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3 takeaways from the Rockies first week of Spring Training
We are through just a week of baseball this spring, but there are certainly some headlines to look at.
By Tanner Vogt
The Rockies squad has been in Arizona plugging away and grinding to get ready for the 2024 season. They have been surprising and playing pretty well, I know it's spring, but it's nice to see the purple in the win column a little more often. Even with the small sample size this spring, there have been a few storylines and takeaways that we really need to highlight that could play a big factor in the 2024 season.
Elehuris Montero is ready to breakout
Coming into this spring, there seemed to be a bit of a battle for the bench role or backup role at first base and DH. Elehuris Montero and Michael Toglia seemed like the likely candidates to duke it out. Both have had a good spring, but Montero has been scorching hot!
Elehuris Montero has the Rockies third home run of the game in this blowout of the Cubs.
— Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons) February 29, 2024
Monty has 2 HR this spring to go along with 5 RBI and a 1.274 OPS. pic.twitter.com/vdY1TmTPGc
At the time of this writing, Montero is tied with Toglia for the team lead in home runs, with two. He leads the team and is tied for second in spring training with seven RBIs. Four of his five hits have been extra base hits, spending a lot of time at first base.
Perhaps the biggest positive for Montero has been the cut back on strikeouts. After running nearly a 37% strikeout rate in 2023, it was important for Montero to get this under control (strikeouts have never really been an issue for him). If Montero can keep up his ability to limit strikeouts, his immense power and hit tool could result in a really big breakout 2024 season.