Colorado Rockies: How the 2019 Opening Day roster will look

For the Colorado Rockies, the quest for a third consecutive postseason appearance begins on Thursday afternoon in Miami.

How will the Colorado Rockies look heading into their season opener? Much of the mystery surrounding the Opening Day roster has already been solved. The Mike Tauchman trade to the New York Yankees opened up a spot on the 40-man roster for non-roster spring invitee Mark Reynolds as he was officially moved to the active roster on Tuesday morning. Tom Murphy being picked up off waivers has opened up another spot on the 40-man roster and a move is coming soon to cover that. Jeff Hoffman, Pat Valaika, Carlos Estevez and others thought to be in contention for an Opening Day roster spot have been sent to Triple-A Albuquerque.

So where does that leave the Rockies heading into south Florida for the season opener? Here is the likely Opening Day roster. Note: What was listed below was made official by the Rockies on Thursday morning.

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Rotation (in order, as announced earlier by Colorado manager Bud Black): Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, Tyler Anderson, Jon Gray, Chad Bettis

Bullpen: Wade Davis, Mike Dunn, DJ Johnson, Jake McGee, Harrison Musgrave, Scott Oberg, Seunghwan Oh, Bryan Shaw

Infield: Nolan Arenado (starting at third base), Garrett Hampson, Ryan McMahon (likely starting at second base), Daniel Murphy (starting at first base), Mark Reynolds, Trevor Story (starting at shortstop)

Outfield: Charlie Blackmon (starting in right field), David Dahl (starting in left field), Ian Desmond (starting in center field), Raimel Tapia

Two contributors in the bullpen will likely start the season on the injured list. Chris Rusin (upper back tightness) and Antonio Senzatela (infected right heel blister) will need some time to heal before they become a part of a Rockies bullpen that will be a key part to the team’s success (or lack thereof) in 2019.

With this roster, what will Colorado do with its batting order? There has been talk of Arenado hitting second but Daniel Murphy filled that role in several of the final spring training contests so we will see what Black rolls out Thursday morning in Miami.

As a note, five players will be on the Opening Day roster for the first time in their career (Dahl, Hampson, Johnson, Musgrave and Tapia).

We will be in Miami and Tampa for Colorado’s first seven games of the season. Follow us on Twitter for the latest information.