Opening Day for the 2024 Major League Baseball season is nearly here, and teams are solidifying their active 26-man roster. The Colorado Rockies are looking to increase their offense this year by blending the reliability of their veteran players with an infusion of excitement from the team’s younger talent. Yesterday, we looked at the projected top of the Rockies lineup where the team’s three most senior players are expected to contribute. Today, we will examine the bottom half where the second round of potential presides.
Leading off the second half of the lineup is Ryan McMahon who led the Rockies in hitting last year with 23 homeruns and a slash of .240/.322/.431. While these numbers may not be astounding when compared with the league, they do represent the potential for McMahon’s solid consistent contribution at the middle of the lineup. Baseball-Reference projects McMahon at a .760 OPS for the 2024 season from 573 plate appearances. McMahon looks healthy in Spring Training with .367/.424/.567 after 11 games and 33 plate appearances.
Another consistent contributor for the Rockies is Elias Diaz who is predicted to bat sixth at the start of 2024. Diaz’s WAR in 2023 was 1.4, which seems to again not point to exceptional expectations. However, in Spring Training, Diaz has put up a .583 SLG that is giving early confirmation that Diaz is likely to provide the Rockies with consistent hits and offensive opportunities during his fifth season with Colorado.
Next up is Sean Bouchard, and kind of a continuing trend of veteran lackluster players. Bouchard will also be starting his fifth season with the Rockies, but that is kind of misleading because he’s only actually played in 20 games from the 2019 to 2023 seasons. Last year, Bouchard tore his bicep in Spring Training during a routine swing and it sidelined him for most of the season. When he came back for the last games of the season, he seemed to be hitting well. There is a possibility that he could do something in the seventh position on the lineup, but there is also the possibility that he will ride the bench. Bouchard’s starter status is not completely certain given his performance comparison to senior Charlie Blackmon in rightfield and the possibility of newer prospects like Yanquiel Fernandez and Jordan Beck. To keep his place on the starting lineup, Bouchard is going to have to deliver more than the 0.6 fWAR Fangraphs is projecting for 2024.
The Rockies player who seems to be the most likely to mature into another great legacy for the club is Ezequiel Tovar. At 22-years-old, Tovar put in some of the most work for this team in 2023 with 615 plate appearances. This shortstop from Venezuela is another one of the Rockies young players that fans and management believe will eventually coalesce into a winning team for Colorado. Tovar is looking good in Spring Training. He is disciplined at the plate and smart on the field, which gives him a solid WAR of 2.4. At eighth in the order, Tovar seems ready to do the job extending innings and wearing down pitchers.
Last up for the Rockies will probably be Brenton Doyle. This 2023 National League Golden Glove winner is arguably Colorado’s best defensive player. Now, seeing as 2024 is only his second season with the Rockies, there is huge potential for Doyle to continue to flourish both as a centerfielder and at the plate. Doyle’s responsibility in flipping the order back to Charlie Blackmon at the top would be well served by a continued display of the .367/.424/.400 he has shown thus far in Spring Training.
The excitement for Opening Day is growing for fans and players, and the Rockies are facing a hard road back from last year’s depressing season. This is not a year of rebuilding; it is a year of coalescing the experience of veterans like Blackmon and Rodgers with the prowess of the new bloods Jones and Doyle. The pieces are there, and if the team can stay healthy, this season has the potential to see a major turnaround.
