Dodgers: An In-Depth Look at the Colorado Rockies

Question One – Can the Rockies’ rotation repeat its success from last year?

My thoughts: The Rockies rotation is young. But, with youth does not always come success and especially so when they have to pitch in the hardest pitching environment in the league. That being said, the Rockies do have a solid core of pitchers capable of having back to back successful years and that group is headlined by the often injured Jon Gray.

If Gray can stay healthy the Rockies have a pitcher in him that is capable of really giving the team a chance to win every five days. The problem for continued success will come from those pitchers after Gray. This group consists of German Marquez, Kyle Freeland, Tyler Anderson, and Chad Bettis.

That group of four could be an issue and the only reason I say this is because of how inconsistent they looked in spring training. If they can not pitch well in Arizona I can only wonder what will happen in Colorado.

Rox Pile:

Noah Yingling- I think that, if they are healthy, the Rockies starting staff will be able to replicate their success. In fact, I think that they could even be better than they were last season. I think that the main issues will be innings limitations and health. Last year, Jon Gray was injured for much of the first three months of the season. He was pretty after his return on June 30 (10-4 record, 3.58 ERA, 98 innings, 23 walks, 103 strikeouts) and he was dominant from July 19 through the rest of the regular season (14 starts, 8-3, 2.88 ERA, 84 1/3 IP, 18 BB, 87 K, .248/.291/.375 opponent slash line). Tyler Anderson only made two appearances, on June 22 and 25, between May 30 and September 11, so health is key for him as well.

The two starters that I will be interested to see develop are Antonio Senzatela and Kyle Freeland. For Senzatela, he will almost definitely start the season in the bullpen or in Triple-A. However, the Rockies have to decide whether or not they actually want him to be a starter or if they want him to be a reliever. He did both last season and he was actually better as a reliever. If had the choice, I would make him a reliever. Outside of Jon Gray, he has the best fastball any of the players vying for a spot and I think that would work well in the bullpen. He doesn’t strike out a ton (6.6 per nine in his career) but in relief last year, he nearly struck out a batter per inning.

For Freeland, I’m interested to see how he will be because of the sheer volume of innings that he will pitch in the rotation. Last season, he pitched 156 innings for the Rockies. He pitched 162 innings between Double-A Hartford and Triple-A Albuquerque. Prior to 2016, though, his career high in innings was 46 2/3 in 2015. I think that if he can avoid injury and give the Rockies 175 or more innings, he will even be better than he was last season.

Question Two – Can David Dahl return to the Rockies lineup and make an impact after an injury-laden 2018?

My Thoughts: I would be lying if I said I did not think David Dahl is a fantastic player. His defense is sharp in all three outfield spots and his bat is electric and heavily oriented to make contact before swinging for the fences.

That being said, last year was a mess for the young outfielder mostly due to a rib injury. The ailment caused Dahl to get less than 100 at-bats in the entire season and all of them were at the Triple-A level.

The Rockies made it clear that Dahl will open the season in Triple-A for the second year in a row and that puts a serious damper on his upside for 2018 but hope, in my opinion, should not be lost.

Rox Pile:

Noah Yinling- No, at least not this season. He’ll start in Triple-A and depending on the health and performance of the Rockies outfield, I think that he may not see much time in the outfield for the team this season. However, next season, in my opinion, will be his year to take over in the outfield and show whether or not he will be an impact player.

Question Three- What do you expect from Trevor Story in 2018?

My Thoughts: Trevor Story was a fairytale in his rookie season and more of a nightmare than anything in his sophomore year. His OPS+, which was 122 in 2016, plummeted to an unsightly 86 in 2017 and that was not his only problem.

Story got hurt at the beginning of the year and upon returning, the young shortstop looked lost at the plate where his on-base-percentage was .308 and his standard OPS was just .765. These were not ideal numbers for someone who showed so much promise but unlike David Dahl, I think last year’s successful campaign was more of a fluke than anything.

Trevor Story, when healthy showed the world what he is made of and while I do not think he will homer in every at-bat there is no doubt in my mind he can be a productive middle of the order batter.

Look for Trevor Story to rewrite his book this year.

Rox Pile:

Kevin Henry- Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post called Story the spring MVP for the Rockies. The week I spent in spring training, he looked much more focused at the plate and even better in the field. He was hitting the ball to all fields and not chasing some of the pitches he did in 2017 that caused him to rack up those 190 Ks.

I think Story will be a key to the Rockies offense this season. Colorado is counting on a rebound year from him, Carlos Gonzalez and Ian Desmond. Those are big bets but it’s one of the reasons why the Rockies only signed Chris Iannetta in the offseason as a new face.

Question Four – What are your predictions for the Rockies in 2018?

This slide is one I will leave to the guys at Rox Pile and I will also take this opportunity to thank them again for their time and thoughts!

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Rox Pile:

Kevin Henry- I think the Rockies will finish in second in the NL West but it won’t be enough to make the postseason. Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Philadelphia all improved and the division will be tougher than ever with San Francisco, Arizona, and LA all fighting for October as well.

I think the NL West teams cannibalize each other where only the division champ heads to the postseason … and I think that team is the Dodgers.

Next: Colorado Rockies opponent insider preview: Los Angeles Dodgers

Noah Yingling: I agree with Kevin to an extent on the cannibalizing in the NL West. The Giants are better, the D’Backs are good (nowhere near as good as last year, though). However, I think that the Rockies will be in second place and getting the first NL Wild Card. I predict that they will be 90-72 and they will face the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card game. I think that they will win it and they will face the Dodgers in the NLDS.