Rockies Spring Training Update: Rotation battle, German Marquez, the offense powers on

This spring was expected to be a lot about position battles, seeing the young talent progress and focusing more on development than results. Boy, have we seen both though. The rotation has struggled at times (not surprising), but the offense is impressing, while a lot of the young guys that this organization will depend on for years are flashing their potential.

The Rockies have been fortunate, at least so far, that there have been no significant injuries. Last year, Brendan Rodgers went down very early with a shoulder injury that limited his production in 2023. The Rockies will hope to remain healthy through spring this year.

Rockies Spring Training Update: Starting rotation battle

This spring, one of the best position battles to watch was going to be in the starting rotation. The top three spots were locked down, as Bud Black stated, giving Kyle Freeland, Austin Gomber and Cal Quantrill some security. The starting rotation has been iffy this spring, but the bullpen has surprised.

• Peter Lambert (6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K)
• Dakota Hudson (3 IP, 3.00 ERA, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 2 K)
• Ryan Feltner (3 IP, 15.00 ERA, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K)

The battle was expected to be between veteran, Dakota Hudson, and youngsters, Ryan Feltner and Peter Lambert. Thus far, no one has been really impressive. Hudson has five walks in just three innings, while Feltner has only two strikeouts and got beat up in his last outing. Lambert has probably been the best of the bunch, but again, none of them are really separating themselves from the others. This will be a battle that might take a few more starts to shake out.

Rockies Spring Training Update: German Marquez

The rotation will always be one of the struggles for the Rockies, but they received some good news from GM, Bill Schmidt, this week. Rockies ace, German Marquez, who underwent Tommy John surgery last year, is scheduled to throw a bullpen this week.

Marquez is expected to rejoin the team sometime after the All-Star break, setting him up to get a could run through the end of the year, in hopes of a full 2025 season. This could really start to benefit the Rockies as they will look to continue the development of their youth to pair with the experience of guys like Marquez.

The offense is showing some big time pop

The position battles this spring were going to be pretty entertaining to watch, but the overall offensive performance is what has caught many fans attention. While youngsters like Elehuris Montero and Michael Toglia are trying to prove themselves, Kris Bryant and Ryan McMahon are looking to prove to everyone that they can still be really good players.

• Elehuris Montero (.389/.455/.1455, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K)
• Kris Bryant (.286/.313/.1099, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K)
• Michael Toglia (.350/.435/.1135, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K)
• Ezequiel Tovar (.538/.571/.1648, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K)

This spring, the Rockies are tied for third in team home runs (15), second in runs scored (76) behind the Dodgers, first in stolen bases (20), and surprisingly tied for eighth in walks (46). This offense isn't going to be a top five offense in baseball, but we could get into August and be looking a pretty underrated offense, one that could be exciting to watch with all of the home runs and stolen bases.

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