The 2020 season for the Rockies is officially behind us. Some fans had high hopes, some had low expectations. The Rockies performance this season was not an improvement from last year, but it wasn’t a massive decline either. In 2019 the Rockies record ended at 71-91, this year they ended the season at 26-34 which would be approximately at 70-92 in a regular length season. Despite having a promising 11-3 start to the season the Rockies were unable to make the postseason, again.
The Rockies need an overhaul unless they want to continue sitting near the bottom of the NL West and they just barely landed above the Arizona Diamondbacks. For the second season in a row, they just barely stayed out of the basement. There are so many things that went wrong this season. Let’s look at just a few of those things.
First, let’s talk pitching.
The Rockies just don’t have five solid, consistent starters. Both Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela showed massive improvements from 2019, and Senzatela even pitched a complete game. Germán Márquez improved his ERA this season, ending with a 3.75 ERA which was lower than his 4.76 ERA in 2019. Ryan Castellani stepped up this season and despite his 5.82 ERA, he has shown promise as a young pitcher. Jon Gray ended with a 6.69 ERA after eight starts. His season was shut down due to a shoulder injury. Was the shoulder to blame for his elevated ERA or would Gray be better off in the bullpen? And speaking of the bullpen, there is giant need for southpaw in the ‘pen, especially after Jake McGee was released.
And where was the offense? The bats seemed awfully quiet this year. Nolan Arenado is usually a powerful bat, but he battled an injury all season that left him performing less than his best at the plate. And with David Dahl spending a good portion of the season on the injured list left the Rockies in need of some offensive assistance. It never seemed to arrive.
Now, there were some highlights offensively, but not as many as one would hope. The one major highlight (at least for me) was Charlie Blackmon’s walk-off grand slam, which is only the second in the Rockies franchise history. Some other positive notes from this season included the resurgence of Daniel Bard and the surprise value that Josh Fuentes added to the team.
If you want to see how each individual player did, keep an eye out for the “Ranking the Rockies,” where we look at every individual player that wore purple this season.
Now that the chapter on the Rockies’ 2020 season in closed, where does that leave them for 2021? What do you think the team will do this offseason? Is it time for a rebuild or do you think they will seek to acquire a few key players to help them find another Rocktober? Or will 2021 be a repeat of 2019 and 2020?
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Patrick Saunders asks what’s next for the Rockies after another disappointing season. Last year General Manager Jeff Bridich was comfortable with the makeup of the team, is that still the case this offseason?
Goudeau’s investment pays strong dividends | MLB.com
Ashton Goudeau’s appearance in yesterday’s finale was not meaningless for him. He allowed one run on four hits, but it was his best big league appearance, and after eight years in the minor leagues any time spent in a big league game to prove your value is important.
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