Predicting the Colorado Rockies 2024 team award winners

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The beginning of the baseball years calls for team projections, player projections and all sorts of hopes and expectations. We get award predictions, power rankings and everything that gets us excited about the season coming up. This Rockies team should be an exciting team and, though they won't be in contention for the postseason, hopefully they have a few players in contention to win some awards.

Team Cy Young - Kyle Freeland

In a depleted and inexperienced pitching staff, it is a hometown kid and veteran, Kyle Freeland that will be the best in the rotation. That is not to take anything away from Freeland, however, as he looks poised to bounce back in a big way this year.

Freeland has struggled to dominate hitters, with an underwhelming fastball that has decreased in velocity (when everyone's velocity is increasing). His strikeout numbers have decreased pretty much every year since his really good 2018 season, and he hasn't been able to post an above average season since 2018 (aside from a 2.5 fWAR season in 2022).

This spring, Freeland's velocity has returned to a similar mark as it was in 2018, and this spring he has looked like his former dominant self. Freeland should have a really solid bounce back year, as the Cy Young winner for the Rockies.

Reliever of the year - Justin Lawrence

Justin Lawrence was the second most called upon reliever by Bud Black in 2023. He made 69 appearances and was really solid with a 3.72 ERA. He also put up a really good strikeout rate of 9.4 per nine innings. He throws from a funky arm angle that makes it really hard to elevate against him as evidence of his elite home run rate of .6 HR/9.

With the departures of a number of guys from last year's team, including Pierce Johnson, Brent Suter, Connor Seabold (who combined for 157.2 innings last year), plus a number of other guys who filled in occasionally, there are going to be a lot of innings to cover. Justin Lawrence may not throw more innings, but I expect him to continue to grow. I expect Lawrence to return to double digit strikeouts while cementing himself as the go to, high leverage arm this season that Bud Black can depend on.

Team MVP - Nolan Jones

This is just too easy of a pick. There is no other option that will come close to putting up the type of season that Jones should. It needs no explanation, but I will tell you what Nolan Jones can become.

In just 106 games, in his first full season in the major leagues, as a 25-year-old, Nolan Jones put together one of the best rookie seasons in team history. He put up a 3.7 fWAR, in route to a 135 wRC+ and a 20-20 season.

2024 could be an even better season for the soon to be 26-year-old. A strikeout rate of 29.7% in 2023, is probably a little higher than the Rockies and Jones would like. If he can cut that bey 2% or so, along with playing 150 games, we could easily be looking at a 30-30 season with a plus defender and I wouldn't be surprised to see him approach a 5 fWAR season this year; Jones is well on his way to becoming a superstar in the MLB.

Rookie of the Year - Hunter Goodman

The Rockies had a few options here that I could've gone with, but the outfielder/first baseman with elite level power earns the nod. The former Memphis product has hit 70 home runs over the last two years in the minor leagues. He struggled in limited action in 2023, with a strikeout rate of 31.2% and that continued this spring, resulting in him being left off the Opening Day roster.

In 2024, Goodman should still see quite a bit of playing time between the corner outfield spots as well as some first base and DH. Goodman only played in 15 games in Triple-A last year, so expecting him to dominate at the major league level was probably a little overzealous. He has hit everywhere he has played, and I expect more of the same this year; Goodman should see at least 80-100 games and with his high offensive upside, we could be looking at a 20-home run season and a guy that could become a 30-home run, middle of the order bat.

Team Gold Glove - Brenton Doyle

It's rare for a team to have multiple gold glove level defenders, a lot of teams maybe have one or so, with a couple above average defenders. The Rockies are in rare company with a couple of former gold glove winners, as well as two or three other defenders that should win a few gold gloves throughout their career.

This came down to shortstop, Ezequiel Tovar, who was a top three defensive shortstop in all of baseball last year and Brenton Doyle, who may be the best defender, regardless of position, in all of baseball.

Doyle should win another gold glove in 2024, with the speed and analytics that support an elite defender, along with one of the best arms in baseball (registering a 105 mph throw). This team will be one of the better defensive teams to watch and should be regularly featured in "ESPN's Top 10 plays".

Comeback Player of the Year - Kris Bryant

This seems like another easy choice here; Kris Bryant has been nothing but a disappointment since joining the Rockies. The expectations for the $26-million-dollar man were sky high and he hasn't been healthy enough to showcase anything. His spring has looked good and if he can remain healthy, it could be a solid year for the former MVP.

Bryant was one of the best hitters in baseball for quite a while, while being one of the more dependable players for a long stretch. A move to first base should help keep Bryant healthier; the Rockies also have a number of corner outfielders and infielders to give Bryant regular rest. Bud Black would be smart to have built in days off, at least once a week to keep him healthy, while also spending some time at DH.

Bryant is poised for a really good year and while I have him as the bounce back player of the year for the Rockies, he could surprise everyone and be right behind Nolan Jones for the team MVP.

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