Spring is the season of hope for any team, even the Rockies, who need only look toward the 2023 National League champion Diamondbacks, World Series champion Rangers and AL East champion Orioles for…
LEFT– The word ‘Breathe’ stitched into the baseball glove of Colorado Rockies right fielder Nolan Jones as the Rockies take on the Chicago Cubs at Coors Field on Sept. 13, 2023 in Denver. CENTER— Evan Justice Gavin Hollowell and Jaden Hill of the Colorado Rockies sit in the dugout during MLB Spring Training at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Arizona on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024.
But it won’t be easy. While the organization is stocked with talented young position players such as shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and outfielders Nolan Jones and Brenton Doyle, a lack of quality pitching depth, exacerbated by injuries, remains the Achilles’ heel. Losing No. 1 starter German Marquez to elbow surgery last May, then veteran right-hander Antonio Senzatela and three top prospects in July left the Rockies in a hard place.
Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Paul Sewald celebrates after the final out of Game 2 of their National League wildcard baseball series against the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, in Milwaukee. The Diamondbacks won 5-2 to win the series. “We were pretty embarrassed about all that happened,” he said. “Back in ’22, the bottom kind of fell out of our rotation with all of the injuries. That’s my excuse. But we didn’t play well at all. We didn’t feel like we were a 110-loss team, but it is what it is. We were a 110-loss team.”Arizona’s total payroll of $119 million ranked 21st in the majors last year. By contrast, the free-spending Rangers had the fourth-highest payroll in the big leagues, at $251 million.
Not too far down the road, the Rockies are counting on a talented crop of prospects, led by infielder Adael Amador ; right-handed starter Chase Dollander ; and power-hitting outfielders Jordan Beck , Yanquiel Fernandez and Zac Veen . Colorado has been reluctant to part with prospects in the past, but that’s likely to change given its surplus of talented position players, particularly outfielders.
“In the next couple of years, the position players might be ahead of the pitchers because of what happened on the injury front and depending on how quickly some of these young pitchers transition into pro ball from the draft,” Black said. “That would be the key to timing all that up, but there is a window a year or two from now where it could, potentially, sync up pretty nicely.
The D-backs say that the club’s culture was a major reason they evolved from a 110-loss team to the World Series in three seasons. Manager Torey Lovullo is credited with setting the right tone — even-keeled most of the time and but fiery when he had to be.“I was starting to contemplate, ‘What the heck happened during this trade?’ He was like, ‘I’m tired of us being the JV team of the NL West. You need to start stepping up and play the way you’re supposed to be playing.
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