Colorado Rockies 2022 player predictions: Charlie Blackmon

Entering the 2022 season, Charlie Blackmon is one of the elder statesmen on the Colorado Rockies.

The outfielder is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract extension that he signed before the start of the 2018 season. However, he will reportedly exercise his 2023 option next offseason, despite taking more than a 50 percent pay cut, as he will make $21 million in 2022 and $10 million in 2023.

However, for the Rockies, the extension hasn’t quite paid off as Blackmon’s numbers (especially his power numbers) have dropped significantly.

The 2022 projections for Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon are not great

When Charlie Blackmon signed his contract extension with the Colorado Rockies, he was coming off of his best MLB season. In 2017, he led the NL in batting average (.331), runs (137), hits (213) triples (14), a .331/.399/.601 slash line, and a 141 OPS+. He was an All-Star, won a Silver Slugger Awards, and came in 5th in NL MVP voting.

That .601 slugging percentage has since dropped to .502, back up to .576, and then down to .448 and .411 in 2021.

2021 was his first and, thus far, only season in which he had more than 150 plate appearances and an OPS+ below league average, as it was 96. He had an rWAR of 1.0, which was his lowest since 2013 (with the exception of the shortened 2020 season and it was still 0.9 in 59 games). His fWAR was 1.5, which was his lowest since 2014 (again, with the exception being 2020).

That’s why his ZiPS projections are not great.

ZiPS projects that he will have 16 homers and 62 RBI with a .276/.342/.442 slash line, an OPS+ of 96, and an fWAR of 0.5.

In 2022, things could change for Blackmon with the DH likely coming to the NL.

Blackmon has said that he does not want to be a DH but he could see his fair share (or more than his fair share) of appearances at the spot, depending on the makeup of the team. As things stand currently, the players that look like they’d get the most playing time as DH would be Connor Joe, Sam Hilliard, and Charlie Blackmon.

They would almost certainly revolve through the DH door with others as well as they reportedly don’t want a strict DH, per GM Bill Schmidt.

To be a more competitive team in 2022, the Rockies need Blackmon to regain some of his power and need him to DH sometimes as well. But if the last few seasons and father time are any indication, Blackmon will not be able to regain his former glory as a power hitter, which is what the Rockies truly need.