Colorado Rockies: Who could benefit the most from a 29-man roster?

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

Elias Diaz

Rockies manager Bud Black loves to have three catchers on his roster. Part of the reason why that has happened before is the versatility of Tony Wolters, who can also play shortstop and second base.

Even when there was a 25-man roster last season and 13 pitchers on that roster, the Rockies, on occasion, carried three catchers (a combination of Wolters, Drew Butera, Chris Iannetta, or Dom Nunez) so it definitely isn’t out of the realm of possibility on a 26-man roster or, especially, a 29-man roster.

Wolters and Butera are likely to be the main catchers but non-roster invitee Elias Diaz could find himself on the roster as well.

For Pittsburgh in 2019, he hit .241/.296/.307 with two home runs, 28 RBI, and an OPS+ of 61 in 101 games (332 plate appearances). He also had -21 bDRS. However, in 2018,  in 82 games (277 plate appearances), he hit 10 home runs, 34 RBI, with a slash line of .286/.339/.452 and an OPS+ of 116. He also had -1 bDRS.

That’s what the Rockies are hoping heading into 2020.

Prediction

We don’t know how many pitchers will be on the roster with the three extra players but if I had to guess, it would be a maximum of two.

Depending on the rest of the spring training performances (when it returns) and if the pitcher limit will be one or two, I think that the two most likely scenarios would be Hoffman, Almonte, and Owings or Almonte, Owings, and Diaz.

Why three of those four and not Fuentes? Simple. Fuentes has options, the other four do not. It will be a hard enough decision for the Rockies to make for 29 players but when 26 comes, it may be even harder.