Colorado Rockies: Top Five Left Fielders In Franchise History

We continue our rankings of the top five Colorado Rockies to play each position. Today, we discuss left fielders.

We have reached the outfield for our rankings of the top five Colorado Rockies in franchise history and, frankly, the outfield was hardest to rank. Why? As you will see in a moment, many of the left fielders also spent a lot of time in center and/or right field as well.

For this, we will try to consider just their time playing left field but for some instances, it is a bit hard as for some of them, they spent significant time playing another outfield position. In fact, one of the players on our list was only the primary left fielder for one season but he spent five seasons as a Rockie, and, when he wasn’t injured, he was an everyday player.

Also, in our previous rankings, we have mainly ranked them based on a combination of bWAR and fWAR. It’s kind of hard to do that for outfielders for a few reasons. First off is what I mentioned above: a lot of them split time between different outfield spots. Secondly, with the vast area to cover in Coors Field, many of the Rockies players are knocked down a lot due to their defensive metrics. That is primarily the case for one of the guys on this list that is fairly high.

We will still have their bWAR and fWAR’s listed but it will be from their total career as a Rockie.

Without further ado, let’s dive in.

Number 5: Corey Dickerson (4.4 bWAR, 4.1 fWAR, three seasons as a Rockie)

He only played three seasons with the Rockies and he only played more than 70 games in one of those seasons. However, when he did play, he played very well. He hit .299/.345/.534 with an OPS+ of 125. His WAR gets knocked down, however, by his defensive numbers.

He became a Gold Glover with the Pirates in 2018 and the numbers show that he has been an average to above-average outfielder elsewhere but he had -12 DRS in 265 games as a Rockie.

The Rockies traded him to Tampa for German Marquez and Jake McGee so, particularly for Marquez, that ended up being an excellent trade for the Rockies. Nearly two years ago, Rox Pile’s David Sharp reflected back on the trade.

Number 4: Ellis Burks (12.0 bWAR, 12.6 fWAR, parts of five seasons as a Rockie)

The Rockies signed Ellis Burks to a five-year contract before the start of the 1994 season. Signing with the Rockies reunited him with his former Boston Red Sox teammates Don Baylor and Dwight Evans, who were the Rockies manager and hitting coach in 1994.

He only played in 42 games in 1994 due to a wrist injury and the 1994-95 strike and when play resumed in 1995, the former American League All-Star was essentially a 4th outfielder as he only played in 103 games roving between the three outfield positions. He also only played in two of the four playoff games the Rockies played in 1995.

In 1996, he got more playing time and that ’96 is the sole reason why he is on this list. It was his only season as primary left fielder as in the other seasons, he mainly played center field. However, in 1996, he got 7.9 bWAR and 7.2 fWAR due to his phenomenal season.

In 156 games, he led the NL in runs (142) and he hit 40 home runs and had 128 RBI with a slash line of .344/.408/.639 with an OPS+ of 149. He was an All-Star, won a Silver Slugger Award, and came in third in NL MVP voting.

He still played well in 1997 and early 1998 but not to the level that he did in 1996. He also played more center field than left field.

In the final year of his contract (1998), the Rockies traded him to the San Francisco Giants for the-late Darryl Hamilton and two minor leaguers.

Number 3: Carlos Gonzalez (23.7 bWAR, 25.2 fWAR, 10 seasons as a Rockie)

The Rockies acquired Carlos Gonzalez in a trade for a guy that will be later on this list and coincidentally, they both wore the same uniform number.

2009 was his first season with the Rockies and he was not an everyday player. The majority of his games were in left field but barely as he played 47 in left field and 43 in center field.

The best season in his career came in 2010 when he led the NL in batting average as he hit .336/.376/.598 with an OPS+ of 143. He led the NL in hit (197), won a Gold Glove Award, Silver Slugger Award, and came in 3rd in NL MVP voting.

Once again, though, he did play the majority of his games in left field but he played only 63 games there, with 58 in center field, and 40 in right field. The guy who left field the most was Seth Smith, as he played 71 games in left field.

He was the Rockies’ primary left fielder in 2011 (even though he only played 61 games in left field), 2012, and 2013. In that span, he was an All-Star twice, won two Gold Glove Awards, and accumulate 11.0 bWAR/10.7 fWAR. He was injured for most of 2014 and from 2015 onwards, he never played left field as he transitioned to playing right field.

Number 2: Bichette (4.8 bWAR, 6.7 fWAR, seven seasons as a Rockie)

Like Gonzalez, Dante Bichette split his Rockies career playing left field and right field. Also, by WAR, he should not be as high on this list. However, personally. I’m not completely sold on his defensive metrics in the Coors Field outfield. Was he a good defender? Probably not. Are they as bad as they seem to say he was? Probably not.

Also, he is hurt in the WAR department because he didn’t have a high OBP but that’s because he didn’t walk a ton.

In his seven seasons as a Rockie, he hit .316/.352/.540 with an OPS+ of 112. His first season as primary left fielder was 1995 and he led the NL in hits (197), home runs (40), and RBI (128) in the strike-shortened campaign. He also hit .340/.364/.620 (the slugging percentage led the NL) and had an OPS+ of 130. He was an All-Star, won a Silver Slugger Award, and came in 2nd in NL MVP voting.

He moved back to right field in 1996 as Ellis Burks took over in left field but Bichette was primary left fielder again from 1997 through 1999. The best of those three seasons was 1998, when he led the NL in hits (218), had 22 homers, 122 RBI, and hit .331/.357/.509. In ’98, he was an All-Star once again and came in 21st in NL MVP voting.