My big league baseball previews continue today with the Colorado Rockies taking center stage. Tough sledding recently for this franchise and the prospects for a sudden renaissance appear family limited.
Part of the problem for the Rockies is where they’re located. Position players can easily fall in love with half their games taking place in the hitter’s paradise known as Coors Field. But the opposite is true of most pitchers, and there’s the rub for the Rockies. They’re going to put up some daunting numbers with the sticks when they’re at home, but the ongoing problem of getting the opponents out remains a major problem.
It’s tough not to like the Colorado lineup, which can be really productive if they’re healthy. But health issues have been a recurring problem for both Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez and those two really need to start on the field if this team is to have any chance of climbing a rung or two this year in the NL West.
With Tulo and Cargo flourishing, the Rockies supporting cast gets even stronger. Justin Morneau is off a great season, Nolan Arenado is capable of being a perennial All-Star at 3B, and OF’s Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson are off breakout 2014 campaigns. DJ LeMaheiu is a solid 2B. Wilin Rosario had a so-so 2014 season, but he’s a good candidate to bounce back, as long as he stays healthy.
There’s the good news and now here’s the bad. This team still can’t pitch. Aside from Jorge De La Rosa, who actually loves to pitch at Coors, there are no sure things on this staff, either in the rotation or the bullpen. Jhoulys Chacin is an adequate big league starter, but he’s not a #2. Yikes is the best way to describe the rest of the projected starters. Jordan Lyles, Tyler Matzek and either Kyle Kendricks or Eddie Butler are the frontrunners to be #3-#5 and again, yikes.
LaTroy Hawkins is back for his final year as he’ll call it a day following this season. Hawkins is still this team’s most reliable reliever, and that’s just not a good thing. The rest of the pen is collection of guy who’ve either lost their luster or haven’t lived up to billing.
The Rockies will score loads of runs this season, especially at home. But whether it’s at Coors or on the road, run prevention looks like an issue, and that’s in spite of having some top notch defenders in the everyday lineup. The pitching has a chance to be even worse than usual. Therefore, I would make the ceiling for this team mid-70’s in wins, and that’s the bright outlook. More likely, Colorado limps home a little lower than that and I can’t see better than a fourth place finish for the 2015 Rockies.