4 things we hope happen for the Rockies in 2024

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The regular season is here! We have games that mean something and can finally start keeping track of the record and stats knowing that they actually mean something for this team and players moving forward. After a long offseason of inactivity and relatively inconsequential additions, we finally get to see the Rockies in action!

This is an important season for a lot of Rockies players that could determine their futures with the club. This season isn't one where the Rockies will go all out in hopes of contending for a playoff spot. This season will decide a lot of players future with the team and what their roles will be; it could also decide quite a few players futures in the MLB as a whole.

The Rockies avoid another 100 loss season

A lot of talk in the 2023 season was about just how bad the Rockies team was. The squad was rarely competitive, the pitching staff struggled to do much of anything and constantly looked like nothing more than a mediocre Triple-A staff. They were about to develop a potential superstar in Nolan Jones, along with their shortstop of the future, Ezequiel Tovar. Though everyone knows that the 2024 squad won't be competitive, the Rockies need to take some serious steps forward and part of that progress needs to yield results; the Rockies need to avoid another embarrassing 100+ loss season again.

During a rebuild, the results aren't usually going to be very good, but the focus is on the development of the players. This year should follow a similar focus for the Rockies and their fans, but at the same time, it needs to translate to some success. With Nolan Jones, Brenton Doyle, Ezequiel Tovar, Brendan Rodgers and a few starting pitchers taking some steps forward along with Ryan McMahon and Kris Bryant bouncing back a little bit and providing some leadership for this young team, they really need to take some pride in the results and avoid another 100-loss season.

The Rockies find the Robin to Nolan Jones' Batman

After just talking about how disappointing the 2023 season was and how the upcoming season needs to be a change in culture, there were still some bright spots. There was no one more surprising than outfielder, Nolan Jones. The star acquired in a trade with the Guardians went on to have an incredible season, earning league wide recognition.

Important for the Rockies in 2024, is to find him a co-star. Nolan Jones is without a doubt the star of this team moving forward, he is the franchise cornerstone that a rebuild can hitch its wagon to. However, he needs his "Robin" to be able to take this team to the levels of competing in the best division in baseball.

The Rockies have a few options here to become Jones' co-star. I look for Brenton Doyle to become that guy as he is extremely exciting to watch play defense with his incredible speed and 80-grade arm. He has made some swing changes and this spring it has translated to a lot of success. This year could be a big year for Doyle, as he could look to become Jones' right-hand man.

A healthy season from Kris Bryant

The highest paid Rockies' player in franchise history and has been easily the most disappointing player over his tenure with the club. Kris Bryan, prior to joining the Rockies, was the picture of good health and was one of the best hitters in the game. This young team could really use a veteran presence in the middle of the lineup to support the likes of Nolan Jones, Ezequiel Tovar, Michael Toglia and Brendan Rodgers. This team won't contend, but avoiding the dumpster fire that was 2023 is extremely important and Bryant staying healthy for 120-130 games would be paramount in that goal.

Find a starting pitcher that can become a future mid-rotation contributor

There is always the stigma that the Rockies cannot get good pitching, or even just pitching in general, and for the most part that is true. However, the Rockies have occasionally developed a solid back-end starter, and in other cases, a solid number two or three starter. With a pitching staff that is going to struggle and is already off to a tough start, finding a future mid-rotation starter might be hard, but that should be a big goal for this group in 2024.

This team will rely a lot on veterans Kyle Freeland, Cal Quantrill and Dakota Hudson, but we have seen how two of those have gone so far and it's not pretty. They have a couple of unproven arms in Ryan Feltner and Austin Gomber that will look to make a name for themselves this year, as well as a lefty that we saw in the spring and should debut later this year. Carson Palmquist looked really good in spring and despite his funky delivery, looks like he might be able to hold down a rotation spot in the future.

Last year, Feltner looked solid and like there might be some upside before an injury took away most of the rest of the year. One of the only Rockies pitchers with serious strikeout stuff, Feltner could become the best arm in this rotation relatively quickly. He's changed his repertoire and him putting it all together and becoming a solid mid-rotation arm would benefit this pitching staff a ton!

The other arm that has the potential to take some steps forward and become a legit mid-rotation arm is Austin Gomber. After posting solid strikeout numbers in 2018, 2020 and 2021, his strikeout numbers have taken a serious hit in 2022 and 2023 and finding that previous strikeout potential will be key in him becoming a mid-rotation arm. A key piece in the Nolan Arenado trade, Gomber needs to live up to his potential this year and prove he can be at least a number two or three starter.

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