More than anything else with the 2015 Colorado Rockies, I’m surprised they weren’t the first team eliminated from playoff contention. I think that about sums things up – the same problems that have been prevalent in Colorado for years are still around.
Preseason Prediction: Chances are if Dinger was going to be arrested for not wearing pants, it would’ve happened by now. Also, the Rockies offense is probably too good to allow them to lose 100 games if everyone stays reasonably healthy; the pitching staff, though, just isn’t good enough to make them any kind of contender. The NL West will likely eat Colorado alive, and a 90-loss season or more seems inevitable. The Rockies would probably be best served by trading their most desirable assets (Tulowitzki, Gonzalez, even Justin Morneau), rebuilding around Arenado, Dickerson, LeMahieu and their homegrown talent, and hoping they can develop enough pitching to contend in the next few years. (Dave Tobener, March 24th)
What Went Right: Nolan Arenado continued to blossom into a superstar, hitting .285/.321/.576 with 38 homers and playing elite defense at third base. Carlos Gonzalez also rebounded from a poor start to the year to boost his season numbers to .268/.326/.552 with 37 dingers. Nick Hundley, Charlie Blackmon, and Ben Paulsen all played well in spots this year, with Blackmon homering 15 times and stealing 37 bases. Second baseman DJ LeMahieu also made the NL All-Star team, hitting .315/.372/.411 with six homers and 22 steals at second base. On the mound, there’s not much to say – Jorge de la Rosa was his typical sellf (4.28 ERA in 141 innings), both Chad Bettis and Jonathan Gray showed promise in 17 and seven starts respectively, and the club actually got some solid relief efforts from John Axford and Justin Miller.
The elephant in the room is the end of the Troy Tulowitzki era. After steadfastly refusing to move their franchise shortstop for the last couple of seasons, Colorado finally traded him (and reliever LaTroy Hawkins) to the Blue Jays this July for a package headlined by former first round pick Jeff Hoffman.
SAN DIEGO, CA – SEPTEMBER 7: Kyle Kendrick #38 of the Colorado Rockies pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park September 7, 2015 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
What Went Wrong: The Tulowitzki trade left some bad feelings on both sides because of the way it was handled, but those feelings should be tempered in time. Kyle Kendrick pitched to a 6.25 ERA in 23 starts. Eddie Butler and David Hale combined to make 26 starts, and were very bad. Relievers Christian Friedrich and Scott Oberg were dragged out of the bullpen the most and third-most times by Walt Weiss, and rewarded him with ERAs of 5.57 and 5.80. Tyler Matzek struggled with injury and ineffectiveness, walking more hitters than he struck out in just five starts in the majors.
Injuries resulted in Corey Dickerson playing 48 games and Justin Morneau playing 34. Wilin Rosario couldn’t do anything well aside from getting demoted to AAA, playing in just 74 games while not hitting well or playing good defense. Bench outfielders Brandon Barnes and Drew Stubbs struggled after being thrust into more important roles following Dickerson’s injury. Jose Reyes hit .270/.302/.411 in 35 games since coming over in the Tulowitzki deal, but that’s not good for Denver.
DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 04: Second baseman DJ LeMahieu #9 of the Colorado Rockies tracks down a pop fly to short rightfield by Kelby Tomlinson #37 of the San Francisco Giants for the first out of the third inning at Coors Field on September 4, 2015 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Most Surprising Player: DJ LeMahieu, by far. Here is his major league wRC+ from 2011 (his rookie year with the Cubs) to 2015: 44, 81, 68, 67, 99. He’s always been a guy that could field quite well, which could allow him to play every day in the majors, but he could become an actual asset with some more offense. Sure enough, LeMahieu has more than doubled his career fWAR this season, accruing 2.6 for the year while always setting career highs in pretty much every major offensive category. I don’t think anyone expected a breakout like this, and while much of that success is tied to a .379 BABIP, no one is complaining about that right now in Denver.
PHOENIX, AZ – JULY 03: Drew Stubbs #13 of the Colorado Rockies sits in the dugout before the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on July 3, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Most Disappointing Player: The Rockies didn’t trade Drew Stubbs this winter for a litany for reasons, but they really should have. Instead, they rolled him out for 51 games and 114 plate appearances, watching Stubbs hit .216/.286/.431 with five homers and a whopping 50 strikeouts. They paid him $5.8 million for the year and ended up releasing him in August. A year ago, he hit 15 homers, stole 20 bases, and had a wRC+ above 100 for only the second time in his career. Sell high, folks.
DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 04: Nolan Arenado #28 and Carlos Gonzalez #5 of the Colorado Rockies celebrate their victory over the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field on September 4, 2015 in Denver, Colorado. Arenado and Gonzalez had back to back solo home runs off of Chris Heston #53 of the San Francisco Giants in the first inning as the Rockies defeated the Giants 2-1. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
The Future: The future doesn’t appeal all that bleak for the Rockies. They bring back all of their core players next year, though Arenado will get pricey in his first year of arbitration. Their farm system is getting better, and they’ll have a little bit more payroll flexibility with Rosario likely getting nontendered and Justin Morneau’s option looking like it’ll be declined. If the Rockies can form some sort of plan to field an effective pitching staff, they could be a sneaky dangerous team next year – though as I mentioned in the intro, that’s same problem that has plagued the Rockies since their inception.
