Colorado Rockies 2008 Draft: The drafting of Charlie Blackmon
The Colorado Rockies were coming off of what ended up being their two worst drafts in their history but they were also coming off of their best year in franchise history.
In 2007, the Colorado Rockies clinched their first playoff birth since 1995 and for the first (and thus far, only time) in franchise history, they went to both the NLCS and World Series. However, they were dispatched in a sweep by the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.
The 2008 Rockies, though, were a far cry from the 2007 Rockies. In fact, entering the day of the draft, the Rockies were 22-38, which was dead last in the National League and second-worst in the majors.
Per usual at the time, the Rockies pitching staff was not great as their ERA was 4.92 at the time so they decided to draft a lot of pitchers. In fact, 15 of their first 23 draft picks were pitchers, including their first-round pick.
The Colorado Rockies drafted left-handed pitcher Christian Friedrich with their first-round pick in 2008.
The Colorado Rockies drafted left-handed pitcher Christian Friedrich with the 25th overall pick of the 2008 MLB Draft.
Friedrich signed and did make it to the majors with the Rockies but he only pitched in parts of three seasons with the Rockies and parts of four in the majors. He never had an ERA with the Rockies below 5.25 (88 ERA+) and he had a career rWAR of -0.7.
An even bigger issue for the Colorado Rockies is that of all 15 of the pitchers that they drafted in the first 23 rounds of the draft, Friedrich was the only pitcher that made it to the majors with any team. There was only one other pitcher drafted by the Rockies in general (Tyler Pill) that ever made the majors but Pill didn’t sign with the Rockies.
The Colorado Rockies drafted outfielder Charlie Blackmon in the second round of the 2008 MLB Draft
Here are some of the players drafted after Christian Friedrich in the first round and before the Colorado Rockies second round pick:
- 28th overall pick RHP Gerrit Cole, Yankees (four-time All-Star, finished in the top five of Cy Young voting five times, 31.7 rWAR) *Did not sign*
- 32nd overall pick RHP Jake Odorizzi, Brewers (one-time All-Star, 12.9 rWAR)
- 39th overall pick RHP Lance Lynn, Cardinals (two-time All-Star, three top six finishes in Cy Young voting, 29.4 rWAR)
- 43rd overall pick LHP Wade Miley, D-Backs (one-time All-Star, 16.6 rWAR)
- 2nd round pick (52nd overall) LHP Brad Hand, Marlins (three-time All-Star, 6.7 rWAR)
- 58th overall pick RHP Tyson Ross, A’s (one-time All-Star, 7.5 rWAR)
However, the Colorado Rockies made the best pick of anyone in the second round. They drafted outfielder Charlie Blackmon out of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Blackmon has been with the Rockies ever since. He has spent parts of 11 seasons in the majors with the Rockies with four All-Star game selections, two Silver Slugger Awards, a batting title, and a 5th place finish in NL MVP voting in 2017. He has a career 19.5 rWAR.
Coincidentally, there was one other second round draft pick in the 2008 Draft who had an rWAR above 10.0 … and he was a teammate of Blackmon. Tyler Chatwood was drafted by the Angels with the pick after the Rockies and he later spent parts of five seasons pitching for the Rockies.
Drafted with the next pick after Chatwood was future Rockies reliever Bryan Shaw. He has been good in the majors but, as Rockies fans know, he did not pitch well for the Rockies.
For the remainder of the draft, the Colorado Rockies only had one player that they drafted to make it to the majors with them.
That was infielder Thomas Field. Field was drafted in the 24th round and signed. He made it to the majors for the Rockies and played in 18 games in parts of two seasons with them. Overall, he played in 47 games and parts of four seasons in the majors with an rWAR of -0.2.
In the 48th round of the draft, the Rockies drafted a shortstop by the name of Austin Nola, who didn’t sign. He eventually by the Marlins in the 5th round of the draft in 2012. He later became a catcher for the Padres and Mariners, where he is today.
Some of the best players who were drafted and signed in the third round or later in the 2008 Draft include:
- RHP Craig Kimbrel, 3rd round, 96th overall, Braves (eight-time All-Star, five top 10 finishes in MVP voting, active saves leader entering 2022, 21.9 rWAR)
- SS Brandon Crawford, 4th round, 117th overall, Giants (three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, Silver Slugger Award winner, one top five NL MVP finish, 30.1 rWAR)
- SS Dee Strange-Gordon, 4th round, 127th overall, Dodgers (two-time All-Star, Gold Glove winner, Silver Slugger winner, 2015 NL batting title
- C Alex Avila, 5th round, 163rd overall, Tigers (one-time All-Star, Silver Slugger winner, 17.1 rWAR)
- INF Josh Harrison, 6th round, 191st overall, Cubs (two-time All-Star, one top 10 MVP finish, 16.2 rWAR)
- LHP Will Smith, 7th round, 229th overall, Angels (one-time All-Star, 6.5 rWAR)
- RHP Nathan Eovaldi, 11th round, 337th overall, Dodgers (one-time All-Star, one top 5 finish in Cy Young voting)
Next up in our draft series is the 2009 Draft, when the Rockies and more than a dozen other MLB teams passed up on the best players of the 2010s but the Rockies drafted a future All-Star in the 2nd round.