Colorado Rockies: If MLB’s greatest hitters had played at Coors Field

Two of the greatest things about baseball are the statistical side of the game as well as the age-old question of, “What if?” We decided to merge those pieces into this article, looking at what some of the game’s greatest hitters would have done if they had played as members of the Colorado Rockies for their careers.

To run this simulation, we looked at how hitters would have performed throughout their careers using the characteristics of Coors Field in 2017. In this simulation, thanks to Baseball Reference, all seasons are converted to 162-game seasons and the average team scoring of 853 total runs (5.27 R/G). No, this was not the most offensive-laden season at Coors Field but we felt it gave us a good feel for how playing in Denver might have boosted the numbers of some of the game’s greatest hitters.

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Thanks in part to the statistical analysis of Baseball Reference, we were able to look at some pretty intriguing numbers. Hey, if we are all going to hear “Coors” every time we mention the Rockies and their offense, why not play devil’s advocate in this article and see exactly how some of the greatest numbers ever produced in the history of baseball might have gone up just a touch more at 20^th and Blake?

Please note that there are a few things that aren’t taken into account with this statistical journey and you can read those by clicking here.

Let’s start by looking at Tony Gwynn, one of the game’s best hitters and someone who actually played at Coors Field during his later years with the San Diego Padres. The first set of numbers will be if Gwynn had played his career with the Rockies at 2017 Coors Field conditions while the second set of numbers are his actual Hall of Fame statistics.

Tony Gwynn (1982-2001)

Career numbers at Coors under 2017 conditions

Slash — .372/.424/.503

OPS — .927

HR — 159

RBI — 1463

K — 444

Real numbers

Slash — .338/.388/.459

OPS — .847

HR — 135

RBI — 1138

K – 434

It was interesting to see that while many of Gwynn’s numbers would have shown a significant increase, his total strikeouts would have only risen by 10. Just another testament to just how great Gwynn was at the plate.

Let’s take a look at some other great names in Major League history and their hypothetical and real statistics…