Colorado Rockies: Projecting the Opening Day lineup 2.0

8) Colorado Rockies catcher Elias Díaz

Elias Díaz struggled to start the 2021 season but his final four months of the season were phenomenal.

In his final 78 games (June 2 through the end of the season), he had 17 homers, 40 RBI, and a slash line of ,284/.348/.553. That’s a 162-game pace of 35 homers and 83 RBI so if he continues to hit like that, he will be higher up in the lineup.

But if he hits .246/.310/.465 so, for now, he would hit eighth in the Rockies lineup.

9) Colorado Rockies shortstop José Iglesias

José Iglesias won’t be able to replace Trevor Story offensively and if his defensive metrics from the last few seasons are any indication, he won’t replace him defensively either.

In the last two full seasons of games (2019 and 2021), Iglesias had an OPS of .724 and .701, which was nearly identical to former Rockies outfielder Raimel Tapia. The Rockies had Tapia leading off because they had a bad offense and no particularly good offensive player to hit leadoff since Charlie Blackmon was in the power spots.

Now that Blackmon leads off, Iglesias will hit ninth.

In comparison to what it looked like just three weeks ago, the Rockies lineup actually looks like a semi-decent lineup. Now, if all or most of them play close to their potential, maybe, just maybe, the Rockies could be a team that sneaks up on people.