Colorado Rockies: Who should they have as their designated hitter in Seattle?

For the first time in 2021, the Colorado Rockies will be utilizing the designated hitter on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon when they take on the Seattle Mariners.

In 2020, the Rockies had the designated hitter due to the changes due to the pandemic and, likely, with a new CBA in 2022, the Rockies and the rest of the National League will have a designated hitter, as the American League has had since 1973.

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The Colorado Rockies have a few players that they could use as their DH

The Rockies have some options as their designated hitter. The Rockies could decide to DH one of their outfielders for the two-game series and, therefore, Garrett Hampson would get some more playing time in the outfield.

However, the Rockies should DH some of their infielders. Lately, manager Bud Black has been juggling the team’s five main infielders: C.J. Cron, Ryan McMahon, Trevor Story, Joshua Fuentes, and Brendan Rodgers. With the DH, it is a perfect time to get all of them in the lineup.

The best way for that is to have C.J. Cron be the designated hitter for one game and have Trevor Story be the DH for another game.

For Cron, after going through a 6-for-49 cold snap in 18 games, he was much better in his last seven games (the entirety of the most recent homestand) when he hit .417 with four bombs and 10 RBI. But Joshua Fuentes is the superior defender at first base.

Trevor Story could also be DH’d (ideally, on Wednesday) for three main reasons. First off, the Rockies will be playing a day game after a night game. Secondly, the Rockies could keep his bat in the lineup while still giving him a quasi-day off. And thirdly, the Rockies could see Brendan Rodgers at shortstop, his natural position, and the position that he will likely be playing every day here soon, assuming the team trades Trevor Story in the near future.

The Rockies won’t have the designated hitter again until August 10 and 11, when the Rockies go to Houston to face the Astros for a two-game series that, like the series with Seattle, is a night-game followed by a day-game.