Colorado Rockies: Top Five Right Fielders in Franchise History

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DENVER – MAY 25: Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies throws the ball in from the outfield during the game against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field on May 25, 2003 in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies defeated the Giants 5-1. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies have had their fair share of strong right fielders in their franchise history, including an obvious pick for the best right fielder.

Over the last few weeks, we have gone through each position and ranked the top Colorado Rockies to play each position.

For each of these lists, we are attempting to consider just their time at the position but when the player plays multiple positions in the same season, it can become a bit murky.

We are considering players that were “primary” right fielders, meaning that they had to have at least one season in which they played more games than anyone else in right field. However, we don’t have any restrictions on a player only being limited to one position.

If we did, this would be a much weaker list, and guys like Ellis Burks, Dante Bichette, and Carlos Gonzalez would not make it one list or another in the outfield that the numbers say that they should obviously be a part of.

We are considering their numbers both on Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs and particularly, with each site’s calculation of WAR since it encompasses the entirety of a player’s game. As always, though, WAR is not the be-all, end-all but just one way to help determine some close battles. In addition, since WAR was not even a statistic for these player’s careers, sometimes other things must be considered, like the “eye test.”

Without further ado, let’s dive in to the top five Colorado Rockies right fielders of all-time.

DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 19: Michael Cuddyer #3 of the Colorado Rockies rounds the bases on his grand slam home run of of Eury De La Rosa #56 of the Arizona Diamondbacks to give the Rockies a 11-2 lead in the sixth inning at Coors Field on September 19, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

Number 5: Michael Cuddyer (4.3 bWAR, 5.1 fWAR, three seasons as a Rockie)

You can make a great case for Michael Cuddyer to not be on this list given that he only had one season in which he played in more than 101 games with the Rockies after signing a three-year, $31.5 million contract with the Rockies due to injuries.

However, that one season was a phenomenal season. He won the NL batting title, was an All-Star, came in 20th in MVP voting, and won a Silver Slugger Award.

He played well in the other two seasons but it’s the middle season (2013) that gets him on this list.

Number 4: Brad Hawpe (5.1 bWAR, 3.7 fWAR, part of seven seasons as a Rockie)

This is an instance where WAR is not the be-all, end-all. WAR doesn’t like Brad Hawpe because he was not a good defender (both sites have him in the negative 60s in Defensive Runs Saved for his career).

However, at the plate, Hawpe was one of the better offensive players in the lineups that he was in as a Rockie. At the plate as a Rockie, he hit .280/.374/.492 with an OPS+ of 116. His best two seasons were in seasons that the Rockies went to the playoffs as in 2007, he came in 24th in NL MVP voting, and in 2009, he was an All-Star for the first and only time in his career and he came in 28th in NL MVP voting.

Interestingly, the only person to ever play more games in right field as a Rockie was Larry Walker, who will obviously see an appearance later.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – SEPTEMBER 19: Carlos Gonzalez #5 of the Colorado Rockies bats against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on September 19, 2012 in San Francisco, California. The Giants won the game 7-1. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

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

Carlos Gonzalez was a Rockies for parts of ten seasons but he was primary right fielder for the last four. He did play a combined 99 games in right field in the previous six seasons.

In the four seasons as primary right fielder, though, they were his worst four full seasons as a Rockie. He compiled a bWAR of 5.3 and an fWAR of 7.2 in that span and he hit .278/.336/.487 with an OPS of 104.

For comparison, from 2009-2013 (he only played 70 games in 2014 due to injury), he hit .307/.368/.552 with an OPS+ of 131 and a bWAR of 16.9 and an fWAR of 18.4.

I really could have him as low as four or as high as two on this list so I decided to split the difference and go with him at three.

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

Dante Bichette is another player that WAR is not a fan of and it’s because he didn’t walk a lot and he wasn’t good defensively.

He was the Rockies’ primary right fielder in 1993-1994 and 1996 but he also played in right field periodically in other seasons. As the primary right fielder, he compiled an fWAR of 5.2 and a bWAR of 4.7.

In those three seasons, he was an All-Star twice and ranked in 14th and 20th in MVP voting and he had an OPS+ of 113. His best season was in 1996 when he hit 31 home runs, 141 RBI, 198 hits, 114 runs, 31 stolen bases, and a slash line of .313/.359/.531.

DENVER, COLORADO – JUNE 27: Charlie Blackmon #19 of the Colorado Rockies runs to third base after hitting a 2 RBI triple in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field on June 27, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Honorable Mention: Charlie Blackmon (17.1 bWAR, 21.0 fWAR, parts of nine seasons as a Rockie)

Charlie Blackmon has been a center fielder for much of those nine seasons as only two of those seasons were as primary right fielder (2014 and 2019).

In those two seasons, he had a bWAR of 4.1 and an fWAR of 3.3. In both seasons, he was an All-Star and he had an OPS+ of 113.

He will likely surpass Cuddyer if he stays healthy and plays right field for the Rockies for a year or two more. As it is, it’s close but Blackmon just misses.

Number 1: Larry Walker (48.3 bWAR, parts of 10 seasons as a Rockie)

No surprise here. He’s the first Colorado Rockies player to ever become a Hall of Famer for good reason.

In the part of ten seasons as a Rockie, he was an All-Star four times, ranked in NL MVP voting six times which includes his 1997 NL MVP win, five Gold Glove Awards, and two Silver Slugger Awards. In 1,170 games as a Rockie, he had 258 home runs, 848 RBI, a .334/.426/.618 slash line, and an OPS+ of 147.

If it wasn’t for his extensive injury history as a Rockie and the Coors Field bias that many people outside of Denver don’t comprehend, he likely would have been inducted into the Hall of Fame much earlier.

Soon, we will also go through the top pitchers in the Rockies history so stay tuned for our list on them.

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