Colorado Rockies: Ryan McMahon is not Cody Bellinger

As we get closer and closer to Spring Training, it may be time to come to terms with the Colorado Rockies offseason and where they currently stand. They answered a few of their questions about certain situations, moreso pitching than anything else, but nonetheless they answered them.

One of the biggest concerns that was seemingly not addressed by the front office was who will be Colorado’s first baseman. Rox Pile has gone over almost every possible free agent scenario … and even the internal use factor of who could play first. With the free agent market stopping cold turkey after December, I knew that the Rockies may not sign a first baseman. Due to that, the top candidate for the job is rookie Ryan McMahon. Here’s the kicker though (and some Rockies fans may need to hear), he’s not Cody Bellinger.

Yes, that’s right. I said it. You know it’s true. McMahon isn’t Bellinger. Now before you all jump down to the comments and chastise me, hear me out. Ryan McMahon is a clutch guy. At this point in time, it’s the only word I use to describe him after putting up impressive minor league numbers in 2017 after a down 2016 campaign.

As of right now, McMahon appears to be the starter at first base. This isn’t a bad thing because, if the Rockies are officially done spending on free agents, it opens up the payroll to re-sign or extend the contracts for Charlie Blackmon, DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado. Even though McMahon is questionable to me as the starter at first base (because of his lack of experience), this could turn out to be a very good thing in the long run for Colorado.

More from Rox Pile

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• 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?

So you’ve read the title of the article. You know exactly what I’m going to be talking about. Yes, the Rockies are hoping McMahon follows in Bellinger’s footsteps as Rox Pile’s Kevin Henry discussed in this article. You could call this a comparison, but I’ve actually written an entire article comparing the Dodgers and Rockies.

Let’s look at McMahon first. He only played in 17 games last season, and started three (all at first base). Statistics may not be the best thing to look at due to the small amount of starts and games played, but it’s best to go over them. McMahon was called up first in August and then for good in September. He ended 2017 with a .158 batting average (three hits in 19 at-bats) and a lone RBI. Like I said earlier, it isn’t not good sample size to look at, but may give a little insight into what could happen.

At the ripe age of 22 last season, Bellinger hit 39 home runs, totaled 97 RBI, and had a batting average of .267. These stats led him to become the National League Rookie of the Year along with being in the Home Run Derby. Bellinger essentially just took Adrian Gonzalez‘s job at first and will most likely keep it for a long time.