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Who is the Worst Team in the NL West?

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Well, Off the Bench faithful, we have finally made it. Spring training baseball is upon us and oh, it couldn’t be a better feeling. While spring ball doesn’t quite have that same feel and appeal compared to that of the regular season, we are all just happy baseball has returned for the next seven months.

Now, transitioning to the sixth and final installment of the worst teams in baseball series, we must once again escort a fan base back down to reality in such a time of optimism. Today that team will be none other than the Colorado Rockies.

This is yet another team where I sit back and look at their current roster and ask myself “who the heck are these guys,” of course aside from 2018 and 2019 Silver Slugger award winner Trevor Story, Charlie “Chuck Nazty” Blackmon, and a few others to be named throughout the remainder of this article. This team simply isn’t very good, and being in such a stacked division/league, this will make out for a long year with a lot of losses piling up for the Rockies. But hey, at least Colorado is pretty, right?

NL West Division Prediction

The NL West is extremely top heavy between the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the flashy, star-studded San Diego Padres. Aside from those two, it is a race to see who can’t get last involving the San Francisco Giants, who turned in a solid 2020, the Arizona Diamondbacks, who I don’t think are as bad as others do, and finally the Colorado Rockies. Here are my official predictions for the NL West in 2021:

  1. Los Angeles Dodgers
  2. San Diego Padres
  3. Arizona Diamondbacks
  4. San Francisco Giants
  5. Colorado Rockies

2020 Rewind

The Rockies finished out the shortened 2020 regular season with a 26-34 record, falling to a 4th place finish in the West and missing out on the playoffs for the second year in a row. I had hope for this team to turn things around in 2020 coming off of a down year in 2019, with a wild card playoff berth and 91 win season in 2018 maybe showing that 2019 was simply a fluke. I was wrong, but it wasn’t because of the hitting.

Looking up-and-down the lineup, I feel that everyone at least hit their weight on this team, aside from a few outliers like now Texas Ranger David Dahl, backup catcher Drew Butera, and the shortcoming of top infield prospect Brendan Rodgers.

Leadoff hitter and left fielder Raimel Tapia lead the team in batting average at .321 and really showcased that he can get on base to set up the “beef” of the lineup for years to come.

Superstar shortstop Trevor Story also managed to have a decent season hitting .289 with 11 homeruns and 13 doubles in 235 total at-bats. Aside from those two, Charlie Blackmon proved that he is still one of the better all-around hitters in the league with his team-leading 42 RBIs an a brief flirtation with a .400 average before falling off a cliff, and both gold glove third baseman Nolan Arenado alongside newly acquired centerfielder Kevin Pillar also gave the Rockies solid years at the plate and in the field.

It was the woeful pitching that held the 2020 Colorado Rockies back.

They were looking so good at the beginning of the season, assisting the team in their hot and surprising 10-3 start, but it rapidly went downhill from there. Antonio Senzatela was their best starter with a 5-3 record and 3.44 ERA. While that isn’t bad, the other starters seemingly got shelled each time they stepped onto the mound.

If that explanation isn’t doing justice, just think about this – the Rockies gave up 23 runs to the Giants in a game on September 1st. Twenty-three! That is absolutely absurd. You must be thinking that couldn’t have just been the starters giving up 23, and you would be right. The bullpen also was nothing to write home about in 2020, with the only good story coming out of that whole situation being the return of Daniel Bard who hadn’t pitched in the MLB since 2009.

At the end of the season it was clear that the currently constructed Rockies weren’t going to be able to compete with the likes of the Dodgers, Padres, and a majority of the other teams in the NL, so changes needed to be made.

Looking Ahead at 2021 and Beyond

And boy, were there changes. After eight full seasons with the team, franchise cornerstone Nolan Arenado was shipped out to St. Louis in exchange for lefty starter Austin Gomber and a bunch of minor-league prospects including infielders Mateo Gil and Elehuris Montero, and right-handed pitchers Tony Locey and Jake Sommers. Oh, and a whole bunch of ‘financial flexibility,‘ I don’t know what you all think, but that is an absolute fleecing in my opinion.

It is extremely evident that the Rockies and GM Jeff Bridich are not afraid to strip this roster of its major league talent in order to ‘build towards the future,’ but this begs the question; what is going to happen with Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon? I believe one, if not both will be finding themselves in new homes once the trade deadline approaches, officially beginning the rebuild in Colorado.

Looking at the roster currently in place at the beginning of spring training, I see a repeat of last year, but this time without Arenado.

There were no major pieces added to the roster aside from Gomber in the trade and recent journeyman first baseman C.J. Cron through free agency that make me think this team can leapfrog another within the division. Expect a huge contract season from Trevor Story in 2021, but aside from Story, the hitting will prove to be fairly consistent from last season to this one, and unfortunately, so will the pitching.

I really do feel bad for you Rockies fans, the pitching is always the number one problem and it’s so hard to convince upper-echelon arms to come to Colorado due to the insanely hitter-friendly aspect of Coors Field.

Here is the Rockies projected 2021 lineup according to Athlon Sports (first name listed is the projected starter):

Catcher: Elias Diaz, Dom Nunez

First Base: Josh Fuentes, C.J. Cron

Second Base: Brendan Rodgers, Chris Owings

Third Base: Ryan McMahon

Shortstop: Trevor Story

Outfield: Raimel Tapia (LF), Sam Hilliard (CF), Charlie Blackmon (RF), Yonathan Diaz

Utility: Garrett Hampson

Starters: German Marquez, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela, Jon Grey, Austin Gomber

Bullpen: Daniel Bard, Scott Oberg, Mychal Givens, Carlos Estevez, Jairo Diaz, Yency Almonte, Robert Stephenson, Jordan Sheffield

When considering the “beyond,” aka the young players coming up through the Rockies minor league system, it doesn’t look good.

Bleacher Report has them ranked second to last (29th) in all of baseball in regards to their young talent. It doesn’t help that they only have one player ranked in the MLB.com top 100 prospect list, that being 2020 9th overall pick outfielder Zac Veen (#54), who looks to have tremendous offensive upside, but that just isn’t enough to give fans the hope they will need to get through these upcoming rebuilding years. 2018 first round pick Ryan Rolison also seems to have a high floor and will be in the MLB starting rotation in the next year or two, but is not represented in the top 100 prospect rankings just yet.

So, the Rockies have a lot of thinking to do this upcoming season. Do they want to stick with who they got, and one of the worst minor league systems in all of baseball, or are they going to trade Story/Blackmon, gathering much-needed young talent, and rebuild. Regardless, they will not be good in 2020, and as it stands, the future is not bright for this team. Depending on the moves, or lack thereof, that are made in 2021, there may need to be some shifting around in the front office and a changing of the culture in Colorado.

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