The three Colorado Rockies that Statcast did not like on offense in 2020

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SEATTLE, WA – AUGUST 08: Daniel Murphy #9 of the Colorado Rockies walks off the field after an at-bat during a game at T-Mobile Park on August, 8, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. The Rockies won 5-0. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies offense struggled for much of the 2020 season but there are three main players Statcast didn’t like, including a surprise or two.

As we discussed in this article on Friday, the Colorado Rockies did not have a banner season on offense in 2020. If you watched or listened to the Rockies in 2020 (or in the past few seasons), you likely already knew this. However, the more advanced numbers show that the Rockies were even worse than you may have thought.

As a result, we decided to dig into the numbers on a player level on Baseball Savant’s Statcast and see who seemed to be the Rockies’ worst players offensively in 2020 and a few of them may surprise you and others, not.

The one that’s not surprising

You should be least surprised by this name here: Daniel Murphy. He was not good for the Rockies in 2019 and it was even worse in 2020. By the end of the season, the Rockies largely relegated Murphy to the bench.

He was in the bottom ten percent in six different categories. Listed below are the stats he was in the bottom ten percent in, what the number was, the league average, and what percentile was in.

wOBA: .255, (.317 league average), bottom four percent
wOBAcon: .286 (.370), bottom four percent
Hard Hit %: 25.2 (34.9), bottom four percent
Exit Velocity: 85.1 MPH (88.3 MPH), bottom five percent
xwOBA: .259 (.321), bottom five percent
xwOBAcon: .291 (.376), bottom three percent

Fortunately, for Rockies fans, the Rockies will likely not exercise their mutual option with Murphy so hopefully, the salary that was previously allocated to him can be used more effectively in 2021.

Sep 12, 2020; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) reacts following his strikeout in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

One Rockies player that would usually be a surprise but wasn’t in 2020

By the number of stats are in blue (bottom ten percent of the league), the Colorado Rockies’ offensive stats by individual player are littered with blue. The total number of blue stats is what we are using for this exercise.

For this one, it may come as a surprise to some and not a surprise to others: it’s Nolan Arenado. Coming into 2020, he’s the last (or one of the last) guys that you would think that would be on here. However, with his shoulder injury that happened in the second week of the season but he tried to play through it but it ultimately cut his season in the final week fo the season, Arenado is on the list.

He had three offensive stats that were in the bottom ten percent of the league: wOBAcon (weighted on-base average on balls in play), xwOBA (expected weighted on-base average), and xwOBAcon (expected weighted on-base average on balls in play).

The former two stats were just in the bottom ten percent but the xwOBAcon was in the bottom one percent of the league

Here’s how his numbers looked:

wOBAcon: .311 (league average: .370)
xwOBA: .275 (league average: .321)
xwOBAcon: .278 (league average: .376)

If he’s healthy, Arenado is the Rockies best offensive player so heading into 2021 (assuming he’s on the Rockies), these really shouldn’t be a concern for Arenado or the Rockies.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 24: Raimel Tapia #15 of the Colorado Rockies at bat against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on September 24, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

The rather surprising Rockies player

Heading into 2020, some people probably would have guessed this Rockies player would be a part of this list if he got a vast majority of the playing time but even that wasn’t a guarantee heading into 2020 or even a few weeks into the 2020 season. That player is Raimel Tapia.

Tapia had a good season based on his batting average and on-base percentage but the more advanced numbers show some things that could be problematic.

First off, since he started starting for the Rockies full-time (August 11), he hit .339 with an on-base percentage of .389, both of which are phenomenal. His slugging percentage leaves a bit to be desired, though, as it was just .429, an indication of all but 11 of hits 57 hits in that span being singles.

More problematic, though, is his BABIP (batting average on balls in play). League average is usally around .300 but Tapia’s was very high: .406. That indicates that Tapia was a beneficiary of some good luck.

That and his lack of power are also shown from the three numbers on Statcast that he was in the bottom 10 percent in: barrel percentage, exit velocity, and expected slugging percentage (xSLG).

His barrel percentage was only 2.0%, which was in the bottom six percent (average barrel percentage was 6.4%), his average exit velocity was 85.3 MPH, which was also in the bottom six percent (average was 88.3 MPH), and his expected slugging percentage was .330, which is in the bottom seven percent (league average was .414).

Next. How things have changed for the Rockies oh so much since that night in Chicago in 2018. dark

For better or worse, the Rockies will likely rely on Tapia in their outfield more often in 2021. They will need him and others to keep up and/or put up better numbers to try to put themselves back into contention.

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The three Colorado Rockies that Statcast did not like on offense in 2020

The Colorado Rockies offense struggled for much of the 2020 season but there are three main players Statcast didn’t like, including a surprise or two.

The one that’s not surprising

One Rockies player that would usually be a surprise but wasn’t in 2020

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The rather surprising Rockies player

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