Garrett Hampson is giving the Colorado Rockies hope for the 2020 season | Rox Pile
The Rockies are ideally going to need their young players to produce in timeshares. Eventually that will be the best way for them to take advantage of different skill sets and the athleticism and versatility that some of those players offer.
It is often tough for young players to adjust to big league pitching if they aren’t getting consistent at-bats. That’s been the challenge for young players like Ryan McMahon, Garrett Hampson and Raimel Tapia as they have tried to establish their spot with the Rockies.
We often see prospects start to get on track once they get more consistent at-bats. So even if the best case scenario for the Rockies is one where they can swap these dynamic players in and out of different spots in the lineup, it has taken circumstances where they can start more often to help things click. That happened with McMahon previously, and now we’re seeing it happen with Hampson.
As Luke Mullins notes in this piece, Hampson has consistently improved over the course of the season. His September numbers are downright eye-popping, as he has a .373/.432/.657 slash line with five home runs and nine stolen bases. We always knew Hampson was lightning fast, but those home runs have sure been an interesting development, juiced balls or not (they are juiced).
Hampson has the chance to be a really interesting and productive player for the Rockies. In the world of short benches and frequent pitching changes, the Rockies could seriously benefit from having somebody who can provide a punch in the lineup while covering a number of positions.
In the Rockies’ search for any kind of production off the bench over the years, they have tried a number of guys who can cover multiple positions. Unfortunately none of them could hit worth much of anything. Hampson could give the Rockies a huge boost if he can carry these results over to next season.
It can be instructive, or at least interesting, to get the perspective of those who are only interested in individual results and don’t really care what it means for the Rockies. Not surprisingly, Hampson has created some buzz in the world of fantasy baseball, especially with those stolen bases.
At the beginning of this week, Scott White noted some of the reasons to be excited about Hampson - his ability to play infield and outfield and those sweet stolen bases, and the way he has finally broken through with regular playing time. The question for fantasy owners and baseball fans alike next season will be if Hampson can keep it up even if he isn’t necessarily an everyday player.
The Giants lost what might have been the dumbest baseball game ever | The Athletic ($)
There have been a lot of dumb games in San Francisco over the years. It feels like the Rockies lose most of them. Tuesday was especially grinding, but at least the Rockies actually won. Grant Brisbee provides the perspective from the Giants side of things.
Jordan Lyles Thrives in Milwaukee, Again | FanGraphs
Of course he does. Jake Mailhot breaks down the next potential case that will make us question the Rockies’ ability to develop players and help them adjust.
Here are 5 teams that could be big surprises in 2020 | MLB.com
It would be reasonable to think the Rockies are one of the teams in this piece from Will Leitch. They did reach the playoffs two years in a row, after all. A couple moves, a couple good breaks, they could surprise, right? It’s possible, but I wouldn’t say I feel super hopeful, and they didn’t make the cut here.