Colorado Rockies: Can they "trust the process" as Phillies come to town?

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DENVER, CO – APRIL 6: Ryan McMahon #24 of the Colorado Rockies gestures to celebrate his third home run of the game, a seventh-inning solo shot, against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field on April 6, 2021 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

So if we’re left to our thoughts and devices often to figure out what the “process” might be in Colorado, we need to look at where the franchise is heading into this weekend series with the Phillies.

Its strength is its largely homegrown rotation while its offense is currently posting a league-worst 77 OPS+ as a team.

After years of sharing time, younger players are getting plenty of at-bats to determine which ones can flourish (Ryan McMahon, Raimel Tapia), which ones are struggling (Sam Hilliard, Josh Fuentes), and which ones may need more time to firmly answer questions about their future (Yonathan Daza, Dom Nunez).

The same can be said for a bullpen where an up-and-down Carlos Estevez joins new faces Robert Stephenson, Ben Bowden, and Jordan Sheffield as pitchers Bud Black must rely upon during an upcoming schedule that doesn’t feature another off day until May 6, then two more weeks until the next off day. As Black always says, “It’s going to take everyone” in his bullpen to succeed for the team to succeed. That will be tested for the rest of April and into May.

And if the test is failed by some, there are few players waiting in the wings who seem ready to embrace the bright MLB spotlight and potentially succeed at that level. A farm system that is often ranked near the bottom of the list shows that there is a lack of quality depth ready to move in and take over if needed.

“The process” seems to be following what Rockies owner Dick Monfort said at that now-infamous February press conference surrounding the Arenado trade:

"“But we’ve got a lot of guys that, to be quite honest, it’s time to cut bait. This could be the challenge that they need. This could be: They need to step up and fill in this void.”"

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Yes, on the surface, “the process” seems to be figuring out who can play and who can’t, and then filling in the holes from there. There are already holes to fill before any talk of trading Story or Jon Gray or any other player currently on the roster. “The process,” however, also has to include that there’s a plan for who might be coming in return for those players and what they mean for the future of the Rockies franchise, as well as how soon they can contribute at the Major League level.

Do you trust that? Based on recent decisions, most will answer no to that question. However, until leadership change occurs, it’s the process that will guide the future of the organization.

Next. What Trevor Story told us about his future, Arenado, and more. dark

Trust the process in Colorado? It would much easier to do if people knew what the process was … and believed those at the top knew as well.