2022 Colorado Rockies Preview
With Spring Training coming to an end and the regular season set to begin, rosters are being set for Opening Day. Most teams believe their roster will lead to success in 2022. With the Colorado Rockies being in such a loaded NL West, expectations are not particularly high. However, after a surprisingly busy offseason, Colorado plans on making some noise and perhaps shocking quite a few people this year. As Opening Day arrives, here is the Rockies 2022 season preview.
Opening Day Roster
Position Players
Once again, the Rockies have a position player group that will score a lot of runs. As it was in 2021, the catching tandem will be Elias Diaz and Dom Nunez. The pair quietly combined for 62 extra-base hits last year.
The infielders are likely C.J. Cron, Brendan Rodgers, Jose Iglesias, Ryan McMahon, and Alan Trejo. Colorado will miss Trevor Story, who departed in free agency. However, Iglesias is an excellent defender and a good contact hitter who won’t hit the ball out of the park often, but has a knack for finding the gaps in the outfield.
The outfield will be some combination of Kris Bryant, Randal Grichuk, Charlie Blackmon, Yonathan Daza, and Sam Hilliard. The final two position players will be bouncing around between the infield and outfield, but they may have a big role, they are Connor Joe and Garrett Hampson. There are a couple new faces in the outfield and they will improve the offense exponentially. Bryant is a former MVP with a really strong all-around game. Grichuk has a career .473 slugging percentage, so his pop will be a welcomed addition to this lineup.
Pitchers
As far as starters go, the rotation will look something like this: Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela, Austin Gomber, and Chad Kuhl, with Freeland being the Opening Day starter. Peter Lambert and Ryan Rolison will begin the season on the Injured List.
In the bullpen, we will likely see Daniel Bard, Ty Blach, Jhoulys Chacin, Carlos Estevez, Lucas Gilbreath, Ashton Goudeau, Tyler Kinley, and Robert Stephenson. The final member is Alex Colome, another new addition who will likely close games out for the Rockies. Colome had an up and down 2021, but he has a strong track record and plenty of experience.
2022 Rockies Outlook
In a division with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and San Diego Padres, not too many people across baseball have high expectations regarding the Rockies. If you look at Caesars Sportsbook, they have the over/under on the Rockies at 69.5, fourth lowest in baseball. However, they believe they have a roster that can be more competitive than anyone expects.
The big additions the Rockies made, Bryant and Grichuk, will lengthen a lineup that was already in the top half in most offensive categories in the NL in 2021. Scoring runs should be no problem in Colorado, so it all comes down to pitching. If the Rockies can get some quality innings from their pitching staff, they can potentially make some noise this year. If their pitching can be consistent, there could be postseason baseball in the Rockies 2022 season.
Main Photo:
Players mentioned:
Elias Diaz, Dom Nunez, C.J. Cron, Brendan Rodgers, Jose Iglesias, Ryan McMahon, Alan Trejo, Trevor Story, Kris Bryant, Randal Grichuk, Charlie Blackmon, Yonathan Daza, Sam Hilliard, Connor Joe, Garrett Hampson, Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela, Austin Gomber, Chad Kuhl, Peter Lambert, Ryan Rolison, Daniel Bard, Ty Blach, Jhoulys Chacin, Carlos Estevez, Lucas Gilbreath, Ashton Goudeau, Tyler Kinley, Robert Stephenson, Alex Colome
