Rox Pile
Fansided

Colorado Rockies: Their Opening Day 2022 dream lineup

By Noah Yingling

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 02: Nelson Cruz #23 of the Tampa Bay Rays in action against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on October 02, 2021 in New York City. The Rays defeated the Yankees 12-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 02: Nelson Cruz #23 of the Tampa Bay Rays in action against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on October 02, 2021 in New York City. The Rays defeated the Yankees 12-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 6
Next
Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies
DENVER, COLORADO – SEPTEMBER 21: Charlie Blackmon #19 of the Colorado Rockies runs after hitting a RBI double against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth inning at Coors Field on September 21, 2021 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Overall in 2021, the Colorado Rockies had a weak offense. In fact, their offense had an OPS+ of 87, which was tied for the third-lowest in the National League.

Simply put, to be a competitive team in 2022, the Rockies will have to field a better lineup so we decided to look at what their dream lineup might look like.

As always, though, for these exercises, we take the “dream” lineup with a grain of salt. Rockies fans can dream that Nolan Arenado will return and that Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani will be wearing purple. That doesn’t mean that we won’t take a few stretches in this hypothetical lineup, but they will be within reason and with players the Rockies, at least in theory, could have on their team in 2022.

Lastly, we are including a designated hitter. Want a better lineup? Unless the pitcher is the aforementioned Ohtani, that’s the way you get a better lineup (another bat). Don’t like the DH? You’ll have to get over it eventually because whether it comes in 2022 (which it likely will) or later, it’s coming eventually.

So let’s dive in.

Leading off for the Colorado Rockies, the right fielder: Charlie Blackmon

You may be surprised by this Charlie Blackmon is in right field and not the designated hitter. The reason why will be mainly revealed later. However, part of the reason is that in right field, Blackmon is a much better outfielder in right field than in center field.

He is still not an above-average outfielder but his -3 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) in 2021 is much better than the -8 DRS he had in 2019 and the -26 he had in center field in 2018.

But if he can have that season defensively again in 2022, that will be fine because his bat is more important.

Blackmon has had an on-base percentage of .350 or higher in every season since 2016. That would be best at the top of the lineup especially since Blackmon’s power has dropped drastically since 2019. His slugging percentage has dropped from .576 in 2019 to .448 in 2020 to .411 in 2021.

That is a guy that needs to be at the top of the lineup and not in the middle.

Home/Colorado Rockies News