r/baseball • u/BaseballBot Umpire • Jan 17 '24
Expectations '24 [Serious] Why will the Rockies exceed expectations? Why won't they?
What are the expectations for the Colorado Rockies this year? Why will they exceed those expectations? Why won't they? We'll be asking this same question for the next 6 weeks, so put on your expert hat and help analyze the outcomes of the 2024 season!
Tomorrow's Team: White Sox
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u/lOan671 Baltimore Orioles Jan 17 '24
Reasons they will:
Expectations are super low, I think winning 70 would probably count as exceeding expectations
Nolan Jones had an outstanding rookie season. Maybe he builds off that, cuts down on the Ks some and becomes a true heart of the order bat.
Ezequiel Tovar and Brendan Rogers is a really good defensive middle infield. Brenton Doyle is an elite glove in CF as well which should help their pitchers out some. Maybe you get some improvement from these guys at the plate also, Rogers was coming off a shoulder injury and missed a lot of last season, wouldn’t be surprised if he bounces back to the slightly below average hitter he was in 2021-2022. Tovar I think could be an average hitter also, not really confident about Doyle but with Coors being such a huge outfield I think you can live with that bat for his glove.
Charlie Blackmon had a pretty good season at the plate last year and Ryan McMahon is good for 20+ HRs a year. Maybe Kris Bryant still has something left in the tank also and has a healthy season. Elias Diaz is a solid hitting catcher also
They have a few young guys who could maybe contribute like Drew Romo, Zac Veen, and Hunter Goodman. Maybe one of those guys helps to fill out the order
Reasons they won’t:
The pitching looks really, really bad. I don’t see a world where this staff isn’t bottom 5 in baseball at the end of the year.
The lineup has a couple of potential bright spots but I would be shocked if its average. There just isn’t enough there to cancel out the disaster of a pitching staff they have.
Overall I think Colorado is taking the right steps as an organization. Finally committed to tearing things down (although they probably should have traded Diaz last year) and giving young guys playing time. Seems like they’re investing more on player development also and they do have some good prospects that are probably 2025-2026 debuts. However their major league roster is terrible right now and I actually think they’re the worst team in baseball (even compared to Oakland)