Colorado Rockies: The top 5 reasons to keep watching them in 2019

Well, Colorado Rockies fans, it’s been a rough few months.

We’ve seen season-ending injuries to Jon Gray, Scott Oberg, Brendan Rodgers and now maybe German Marquez. We’ve seen the team slide from six games over .500 to their current mark of 15 games under. Perhaps saddest of all, we’ve seen the Colorado Rockies fall out of contention for a franchise-record third straight playoff appearance to all-but-guaranteeing that they’ll end the streak at two.

With all this depressing news, it can be easy to just fold on the season and turn your attention to the Denver Broncos who, as of this writing, are tied for the best record in the NFL. There are, however, still some reasons to watch the Rockies as they play out the rest of the 2019 string. There are young players who could establish themselves, roles that can be defined, reclamation projects that can come to fruition, and some milestones that can be reached.

Here now are the top five reasons to continue to watch the Rockies in 2019.

Can anyone play center field?

Charlie Blackmon’s defense in center field regressed badly in 2018, leading Bud Black to move Chuck to right field, where he’s been … not great (but not as bad as he was in center). Black has had a dickens of a time trying to fill that void in the massive Coors Field grass this season, and the job for 2020 is still up for grabs.

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Black’s first choice was Ian Desmond, who was mediocre enough in left last season to make the manager think that he maybe he could handle center. He couldn’t. Desmond compiled a -2.0 dWAR and -19 defensive runs saved (DRS) in 74 games at the position, prompting Black to look for other options.

David Dahl was next in line. He fared better than Desmond, though still graded out as below league average (-3 DRS) … and then he suffered a high ankle sprain, which has a tendency to hurt your overall range. Dahl is likely back in September, so he’ll probably get more time to show if he can handle the position (though given his injury history, maybe he’d be better off staying in left).

Raimel Tapia could have been an option, as he has decent foot speed and gets solid jumps on the ball (via Statcast), but he just hit the injured list with a bruised left hand. Injuries aside, FanGraphs rates Tapia’s arm as 46 out of 55 qualified outfielders and he can also make the occasional misplay in the field. Overall, he’s been slightly below average in center according to DRS and UZR. With more chances, however, it may be possible that Tapia could nail down the starting job – or at least a reasonable timeshare – heading into next season.

The options du jour have been Garrett Hampson and Yonathan Daza, both of whom have graded out as about league average in center … and well below league average at the plate. If either can show that they can handle big-league pitching, they could be the player with the inside edge on the job heading into 2020.

The Rockies also just called up 25-year-old Sam Hilliard, who made his debut by starting in center on Tuesday against the Red Sox. Hilliard has set offensive records in Albuquerque and, true to form, he homered in his debut. He’s also spent most of his AAA time in right and, on Tuesday, made an ugly misplay in the field. Currently, the position is as wide open as Coors’ expansive center field itself.

Which young players are legit?

Beyond Hilliard, Hampson, and Daza, there are several other young Rockies who are trying to secure a job for next season. Peter Lambert is the most compelling of the group and he probably has the best chance of securing his spot on the 2020 team.

Lambert’s numbers look pretty rough on the surface. However, he has managed to battle his way to a positive WAR so far season. If he finishes out the year strong, then he could easily earn himself a spot in the middle of the team’s rotation behind Gray and Marquez. If, on the other hand, things go bad, Lambert may find himself back in the minors to start the year. It’s possible that no player on the team has as much to gain or lose with these final games than Lambert.

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Journeyman Tim Melville and prospect Rico Garcia, another player who made his career debut on Tuesday, could also claim rotation spots. Melville has begun his Rockies career with two excellent starts and could potentially keep his feel-good story going into next season. Garcia has struggled in AAA so far, and Boston did get to him for six runs over five innings, so he’ll more than likely start in Albuquerque. With a couple of good starts, he could at least gain some ground heading into spring training.

Dom Nunez is fighting for consideration as Tony Wolters’ backup catcher, or maybe even as the starter. Wolters has been serviceable but not impressive as the starter this season and Nunez raked at AAA, so it’s possible that if he continues to crush that he could claim the lion’s share of the at-bats at catcher.

There are also several players on the 40-man roster currently in the minors who could reasonably be called up when the rosters expand. These include players who have already spent some time in Denver, including Josh Fuentes, Noel Cuevas, Sam Howard, DJ Johnson, and perpetual prospect Jeff Hoffman. September will be their chance to show that they belong in Denver instead of Albuquerque.

It’s just a shame that Brendan Rodgers won’t be one of these players. Now that would’ve been fun to watch.

Can Kyle Freeman get back on track?

One of the biggest mysteries about this season has been what in the world happened to Kyle Freeland. Freeland went from fourth in the Cy Young voting to getting sent back down to the minors. He’s since returned to Denver, though the results haven’t been much better.

Freeland is currently on the IL with a strained left groin, but he’s scheduled to return on Saturday against the Pirates. But will he? With a groin injury, it’s tough to know.

If he returns Saturday, he’ll now have about four to six starts to figure out how to turn back into the 2018 version of himself.

The loss of Freeland at the top of the rotation has been a huge factor in the team’s regression this season, so it stands to reason that a return to form would go a long way to turning the Rox back into a winning club.

Milestones

There are no significant team or player records that are in danger of falling by the end of the season. There are some minor personal milestones that could be achieved this year, such as Blackmon setting his single-season high in doubles or crossing the 500 RBI plateau for his career. Nolan will most likely hit his 250th career double and, with a prolific few months, could top his personal best average, OBP or slugging marks. Trevor Story is on pace to beat his batting average and OBP marks, and every run he scores extends his personal high.

To be honest, when I started writing this article, I was hoping that I would find a few more records that were about to fall … but that doesn’t look likely. Well hey, that just seems to be par for the course for this season.

It’s been a tough year my friends, but hang in there: The quest to get back to the playoffs has already begun.