3 reasons the Colorado Rockies could be worse than people think in 2022

Last month we discussed three reasons the Colorado Rockies could be better than people think in 2022.

Since the owners insist on extending the lockout after more than reasonable demands by their workforce to put an end to service time manipulation, here we are not talking about actual games.

Here’s to crossing our fingers and hoping not too many games are missed in April. In the meantime, let’s discuss how this season could be more difficult for the Rockies in 2022.

The MLB lockout slows development for the Colorado Rockies

Outside of Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story, the Colorado Rockies are made up of a young core that will need every bit of time to develop. That especially goes for the pitching staff. Austin Gomber started the season off rough but progressively got better as he adjusted to the team throughout the year until an injury ended his season.

Rehabbing from that, especially in spring training would do wonders for Gomber and without that, April and May could be a rough start. That does not just apply to one player.

Usually, the Rockies start seasons incredibly hot. It’s when June or July rolls around that reality starts to sink in. Even take the pandemic shortened 2020 season, for example, they started off as one of the best teams in the league that season and the playoffs seemed like a lock even if it was because the playoffs were expanded so widely.

Maybe the way they played in the latter half of that season was their true colors but the Rockies didn’t have much time to sort things out. Canceling spring training this year and missing games will have a similar effect.

Colorado Rockies fans don’t show up

This never happens and seems like a ridiculous prospect for the Colorado Rockies. No matter how the team plays on the field, Coors Field is always packed.

Going to a game is easily one of the best things to do in Denver in the summer. That, of course, has been part of the problem since 1993 with this team is that there is not much incentive to spend and get better if ticket sales are through the roof. With the lockout now, the owners have signaled that they do not care about the fans (let alone the players) and growing this sport to the next generation.

The league has already struggled to compete for eyeballs and this only makes a fanbase more cynical. Just ask everybody who experienced the 1994 lockout that canceled the World Series.

Baseball is still recovering. With a tight economy as we are still in a pandemic two years later, fans may not be clamoring back the way they were in 2021. Homefield advantage at Coors is real.

We can talk about batting and pitching splits and how that affects their record in another article. But the Rox were 48-33 at home last season. That doesn’t happen if the Rockies faithful doesn’t show up in droves. Hopefully, we’re talking about games here very shortly.

Bonus: DH in the NL

Of course, the prospect of a DH at Coors Field gets the mind churning. The offense could be more dynamic after struggling for the past couple of years. There would be more spots in the lineup for potential free agents like Bryant and Schwarber that would have deterred some options in the past.

It could give Charlie Blackmon time to rest in the outfield even though he is very adamant about playing his position full time. But then you remember that this staff has to pitch to a DH as well. The universal DH can very quickly turn Coors into a pinball machine.