Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon back at the top of the lineup?

Scottsdale, Arizona — Last season, there was plenty of discussion in spring training about where Charlie Blackmon would be batting in the Colorado Rockies lineup. One year later, it seems that any discussion of that has ended early and Chuck Nazty could well be cemented back at the top of the batting order.

Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters on Friday in his morning huddle that Charlie Blackmon is likely going back to the top of the lineup this season. The thought comes one season after DJ LeMahieu and Charlie Blackmon shared leadoff duties, with Blackmon batting leadoff in 95 games and batting second in 49 games. As an aside, LeMahieu led off the Colorado order in 63 games and batted second in 64 contests.

Blackmon was recently projected to be among fantasy baseball’s top 25 players this season and the 32-year-old outfielder is coming off a campaign where he slashed .291/.358/.502. That includes 26 August games where he struggled with a .226/.293/.358 line.

While Blackmon will return to the top of the lineup, it is likely he will move over to a corner outfield position with the news on Thursday that Black was slotting Ian Desmond into center field primarily this season.

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There has been talk earlier in the offseason that the newly acquired Daniel Murphy would bat anywhere from second to fifth in the order this season. However, on Friday, Black mentioned in passing that Murphy did have leadoff-type skills. He then went on to say the same about David Dahl and a number of other players.

The truth is that Murphy, Blackmon, Dahl, Garrett Hampson and others do have the skill sets needed to bat leadoff and be effective in the role for Colorado this season. However, Black trusts Blackmon to kick-start the Colorado offense to begin the game and that goes a long ways toward any talk of lineup construction.

Colorado begins its spring training game schedule on Saturday, February 23 against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.