Colorado Rockies: Roundtable season projections and outlooks

It’s a great time of year when Colorado Rockies fans around the world are trying to predict how the team they cheer for will fare in the upcoming season.

We asked our writers at Rox Pile to give their best predictions in terms of not only how the team will fare but also if they will make the playoffs and who might be their biggest surprise and disappointment as well as predicting if the Rockies will or won’t make the postseason again in 2018.

We kick it off with Brady Vernon’s thoughts on the season ahead…

Surprise Player

With the resigning of Carlos Gonzalez, there’s a good chance Raimel Tapia doesn’t make the Opening Day roster. Although, as everybody knows, baseball is a long season. Given the injury history of Gonzalez, Ian Desmond and Gerardo Parra, Tapia should find a stretch of playing time during the season. The 24-year-old Dominican outfielder also plays with a type of spunk that can really add to a team’s clubhouse especially if a team is a struggling. In September and October of last season, in limited at-bats, Tapia had an average of .360 along with an OPS of .880.

Disappointment Player

This is simply a numbers game prediction. Both Wade Davis and Bryan Shaw have been prime relievers in baseball for the past few seasons. But in most cases of free agent signings most teams don’t get the exact guy they signed each and every time. Pitching in Denver takes adjustments when you have to do it more. I don’t believe one of these guys will have a horrible season but one just might not live up to his high expectation.

Buyers or Sellers

At the deadline, the Rockies should be in contention for a playoff spot. I doubt there will be a huge splash made by Colorado, one position they should go after is catcher. Chris Iannetta is a quality back-up guy, that’s about it. The obvious name to think about would be the Marlins’ J.T. Realmuto, another depending on where his team is doing next season is the Mariners’ Mike Zunino, who is coming off his most consistent season.

Season Prediction

85-77 and they will miss the playoffs. I don’t believe the Rockies got worse over the offseason, the rest of the National League got better. Teams who had poor years last year such as the Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets should all be better this year. Rockies will also be competing with the Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers again for playoff spots. That’s a lot of competition for a team that I believe still has question marks in their rotation.