The Colorado Rockies will head into the playoffs and will travel to Milwaukee to start a five-game series on Thursday.
Lots of offense and strong pitching is what Colorado brings and certain names have stood out in 2018. But who is the Rockies’ MVP?
The Mile High Sports team was polled — pitcher or hitter — on who their Rockies MVP is and why.
David Hurlbut – Host of The Morning Huddle. Weekdays 6-7am
Trevor Story. His record breaking year as a triple-threat between speed and power, consistency and leadership has been unmatchable. He’s the straw that stirs the drink.
Shawn Drotar – Co-Host of Morning’s at 5280. Weekdays 7-9am
Shortstop Trevor Story.
I can’t barely believe it myself, but Story’s improvement from 2017 to 2018 has been nothing less than amazing.
He’s been outstanding defensively all season long, and with 80 extra-base hits, his power has traveled with the team both home and away.
Yes, he still needs to cut down on the strikeouts, but at a time in baseball when no one seems to care about those things anymore, it’s not as much of an outlier as it looks.
Story went from being an interesting young player to a legitimate NL MVP candidate in a single season – and with perennial MVP contender Nolan Arenado as a teammate? That’s saying something.
Eric Goodman – Co-Host of Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro. Weekdays 4-6pm
It’s easy to pick an everyday player like Arenado and Story because both have been terrific, and Kyle Freeland has performed like an ace and a stopper.
Ottavino is my choice because of his unbelievable play, combo’ed with the lack of depth in the bullpen. He’s been good for at least 10 wins holding leads that could have been blown in the 8th inning without him.
Les Shapiro – Co-Host of Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro. Weekdays 4-6pm
After a rough start to the season, Trevor Story found his groove. When the Rockies needed it most — in August and September — Story’s offense helped carry the team.
In the field Story played Gold Glove caliber defense. Kyle Freeland had one of the greatest pitching years in Rockies history, but Story was on the field every single day.
Ronnie K – Producer of Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro. Weekdays 4-6pm
Kyle Freeland. No starting pitcher has thrown a better year in Rockies history than Freeland. He was the stopper when the Rockies needed it and the backbone of one of the best pitching staffs the club has ever seen in franchise history.
Freeland has officially bucked the narrative that it’s impossible to put up Cy Young numbers as a Rockies pitcher. Not only should he get consideration — if it wasn’t for Jacob deGrom‘s history year — he should be be a front-runner.
Connor Cape – Co-Host of The Connor Cape Show. Tuesday through Thursday 8-10pm
Nolan Arenado is once again the best player on the team and one of the best players in baseball. Story is a great tale, but the truth is without Nolan, this Rockies team isn’t even as close as it is to a playoff spot
Doug Ottewill – Managing Editor at Mile High Sports
Trevor Story. That’s not to say that Kyle Freeland isn’t worthy (because he is) but Story was a phenomenal everyday player at the toughest position in baseball.
He was so good defensively, but his evolution as a hitter was unreal. Early in the season, he was over swinging and striking out far too often. As the season progressed, he became a disciplined hitter. He hit for average, power and ran the bases as well as any rookie since Larry Walker. Simply put, there was no better Rockie this year.
Justin Michael – Editor at Mile High Sports
There is a strong argument for Kyle Freeland, but nobody has been more important on a day-to-day basis than Trevor Story.
The third-year shortstop would run away with the NL MVP if he was playing in a city like Los Angeles or New York. Unfortunately, the Coors Field narrative will likely hurt his case on a national level, so Story should at least get the credit he deserves here.