Five Colorado Rockies that could be first-time All-Stars in 2021

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA – SEPTEMBER 26: Starting pitcher German Marquez #48 of the Colorado Rockies throws a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the seventh inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on September 26, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies are entering a territory where the tides are turning on who their All-Stars are. Despite how poorly the team could play, the Rockies will always have at least one All-Star player.

Case in point is in 2019. Despite being under .500 entering the All-Star break (44-45 record), the Rockies had four All-Stars (Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon, and David Dahl). However, half of those are no longer Rockies and Story could be on his way out of Denver soon. Blackmon also isn’t getting any younger, as he will be 35 in July, meaning he is the Rockies second-oldest player.

So, in 2021, we could see some new representatives for the Rockies at the All-Star Game in Atlanta.

Here are the five that could be the first-time All-Stars in 2021.

German Marquez

Despite having an ERA of 3.75 and 3.77 in two of the last three seasons, the Rockies ace has not been an All-Star. However, without the All-Star Game being played in 2020, Marquez not making an All-Star Game is more understandable.

2020 was his best season by ERA, FIP, starts, innings, and batters faced (of course, the latter three are compared to all other pitchers and not his career totals).

If he pitches like that in the first half of the season, he could find himself on the All-Star team.

The Rockies could have a few other pitchers on the All-Star team.

Kyle Freeland

2018 was Kyle Freeland’s best season but he was a snub for the 2018 All-Star team. In the first half of the season, he went 8-6 with an ERA of 3.11 with an opponent slash-line of .238/.302/.385 in 19 starts.

He was even better in the second half, though, as he went 9-1 with a 2.49 ERA in 14 starts, which was enough to earn the start for the Rockies in the Wild Card Game against the Cubs. He also ended up coming in 4th in the NL Cy Young Award voting.

He took a giant leap backwards in 2019 and 2020, he rebounded but wasn’t quite as good as he was in 2018. If he can get closer to what he was in 2018, he could very easily be an All-Star.

Antonio Senzatela

Antonio Senzatela also had his best season in 2020, as he had a 5-3 record with a 3.44 ERA. He also dropped his walk rate by nearly 50 percent.

If he can have that type of season for the Rockies again in 2021, he could also be an All-Star.

The Rockies could also have a reliever and a young position player become All-Stars.

Daniel Bard

The Rockies closer is the oldest player on the team but his 2020 season was one of the few bright spots in the Rockies bullpen in 2020. He pitched to a 3.65 ERA in 23 games with six saves. He had a FIP of 3.64, an ERA+ of 145, struck out 9.9 batters and walked 3.6 per nine innings.

While making an All-Star team as a reliever is extremely difficult, it would be a great continuation of Bard’s story of coming back to the majors after seven years, being a coach for a few seasons with Arizona, becoming the Comeback Player of the Year, and then becoming an All-Star for the first time in his career at the age of 36 (at the time of the All-Star Game).

Ryan McMahon

In the wake of the Nolan Arenado trade, the Rockies are relying on Ryan McMahon to step up to try and replace Arenado both defensively and offensively.

Those will be huge shoes to fill but if the Rockies are going to “shock the world,” in the words of Kyle Freeland, the Rockies are going to be relying on their young players on offense to take a leap forward and there may be no other guy with more pressure on him 2021 than Ryan McMahon.

Next. 3 Rockies who could make their MLB debut in 2021. dark

If he can even produce to 80-90 percent of Arenado before 2020, McMahon could also find himself in Atlanta in July.

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