Colorado Rockies: The 5 most disappointing players in 2017

The Colorado Rockies had one of the best seasons in franchise history this year. They nearly won 90 games, and made it clear to all MLB fans they are on the rise. Still, there was room for improvement. In fact, there was five players in particular who disappointed in 2017, and here they are.

Carlos Gonzalez

Why not start off with the obvious decision? Carlos Gonzalez is far and wide the most disappointing player on the Rockies, and one of the most disappointing players in all of baseball. His batting average dropped from .298 all the way down to .262, nearly a 30 point drop. in 2015, CarGo belted 40 home runs. This past year, he only got 14. Gonzalez was once one of the key players for the Rockies, finishing 3rd in the MVP race in 2010. Now, he was lucky to see a spot late in the year, especially with players like Raimel Tapia, who are on the come up.

Just imagine how elite the Rockies offense could have been if CarGo would have played as good as we are used to. If Gonzalez would have been anywhere near as good as he was last year or the year before that, the Rockies would have been good enough to maybe be seen as a legit contender for the World Series.

Tyler Chatwood

Luckily for Rockies fans, it doesn’t mean too much that Chatwood was a disappointment, because he won’t be a Rockie for long. Chatwood may have looked alright from a statistical perspective, but he failed the eye test over and over again, walking players and tending to leave the ball in the meat of the strike zone. Bud Black ultimately could no longer take it, and moved him to the bullpen.

Now Chatwood has the option to leave Colorado, and likely will. There is absolutely no reason to panic, though. The Rockies should have plans to completely restart and find a brand new bullpen this off season. Hopefully, we can look back in 2018 and say we do not need Chatwood anymore.

Adam Ottavino

Ottavino is so hard not to have in your bullpen somewhere. He just seems to have that scary word on his name: potential. His off-speed is unmatched, and he can throw the ball pretty hard too. He has shown flashes of greatness and looks to one day be a key contributor in an effective or at least serviceable bullpen.

Next: The flip side: The 5 most successful Rockies of 2017

Or at least that is the hope, but suddenly it is looking somewhat illogical to consider. At age 31, Ottavino had an ERA over 5 and almost gave up a hit every inning he pitched. He struck out a whopping 63 guys in only 53 1/3 innings pitched, but let’s remember the relievers have a much easier time striking out batters than starters do. Ottavino certainly has potential to be a good player, but he was disappointing to watch this season because his walk rate. He averaged 6.6 walks per nine innings. Obviously, that is something that he must reduce in 2018.