5 reasons why the Colorado Rockies will not be a playoff contender

Earlier today, we gave five reasons why the Colorado Rockies believe they are a playoff contender. With this, we will look at the reasons why the Rockies will not be a playoff contender in 2022.

As with the other list, there are more reasons than just five but we will boil it down to just five.

Here are the top five reasons why the Colorado Rockies will not be playoff contenders in 2022.

The Colorado Rockies have lost Jon Gray and Trevor Story

The Colorado Rockies went 74-87 in 2021 and that was with Jon Gray and Trevor Story. Story was their best offensive player in 2021 outside of C.J. Cron. Gray was their 5th best starter last season but he still had an ERA+ of 104.

Defensively, José Iglesias will replace Story and he is a far cry from Story in all aspects of the game. Story is superior with contact, power, running/base stealing, and fielding.

In the lineup, Kris Bryant is going to replace Story. In the last two full seasons (2019 and 2021), Bryant has been the superior hitter. But the Rockies have had one of the worst offenses in the entire sport for years now. That leads to the second point.

The Colorado Rockies need at least one more bat

Put the emphasis on at least one more bat. In 2021, the Colorado Rockies had one player with an OPS+ of 104 or better with at least 200 at-bats: C.J. Cron. Even if Kris Bryant hits as he did in 2021 (124 OPS+), the Rockies still have one of the worst offenses in the league.

They need to trade for or sign another power bat. Preferably to contend in 2022, that needs to be before the start of the season. They could address it at the trade deadline but what if they are 14 games under .500 at the trade deadline like they were in 2021? Nobody is going to be a buyer with that record in July.