Ezequiel Tovar batting for the Colorado Rockies, CCed by Liscense 2.0
Not making the playoffs for a team and a fanbase can be demoralizing. Playing 162 games just to go home and have an early offseason is something nobody wants, but some teams get kicked out; it’s just how it works. This article will highlight what the worst of these teams has to look forward to.
Colorado Rockies (61-101)
AVG: .242 (18th out of 30)
SO: 1617 (29th out of 30)
OPS: .704 (15th out of 30)
Runs Scored per Game: 4.21 (19th out of 30)
ERA: 5.47 (30th out of 30)
WHIP: 1.519 (30th out of 30)
Runs Allowed per Game: 5.73 (30th out of 30)
Strikeouts per 9: 7.05 (30th out of 30)
At first glance, the Colorado Rockies have a lot to work on. In all of the stats listed above, the Rockies did not eclipse 15th out of the 30 teams. They had the second most strikeouts this season and that is not a way to win in Major League Baseball. On the hitting stats listed above, the Rockies never eclipsed 15th out of 30 teams. This indicates, they could not compete consistently with the top half of teams in the league and certainly not make the playoffs. With teams like the Dodger and Yankees stocking up star power on both sides of the ball, there is no way to compete with them with the lack of star power on their roster.
Pitching was a whole different story. There was absolutely nothing good or redeemable. Of the pitching stats listed above, the Rockies ranked last in all of them. They average more runs allowed per game than runs scored per game, and still found some way to win 61 games. That does say something about this roster, that they are capable of winning without help from the starting pitching. If the pitching for the Rockies can make strides in the offseason, I would expect the Rockies to be closer to .500 in their win-loss record.
The Rockies have multiple players and things to look forward to next season:
Players like Ezequial Tovar, Drew Romo, Jordan Beck, Michael Toglia, Nolan Jones, and Adael Amador are all aged 26 and under. Drew Romo and Jordan Beck made their MLB debuts this year and gained some experience in the league.
Ezequiel Tovar had a great season for the Rockies and he looks like a star in the making. In 157 games and 655 AB, he hit .269 with 26 HR and 78 RBI’s. Those are really good numbers for a team who is looking for as much offense as they can get with struggling pitching. Tovar’s numbers continued to go up as he built off of what he did in the 2023 season. This season, his batting average, slugging percentage, and on base percentage all went up compared to the 2023 season. I would expect him to keep improving and become closer to a .280 hitter. He is another person on this roster with 30 HR potential. My biggest critique like so many other young players on this team is his strikeout percentage. He struck out 200 times this season at a 31% rate. If that gets down and he can make more contact on pitches, Tovar can become another weapon the Rockies have on their offense.
Drew Romo was only able to have 51 AB this season, and he hit .176 with 9 hits. While this is a small sample size, of those 9 hits, he had 6 RBI’s. If he can become more consistent in the MLB, it would not surprise me if he was a top 3 RBI leader on the Rockies within the next couple of seasons. With the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Rockies Triple-A squad, Romo hit .297 in 343 AB with 60 RBI’s on 102 hits. That is almost a 60% ratio of RBI’s to hits. If his Triple-A success can translate to the MLB, he will be extremely successful.
Jordan Beck hit .188 in 170 AB this year. While he had a bigger sample size than Romo in his first year, he only appeared in 55 games this year. He was able to contribute 3 HR, 13 RBI’s, 14 runs, and did all of this on 32 hits. His main issue was strikeouts. He struck out at about a 38% rate in his 170 AB. That is expected to go down as he gets more AB and more experience at the plate. In Triple-A, his strikeout rate was 25%, and this was in 174 AB, almost the same number of AB that he got in the MLB this year. This is another example of if he can translate his skills to the MLB, he should be more successful. I expect him to work on his approach at the plate in the offseason, so he can see more pitches per AB. In his 184 plate appearances he averaged 3.58 pitches per AB. This indicates that he was not getting extremely deep into pitch counts. This can be attributed to having an aggressive approach at the plate. This is not necessarily a bad thing. There are a lot of successful aggressive hitters, with the most notable one being Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros, who swings at almost every first pitch fastball he gets. Jordan Beck just needs to be able to swing at quality pitches. In his 184 PA, he only made it to 12 3-1 counts. While I am mentioning a lot of things that are negative, without a full season of experience under his belt, he still has a lot of time to build off of this. There is so much potential here it is all about if he can translate it to the MLB.
Michael Toglia showed some promise this year hitting 25 HR in 399 AB. This was his first full season of action without being sent down to the Minor Leagues. While he did hit .218 this season, his power is undeniable. Out of his 87 hits this year 42 of them went for extra bases. That is just above 48%. If he can become more consistent at the plate and work on his strikeouts of which he had 147, I would expect him to easily eclipse 30 HR next season. In addition, he did this while only appearing in 116 games, so if he can get that number closer to 140 games, he could get closer to 35 HR next season if he continues improving. He was one of the few bright spots this year and had a 2.2 WAR, indicating that he should be starting consistently again next season. He is a switch hitter, and from the left side hit .210 and from the right side he hit .236. If he can make the jump and get closer to .242, the league average from this past season, he could become one of the Rockies better players.
Nolan Jones struggled this year, which was a surprise after he broke out in his 2023 season. In 2023, he hit .297 with 20 HR, 20 SB, and 62 RBI’s. He did all of this 106 games and 367 AB. That was his first real season up in the major leagues. This year, he hit .227 with 3 HR, 5 SB, and 28 RBI’s. He did this in 79 games and 256 AB. His struggles this season are most likely what is known as the “Sophomore slumps”. Notable players like Julio Rodriguez, Michael Harris II, and Jeremy Pena, all went through the “Sophomore slumps”, and are either now All-Stars, or they make big contributions to their respective teams. I would watch out for Nolan Jones to look more like his rookie self in the 2025 season.
The Rockies have drafted very well in recent years and now have amazing prospects that are projected to make a huge impact in the coming years. Charlie Condon, Chase Dollander, and Zac Veen are all projected to be very good contributors. Veen and Dollander should make their debuts next season for the Rockies and we will be able to see if their prospect prowess will transfer to the Major Leagues.
Charlie Condon is coming off a Golden Spikes award-winning season with the Georgia Bulldogs and was drafted 3rd overall over the summer. He was only able to compete in 25 games and started off in High-A. In those 25 games he struggled, but most players right out of college have to get adjusted to the Minor Leagues. Condon brings immense power into the Rockies farm system and the ability to be a 30 HR guy if things workout. His ability to play both third base and outfield should help him move up in the minor leagues quickly as long as his bat can stay the same as it was in college. I would expect him to start the 2025 season back in High-A, so the Rockies can see if he can improve off of his .180 average in 2024. I would expect if the improvements in his offense occur like everyone expects, he should be in Double-A by the All-Star break.
Chase Dollander was drafted 9th overall in 2023 out of Tennessee. This year was his first full season of professional ball and he had a 2.59 ERA through 23 games in both High-A and Double-A. He uses a high 90’s fastball, a slider, a curve, and changeup to get the job done. He only allowed hitters to average .215 against him this season and went 6-2 on the year. As long as he can stay consistent with his off speed pitches and get swing and misses with them, it would be no surprise to see him make his MLB debut in the 2025 season. The Rockies need as much pitching help as they can get, so his continued development is crucial to their future success. As long as the results he got in his first full season do not taper off as he moves through the Rockies farm system, he has great MLB starting pitcher written all over him. His biggest critique is his consistency to pound the strike zone. If he can pound the strike zone more, this will allow him to get deeper into starts and make it to the 6th inning more consistently. Overall, the Rockies have a lot to look forward to with Dollander, but this season will be crucial in seeing if he makes his debut or not.
Zac Veen had arguably his best professional season yet, hitting .258 across 4 levels of the Rockies farm system. The only team he did not suit up for was the Single-A team. He hit 11 HR and had 35 RBIs this season. He is slowly making his way back to what we saw in his first professional season in Single-A where he hit .301. This season he was also able to accumulate 21 SB on 25 attempts. Unless he breaks out in spring training, I expect to see him back in Triple-A to start the season and get the call up to the majors next summer. Due to injury, he only played in 65 games this year, which was part of the issue with his stats being low. In the games he did play in, he made an impact both offensively and defensively. This season, he had a perfect fielding percentage, which is great for a team that needs consistent outfielders. There is a lot to be excited about with Veen; between his bat and his glove, I would look for him to have a big impact on this roster and for him to compete for a spot on the big league squad right out of Spring Training.
The Rockies have a lot to look forward to between their young core on their roster already and who they have in their farm system. This team should be on the come up in the future and ready to compete in the next couple of years. The big difference on when they can compete is who they will sign in free agency. Look for them to have some under the radar signings for both their starting pitching and the bullpen in the offseason.
