one of Colorado’s biggest acquisitions at the trade deadline and has done well behind the plate. The second catcher to join him in the offseason, however, will be a bit of a question mark. The Rockies tipped their hand after Lucroy was acquired by sending Tony Wolters to Triple-A. They showed that they liked having two veteran catchers to handle their young pitching staff. We believe that will continue when the games matter most in October.

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?

There is a caveat here, however. Hanigan has been dealing with a groin injury and, as of the start of Colorado’s key series at Chavez Ravine against the Los Angeles Dodgers, had yet to see action in a game since August 20. If he doesn’t fully recover from that injury, Wolters would get the call.

Note: Hanigan was activated from the disabled list prior to Friday’s game against the Dodgers.

Wolters being behind the plate also means that, if worse comes to worse, the former infielder turned catcher could play some middle infield. We know the Rockies like versatility and Wolters would provide that. It would be a surprise, but it’s still a possibility.

Infielders (6) – Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, DJ LeMahieu, Mark Reynolds, Alexi Amarista, Pat Valaika

Outfielders (4) – Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon, Gerardo Parra, Ian Desmond

Yes, the Rockies will return to having a four-man bench. That likely means in a postseason game that Parra/Reynolds/Desmond would be on the bench in addition to Amarista, Valaika and the second catcher.