5 reasons why the Colorado Rockies think they are playoff contenders

4) The Colorado Rockies think that they can’t be as bad as they were on the road

The Colorado Rockies were awful on the road in 2021. If it wasn’t for going 7-2 on their lone road trip in September, the Rockies would have been in the history books as one of the worst road teams in MLB history.

Even with that road trip where they hit .245 with an OPS of .772 and an average of 4.9 runs per game, the team only hit .217 on the road. That is the worst in a full season since the 1972 Chicago White Sox. They also had a sub .650 OPS, which is truly awful.

Overall, they went 26-54 on the road (remember: they only played in 161 games in 2021, with 80 on the road). Even if they go 41-40 on the road in 2022 (as they did in 2017), that’s an 89-73 team. In 2022, that’s a team that will almost certainly make the playoffs.

5) The Colorado Rockies bullpen is much better

The Achilles heel of the Colorado Rockies in 2021 was their bullpen. They had a staggering 30 blown saves. The all-time leaders in blown saves by a team in a single season is 34, which both the 2004 Rockies and 2021 Phillies.

From the beginning of the 2021 season through July 31, the Rockies had a bullpen ERA of 5.41, which was dead last in baseball. From August 1 through the end of the season, the Rockies bullpen had an ERA of 4.17, which was 16th in baseball.

That was due to nearly every Rockies reliever being better in that span but namely, Carlos Estévez, Lucas Gilbreath, Robert Stephenson, and Jhoulys Chacín.

Now, they have an established closer in Alex Colomé, who is also a big groundball pitcher, which is key for success at Coors Field.

The addition of Colomé also lengthens their bullpen and gives it some more depth, which was desperately needed.

Later today, we’ll provide the counterpoint to this: 5 reasons why the Rockies are not playoff contenders.