Colorado Rockies: Their Opening Day 2022 dream lineup

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.

Hitting cleanup for the Colorado Rockies, the left fielder: Nick Castellanos

If, and it’s a big “if”, the Colorado Rockies could get Nick Castellanos in a free-agent deal, that would be huge for them.

In 2021, he hit .309/.362/.576 with 34 home runs, 100 RBI, 38 doubles, and an OPS+ of 136. That helped get him to his first All-Star selection.

Ideally, Castellanos, who will turn 30 in March, is a right fielder so the Rockies could use him there and move Charlie Blackmon in left field or DH one of them. But, at least in our scenario, neither one will be the designated hitter because the #5 hitter is the Rockies designated hitter.

Nelson Cruz would hit fifth for the Colorado Rockies and be the designated hitter

Nelson Cruz would, realistically, become a member of the Colorado Rockies only if the designated hitter is implemented in the National League.

Cruz was featured in our list of three free agent bats that would be (relatively) cheap for the Rockies.

As we mentioned in that article, Cruz, 41, has had at least 32 homers and 86 RBI per season, and an OPS+ of 147 since 2014. His lowest OPS+ in that span was in 2021. It was 130. That’s the exact OPS+ C.J. Cron had for the Rockies last season.

So his worst season in the last eight still would have been tied for the best by a Colorado Rockie in 2021.

He wouldn’t play the field as he has played 10 games in the field total since the start of the 2017 season so the Rockies would have to give up some versatility but they need to address their offense and Story returning and adding Cruz and Castellanos would do just that.

Hitting sixth for the Colorado Rockies, third baseman Ryan McMahon

Overall on the season, Colorado Rockies infielder Ryan McMahon’s best tool was his defense, which should (but, unfortunately, probably won’t) win him a Gold Glove and the Platinum Glove Award. He is also versatile as he can play all four infield positions but third base is his natural position and the position that he played 70 percent of the time in 2021.

But he did hit 23 home runs and he had 86 RBI with a slash line of .254/.331/.449. However, his season changed dramatically after June 15.

Through June 15, he hit 16 homers and had 43 RBI with a slash line of .261/.308/.527 in 67 games (62 starts). He was even fourth in the NL in homers.

But after that, his power plummeted … but he got on-base at a much higher clip. He only had 7 more homers in 84 games (77 starts) with 43 RBI. He batting average dropped slightly as he hit .247 in that span but his OBP was .348 and his slugging percentage plummeted to .383.

In the sixth spot, McMahon could be utilized well whether it’s the power-version of him or the on-base version of him. He, in theory and hope, wouldn’t have much traffic on base ahead of him since the four guys after Blackmon in the lineup are all 30-40 homer threats. But McMahon could easily be a 30-40 homer threat if he hits like he did early in the season (he was on pace for 39 homers through June 15).

He would also be another lefty after four straight right-handers.

Hitting seventh for the Colorado Rockies, second baseman Brendan Rodgers

Like Ryan McMahon, Colorado Rockies infielder Brendan Rodgers can be a great offensive threat.

When healthy and when given a chance to play for the Rockies in 2021, Rodgers flourished.

Overall, he hit 15 homers and had 51 RBI with a slash line of .284/.328/.470 in 102 games but from July 26 on (55 games), he hit .299/.326/.502 with 10 home runs and 31 RBI. If he had that for a full, 162-game season, he would have had 29 home runs and 91 RBI.

That’s not bad at all for a seventh-place hitter.

Hitting eighth for the Colorado Rockies, catcher Elias Díaz

Elias Díaz hit .246/.310/.464 with 18 home runs and 44 RBI in 2021 in a season that was the best offensive season for a Rockies catcher in a long time.

But from June 25 on (67 games, 55 starts), he hit .297/.356/.589 with 16 homers and 36 RBI. That pace for 162 games is 39 homers and 87 RBI. He wouldn’t be playing 162 games but if the Rockies could get 20 homers and 60 RBI from their catcher hitting eighth, their dream lineup would be phenomenal.

Hitting ninth for the Colorado Rockies, center fielder Sam Hilliard

Sam Hilliard would be the biggest enigma in the lineup but with the guys ahead of him, he can have little pressure to perform.

He hit .215/.294/.463 with 14 homers and 34 RBI in 81 games. If he has a poor average and OBP again, he should be lower in the lineup but if he can turn that around and keep the power numbers up, the Rockies would, arguably, have themselves the best ninth hitter in baseball and the deepest lineup in baseball.

As Rox Pile’s Luke Mullins asked over the weekend, what’s next for Hilliard? A low-pressure situation where he could play often and patrol the vast expanse of the Coors Field outfield could be best for him in 2022.

If struggles enough offensively, the Rockies could have Garrett Hampson be the primary center fielder and he could still hit ninth.

Final Thoughts and an honorable mention

This is a dream lineup for a reason. The chance that the Rockies re-sign Story and sign Castellanos and Cruz is … negligible … at best. But they could, if they ponied up enough money, could sign all three.

In the very likely event that Castellanos and/or Cruz is not signed, Connor Joe would take over in the leadoff spot and play left field in the “dream lineup” and Blackmon, Story, and Cron would likely move down a spot and someone else would be added in as the DH or Blackmon would slide in as DH.

Colorado Rockies fans love Connor Joe. It’s as simple as that.

Part of it is shown from the chants at Coors Field (Joe! Joe! Joe!), part of it is because of his recovery from his battle with testicular cancer, and part of it is because in his short time with the Rockies before a hamstring injury, he was one of the best offensive players for the Rockies.

He hit .285/.379/.469 with eight homers, 35 RBI, and an OPS+ of 117 in 211 plate appearances. If he played at the same pace for the entire season, he would have the second-highest OPS+ of any player on the Rockies.

If he can keep produce at that level and, specifically, get on base at that clip, the Rockies and Rockies fans would love to have him leading off and in left field.

But he still has to show that he can repeat that on a consistent basis at the MLB level.