Colorado Rockies: Three more bold predictions for the 2021 season

Rox Pile’s Ben Macaluso had three bold predictions for the Colorado Rockies yesterday in this article and I had one that some may think is bold earlier today but I think that there will be three more bold predictions involving the Colorado Rockies in 2021.

Frankly, I think there may be even more bold predictions than his three and my three but in a year where the Rockies are at a crossroads, a lot could happen.

Ryan McMahon will be the best Rockies player at the plate

This is a huge bold prediction for the current Rockies team on offense. However, by the end of the season, I think that it will be rather easy for him to achieve this.

Why?

I don’t think that Trevor Story will be on the team at season’s end and I’m not convinced that Charlie Blackmon will be either.

In fact, outside of the players who are no longer on the Rockies as well as Story and Blackmon, McMahon’s OPS+ was second-best on the team of players with at least 100 at-bats. Raimel Tapia was the leader in that category.

If McMahon cuts down on the strikeouts and gets more opportunities to get on base (which he will if he hits second in the lineup), it should be rather easy for him to become the best offensive player the Rockies have.

However, I think it will make it even easier to show that if he takes a leap (not a step, but a leap) forward in the on-base and slugging percentage categories.

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

The Jameson Hannah trade will be the best trade the Rockies made since the German Marquez trade

The best trade that the Colorado Rockies have made in recent memory is the Corey Dickerson trade. While Rockies fans were upset about it at the time, it ended up paying off for the Rockies in a big way as the deal netted them their current ace, German Marquez.

The Rockies are not known for their trades but the trade they made this offseason may be another one that pays dividends for them.

They acquired Robert Stephenson and Jameson Hannah from the Cincinnati Reds in return for Jeff Hoffman and Case Williams, who was the Rockies 4th round draft pick in 2020.

Hannah, 23, caught Rockies fans by storm in spring training, though. Alongside some spectacular defensive plays, he was excellent at the plate, hitting .357/.438/.571 with a homer, five RBI, and two stolen bases.

Despite not playing above Advanced-A ball, he will likely be in Triple-A Albuquerque once the minor league season begins in May and, perhaps, he will be in the Rockies outfield by the end of the year.

He also is the Rockies #13 prospect, according to MLB.com

If he can continue what he did in spring training, he will be a force in the Rockies outfield in the near future, and it will make the trade the best the Rockies have made since the Marquez trade and, perhaps, even better.