Colorado Rockies: Top Five Second Basemen in Franchise History

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DENVER – MAY 10: Jamey Carroll #1 of the Colorado Rockies gets ready in the infield during the game against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field on May 10, 2007 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies have had a lot of turnover at the second base position in their franchise history. But they do have some clear frontrunners.

The Colorado Rockies have a bit of an odd history at second base. Most of the players that played second base were stop-gaps or just didn’t pan out. They also had a lot of second basemen play other positions, which is something that you’ll see in our list today.

Let’s take a look at the top five second basemen in Colorado Rockies history.

Number 5: Jamey Carroll (3.5 bWAR, 2.7 fWAR, 2 seasons as a Rockie, 189 games at 2B)

Jamey Carroll spent two seasons with the Rockies (2006 and 2007). He was the team’s primary second baseman in 2006 after he came over from the Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos organization, where he had spent his entire career until he joined the Rockies.

In 2006, in 136 total games (109 at 2B), Carroll hit .300.377/.404 with an OPS+ of 94. He also had 19 DRS that season (18 at 2B) and had a WAR of 3.3, which was fifth-best on the Rockies that season. Not shabby for having to give the Nationals $300,000 for his services and pay him $700,000.

In 2007, he did not start for the Rockies every day as he gave way to someone that will be on this list later. He still had 60 appearances at 2B but played some other infield positions as well since he was mainly a bench option. He hit .225/.317/.300 with an OPS+ of 57.

In his Rockies tenure, he is best known as the player who hit the fly ball to right field that “scored” Matt Holliday for the winning run to beat the San Diego Padres for the NL West title in Game 163 in 2007.

2007 was his final season with the Rockies as the Rockies traded him to the Cleveland Indians after the 2007 season.

27 Jul 2000: Todd Walker #14 of the Colorado Rockies runs to first base during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Dodgers defeated the Rockies 16-11.Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport /

Number 4: Todd Walker (2.9 bWAR, 2.0 fWAR, parts of 2 seasons as a Rockie, 129 games at 2B)

Todd Walker was acquired by the Rockies in the middle of the 2000 season and the Rockies traded him to the Cincinnati Reds one year and four days later so, essentially, he played one season with the Rockies.

In 142 games (129 at 2B), he hit .304/.363/.514 with an OPS+ of 103. He had a defensive WAR of 0.4 while with the Rockies so he was slightly above average in that department.

He bounced around to a few different teams throughout the rest of his career before playing his last MLB game in 2007.

Number 3: Kazuo Matsui (3.9 bWAR, 3.4 fWAR, parts of 2 seasons as a Rockie, 123 games at 2B)

Kazuo Matsui (also known as Kaz) was acquired by the Rockies from the New York Mets in June of 2006. He mainly played off of the bench but in the 126 plate appearances he made that year, he hit very well as he hit .345/.392/.504 with an OPS+ of 120 and a WAR of 0.5.

In 2007, he took over for Jamey Carroll as the primary second baseman and he was a big reason why the Rockies got to the World Series that year.

He was okay at the plate during the regular season (.288/.342/.405 slash line with an OPS+ of 87) but he had 14 DRS so his main game was defense. That’s why his bWAR was 3.4 in 2007.

The main reason how he helped the Rockies was during the postseason. He hit .304/.347/.500 during the 2007 postseason, including a .294 batting average in the World Series when the Rockies only hit .218. He also hit .417 in the NLDS with six RBI in the Rockies’ three-game sweep of the Phillies.

Matsui signed with the Houston Astros in free agency in 2008. He struggled a lot in 2009 and the beginning of 2010 (65 OPS+ between the two seasons) and the Astros released him in late May of 2010. He resigned with the Rockies on a minor league deal but he did not play particularly well in Triple-A Colorado Springs so he never was called up.

After the season, he returned to his home in Japan and played in the Japanese Baseball League through the 2018 season (his age-42 season) and then he retired.

8 May 1997: Second baseman Eric Young of the Colorado Rockies throws the ball as first baseman Mark Johnson of the Pittsburgh Pirates slides into the base at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Pirates won the game 10-8. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr/Allsport (Getty). /

Number 2: Eric Young (9.5 bWAR, 12.3 fWAR, 5 seasons as a Rockie, 456 games at 2B)

Eric Young was the Rockies 1st second baseman as the Rockies drafted Young in the 1992 expansion draft from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 1994, though, he only played one game at second base as he mainly played left field. Nelson Liriano was the primary second baseman.

He was relegated to bench duty for the first part of 1995 and he split the season between second base and left field. He received more starting duties when regular second baseman Jason Bates got injured in late June. Entering the month of July, Young was hitting a meager .149/.275/.194.

However, he went on a torrid stretch for the rest of the season as he hit .355/.434/.535 with six homers and 29 RBI with 38 walks compared to only 22 strikeouts in 75 games.

That performance helped get the Rockies to the playoffs via the NL Wild Card for the first time in franchise history.

In 1996, he put up similar numbers as for the entirety of the season, he hit .324/.393/.421 with eight home runs, 74 RBI, and 53 stolen bases. He was an All-Star and also won a Silver Slugger Award.

By 1997, though, the Rockies traded Young in the middle of the season to the Dodgers for pitcher Pedro Astacio.

He finished his tenure with the Rockies hitting .295/.378/.412 with an OPS+ of 93.

Young played for six more teams through 2006 and then he retired from baseball. He became a studio analyst for ESPN’s Baseball Tonight for a few years before becoming a coach.

He was a first base and baserunning coach for the Diamondbacks under Kirk Gibson and later, he joined former Rockies teammate Walt Weiss’s staff with the Rockies in the same position from 2014 through 2016. When Weiss was fired, Young left the staff as well. He joined Weiss on the Atlanta Braves coaching staff where he remains today.

DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 1: Ryan McMahon #24 of the Colorado Rockies rounds third base before scoring a run in the seventh inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Coors Field on September 1, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

Honorable Mentions: Clint Barmes (9.3 bWAR, 4.5 fWAR, 8 seasons as Rockie, 306 games at 2B)

Clint Barmes would likely be on this list if he spent some more time at second base for the Rockies. He was the primary second baseman in three seasons but in his time with the Rockies, he only played 46 percent of his games at second base.

That plus a total of 9.3 bWAR and 4.5 fWAR in eight seasons as a Rockie couldn’t get him on the list due to a few good seasons by other second basemen who had short, but successful tenures.

Honorable Mention: Ryan McMahon (1.4 career bWAR, 0.6 career fWAR, 127 games at 2B)

If Ryan McMahon plays another season or more and plays well, he will likely find his way on this list in the future.

However, considering that 2019 was his first season as primary second baseman, he only had a batting average of .250, an OPS+ of 87 and his below-average defense at second base (-3 DRS at second base, per Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs both), it didn’t warrant him making the list right now.

Number 1: DJ LeMahieu (16.1 bWAR, 11.4 fWAR, 7 seasons as a Rockie, 877 games at 2B)

DJ LeMahieu is the best second baseman in Colorado Rockies history … but just barely. Going into making this list, I thought he was above Eric Young by a lot but I was wrong. In fact, I was on the fence about who to put. That’s the reason why I put this poll out on Twitter: I couldn’t decide.

The voting was 50-50 for most of the 12 hours that the poll out there but LeMahieu (Player B) pulled out the win, 56-44, over Eric Young (Player A).

A battle in Top 5 Rockies per position. Player A: .295/.378/.412, 93 OPS+, 456 games at the position, 9.5 bWAR, 12.3 fWAR overall as a Rockie. Player B: .299/.352/.408, 93 OPS+, 877 games at the position, 16.1 bWAR, 11.4 fWAR overall as a Rockie.
— Rox Pile (@RoxPileFS) March 21, 2020

Ultimately, LeMahieu played more time with the Rockies and played more second base than Young.

2020 Rockies fantasy sleeper: Garrett Hampson. dark. Next

Their average numbers, though, are remarkably similar which is what made this ranking of the top five Rockies at each position the first particularly difficult one at the top of the rankings.

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