Colorado Rockies: 2020 is going to be a weird season

Colorado Rockies baseball is back, even if it’s only 60 games.

With Opening Day scheduled less than a month from now, all bets are off for the Colorado Rockies and baseball, as a whole. Projections are flimsier than ever. This season will be impossible to predict.

One winning streak long enough and any team could become a contender regardless of preseason expectations. In the same way, one cold stretch could cripple even the best teams.

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A shorter season is probably beneficial for the Colorado Rockies. Not only because the chaos of a free-for-all improves the chances of teams with lower expectations, but also because it means by the time the most important games of the season roll around, the team’s pitching (and particularly the bullpen) will still be fresh.

Typically, the Rockies’ bullpen seems to crumble even more than usual at the end of the year when their higher-than-average workload and the grind of pitching at altitude take their toll.

We will also see a DH at Coors Field in 2020. Regardless of what you think about that rule, it should be fun to watch. Plus, it adds just one more wrinkle into the chaos of this 2020 season. The Rockies have plenty of bats available to use in the role … and doing so will also free up playing time for some of their younger players who have already shown promise in brief stints with the club.

The shortened season means a position player with one great month will immediately be in the MVP discussion, whether or not that same player would have ever been able to sustain that success over an entire 162-game season. The same goes for pitchers.

Just think if German Marquez replicates his end to the 2018 season when he won pitcher of the month in September.  He posted identical 2.14 ERAs in six games in August and five in September, striking out a total of 101 batters. If he posted a similar performance over 2020’s 60-game season, the Rockies could have their first Cy Young Award winner.

Anything could happen this season. The chaos could benefit the Rockies, but it could also hurt them. But either way, at least it looks like we’re going to have baseball again.