The Colorado Rockies are unlikely to be incredibly competitive in 2024 but that doesn’t mean they won’t have a few newsworthy moments.
Whether the following predictions are bold or not, I’ll leave up to you, but here are a few things I think could unfold for the boys in purple this year that might raise an eyebrow or two.
- Kris Bryant is an All-Star
Let’s start spicy.
Bryant has been bad in Colorado. Last season, he was really bad. He’s also been hurt. And the smart money is probably on him being one or both of those things again.
But at 32-years-old, I don’t think the former Rookie of the Year and MVP is done playing excellent baseball.
His process remains more than solid. He’s excellent at laying off pitches out of the zone, and making contact on pitches in the zone, for example. Also, his injuries have been pretty fluky, especially getting plunked on the wrist last year, and he suddenly finds himself with a lot to prove.
The silver lining of all the bad press is that a guy who was one of the best hitters in baseball for years is going to enter the season with a chip on his shoulder.
- 5 Gold Glove Finalists
In order for this to happen everyone needs to stay healthy.
But if everyone stays healthy, this should almost certainly happen.
Despite the 103-loss season, the Rockies had three finalists and one winner a year ago. Ryan McMahon got his third consecutive nod at third base while Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle managed to get rare rookie recognition in the category, with the latter even winning the award.
All three are safe bets to repeat and Nolan Jones is incredibly likely to join them. He comfortably outpaced the field in terms of stats like DRS last year but fell a few innings short of qualifying which, again health permitting, should not be an issue this season.
The fifth will come from Brenan Rodgers at second base. He already has a Gold Glove from 2022 and was even in the running for the Platinum Glove that season.
Right field, first base, and catcher will be the only spots where the Rockies don’t have a strong candidate for some defensive hardware.
- Kyle Freeland Bounce Back
After starting strong and being one of the few things to consistently look forward to in the first half for Rockies fans, Freeland quietly faded a bit in the second half.
He was a bit banged up, spent some time on the IL, and had some of the worst run support in all of MLB on a team spiraling toward its first ever 100-loss season. So, it’s easy to see who the grind, both mental and physical, could catch up to him.
According to the park-and-league-adjusted ERA+, Freeland only has one below average season on record, back in 2019 when the league adjusted to his Cy Young caliber season, and he took some time to adjust back.
But he did, posting three quality campaigns from 2020-2022 but after his second-half slide in 2023 he ended with his second worst mark ever, exactly at the league average of 100.
This prediction is based on two things: the mental toughness of Kyle Freeland… and vibes.
The former is well known to Rockies fans so it’s perhaps not bold to believe that he will bounce back because we all know how much he cares.
But anyone who bore witness to the culture change that took place with the arrival of several young players last season also knows that the Colorado Rockies clubhouse has become a much more joyous place to be.
A little bit of run support and some good vibes could go a long way toward restoring the best version of Kyle Freeland.
