Blake St. Ball: Could the Colorado Rockies have a new ace in 2019?

We’ve already discussed the offensive firepower the Colorado Rockies look to bring in 2019.  But what makes this team stand out is the fact that they can back that lineup up with some of the best young starting pitching in the game.

A few days ago, we discussed how the Colorado Rockies lineup might look like in 2019 but with all this talent, who is the club’s ace?  The default answer right now is Kyle Freeland.  The Denver native had arguably the best season for a Rockies starter in franchise history in his sophomore campaign in 2018.  He put an exclamation point on his breakout year when he hurled 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball against the Chicago Cubs in the National League Wild Card Game, surrendering just 4 hits.

Taking fourth place in last year’s NL Cy Young Award voting, Freeland will undoubtedly open the season as the team’s number one starter and he should be expected to turn in similar results this year.

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But Freeland’s biggest challenger for the title of club ace is not far off.  German Marquez continues to take huge strides forward and has already said that his goal for 2019 is to win the Cy Young.

Although he just turned 24, Marquez has already set the single-season franchise record for strikeouts, and he is continuing to develop.  In the second half of 2018, it was hard to find a better 1-2 punch in the National League than Freeland (9-1, 2.41 ERA, 81 SO) and Marquez (6-3, 2.61 ERA, 124 SO), something the Rockies believe will continue for many seasons.

But those two aren’t alone.  Despite struggling last season, Jon Gray has the stuff to be as dominant as anyone in the Rockies system and after putting in work in the offseason, he has looked very strong so far this spring.  In 9 innings he has allowed just one run on two hits while striking out 10.  It’s a small sample size, but it’s certainly encouraging to see these results from Gray.

If all three pitchers reach their potential in 2019, the Rockies could easily have three arms in the discussion for the NL Cy Young Award.

The team at Blake Street Ball analyzed the Rockies rotation going into 2019 and who could be the ace of the starting staff:

The Rockies’ depth on offense and on the mound should scare the rest of the National League.  This could be a very could team for several years to come.