Colorado Rockies: The Ideal Offensive Lineup

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Outfield

One more position is left in the outfield with Blackmon and Dahl a lock. The obvious go to is Carlos Gonzalez who has a 77 OPS+. However, there is also Raimel Tapia in Triple-A. He has a .284/.358/.505 slash line in Albuquerque this year with seven doubles, four homers, and 18 RBI. In 2017, in the majors, he had an 84 OPS+ and has an MLB average of 76.

Let me also throw out there that Gonzalez has mentioned he is willing to play his childhood position, first base. If he wants to stay in the lineup and wants the best for the team, this might have to be done. It would solve the problem at first base while also keeping both of the highest available OPS+ players on the field.

Bringing up Tapia would mean optioning McMahon. Also, Gonzalez would have to be eased into the position, so Desmond could start until Gonzalez is comfortable to take over.

This is the best lineup possible given the poor hitting the Rockies have experienced. However, this revamped lineup wouldn’t solve the problem. There are still a lot of players that would need to step up and play to their ability.

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Starting Lineup

So, here is the ideal starting offensive lineup for the Rockies based upon OPS+:

1. DJ LeMahieu (2B)-125
2. Charlie Blackmon (CF)-145
3. Nolan Arenado (3B)-145
4. Trevor Story (SS)-108
5. David Dahl (LF)-111
6. Carlos Gonzalez (1B)-77
7. Raimel Tapia (RF)-76*
8. Tom Murphy (C)-90*
9. Pitcher

*-OPS+ is from their MLB average