Colorado Rockies: Four big questions and bold predictions

Who will be the comeback player of the year for the Rockies in 2019?

Despite making the postseason again last year, there were plenty of players who didn’t live up to expectations for Colorado. Ian Desmond, Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee, Chris Rusin, Tony Wolters, Tom Murphy and Jon Gray are just some of the names who struggled last season.

That is a wide-ranging list of players … and isn’t even a complete list if you really want to stretch it out and say that Charlie Blackmon didn’t match previous years’ numbers and Nolan Arenado struggled after injuring his shoulder.

So who is the player most likely to rebound from last season’s poor performance? I’m putting my bet on Shaw. Yes, the only man to challenge Desmond in terms of boos endured at Coors Field last season will have a better season in 2019.

I know what you’re thinking. It can’t get much worse for Shaw, right? Signing a three-year deal and then not even making the postseason roster after losing your manager’s confidence isn’t exactly the way to endear yourself to the fan base in your debut season. However, there are too many signs from his days with the Cleveland Indians to think he won’t be able to turn his pitching around in 2019.

Bold prediction: With an offseason to work on what didn’t go right in 2018, Shaw will become Bud Black’s seventh-inning guy this season … and succeed in the role. Seunghwan Oh and Scott Oberg will see action in the eighth to set up closer Wade Davis.