The Colorado Rockies will be an underdog team in 2018

We’re only a week and few days shy of baseball being officially back. Because of that, it’s time to have another chat. The Colorado Rockies are looking to have an even better season than last year, even though many people in the media still believe they the Rockies aren’t competitive enough to win another Wild Card let alone the division. These opinions make the Rockies appear as a serious underdog team … and that’s far from a bad thing.

The 2017 season for the Colorado Rockies was a monumental success to say the least. After the 2016, it was time to part ways with then-manager Walt Weiss. The front office then went on to hire Bud Black, perhaps the first piece to making a championship team.

As Black prepared the team for the incoming 2017 season, there was a strong sense of optimism the entire time. In Black’s first year with the Rockies, he flipped their 2016 record of 75-87 to 87-75 and got a Wild Card spot.

Of course this was not without the help of Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and Mark Reynolds, to name a few. These guys had a fantastic season and greatly impacted the Rockies to push them towards contention. No one is forgetting all the other starters, but let’s not forget that they did have some unfortunate injuries throughout the season. In my mind, the big one was Ian Desmond, who was supposed to have the job at first base, but everything happens for a reason. All in all, the team had their main contributors and the young guys that stepped up when they were called on.

Now looking back at that great season, the only direction the Rockies could go is forward. In the eyes of many, there is no possible way for them not to meet the same record or go above and beyond. That may not be the case with Rockies fans and many of the people here at Rox Pile, but not at all with other media publications. Essentially some big publications have either forgotten who the Rockies are or just don’t believe they can do what they did last season again. Thus creating a Rockies vs. everyone mentality.

It appears that the reasons why they have put the Colorado Rockies in such a poor position is due to the offseason moves of other teams. The Milwaukee Brewers and the San Fransisco Giants being the two in the National League that may be a threat to the Rockies. With the Giants, we saw them makes moves to get veterans Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria which are two solid players though can be seen as questionable moves because of their age. The Giants also signed former Dodger Tony Watson, who helped L.A. get to and during the World Series. This is all fine and dandy, but don’t forget that the Giants have an age issue. It’s apparent to everyone that it’s even year also, but people shouldn’t so eagerly jump on that bandwagon.

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The Brewers had a good offseason point blank, but that doesn’t mean they are going to immediately overtake the Rockies anytime soon. There is a possibility to once again give the Cubs a run for their money in the NL Central and a possible Wild Card spot.

In my opinion, as of now, the Brewers are a team to be taken seriously, a lot more than the Giants. GM David Stearns wasted no time by getting Christian Yelich in a trade and also signing Lorenzo Cain. Though their offense may be top tier, their pitching is still wonky since would-be ace Jimmy Nelson is out due to surgery. Either way, this is a team looking to contend now, so there is reason to keep an eye on the NL Central.

The state of the NL West has become a little softer for the Rockies to seek contention. This only due to the fact that the Arizona Diamondbacks don’t appear, on the surface, as competitive as last season. Without the help of J.D. Martinez, it won’t be a walk in the park for the Rockies, but it will be a brisk jog. In 2018, it’s very doubtful that the Diamondbacks can keep the form they had in 2017.

The Rockies biggest foe this season will be the Dodgers. This shouldn’t come as any surprise as they are once again the team to beat in the NL. From the outside looking in, this team seems to have no flaws. They’ve got a very good pitching staff led by future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw and backed with the likes of Rich Hill and Alex Wood plus All-Star closer Kenley Jansen. Then they have the stellar offense led by Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, and Corey Seager, to name a few.

On paper, this is one of the MLB’s best teams and last season they proved that on the field. However, this is a team that has two serious flaws. The first one being the injury issue as many of the big names of the team were out for periods of time and it didn’t necessarily help their efforts. The second issue is their reaction to slumps. When the Dodgers slump, they go down hard, especially their 11-game losing streak last season. From the outside, this team could be near perfect. However, when you put them under a microscope, the cracks are fairly visible.

With all of these other teams getting a lot more media attention than the Colorado Rockies, it’s a great time for them to swoop in. Looking at the Rockies before the 2018 season, they appear to have everything together. With the outlook of the NL West not being as competitive as last season, they have a strong chance of overtaking many of the teams. It will be key for the Rockies to be able to stay on the straight and narrow to be able to take advantage of opportunities that can get them to the first place spot in either the division or Wild Card. They came, they saw, and they improved after the Wild Card game. Now they will have to focus on what happens after winning that game.

Next: Surprises possible for Opening Day

The Rockies are in the driver’s seat and it should be all hands on deck. They have the keys. All they have to do is drive that long road to contention. One thing must do is stop depending on the top two players and have a lineup from top to bottom that all contribute. The second thing the Rockies have to do is be able to surpass the odds of the media and other naysayers. They have it all there on paper. All the Rockies have to do is put what’s on paper in action. This season will be the year of the underdog and the Rockies are one of the underdogs about which other teams should be concerned.

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