Welcome to the 2023 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2023. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.
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No. 42, Coco Montes: -0.3 rWAR
Picking back up with the “this guy played a very brief stint with the Rockies” section of the 2023 Ranking the Rockies series, we now come to utility infielder Coco Montes.
Montes was drafted in the 15th round of the 2018 MLB Draft and spent a year at each level of the minors (although he skipped from Low-A Asheville to Double-A Hartford) before ultimately making his MLB Debut on June 11 this year.
And during that debut, he hit a game-tying homer!
But that was pretty much the highlight of Montes’ short stint in the majors. In 18 games, Montes slashed .184/.244/.316 in 38 at-bats with two doubles, that homer, three RBI, two walks and 12 strikeouts. Montes was optioned back to Albuquerque on July 3, recalled on July 31, and then optioned again on August 7 before being DFA’d on September 5.
In 107 total games in Albuquerque, Montes slashed .317/.400/.550 with 26 doubles, five triples, 22 homers and 11 stolen bases (in 17 attempts). Something about the minors didn’t seem to translate, but he also wasn’t give much of a chance to prove himself.
Throughout the season, Purple Row followed Montes’ development. On May 17, Skyler Timmins wrote about calling up Montes, who was hitting .339/.421/.564 with seven home runs and 37 RBI through 39 games. The Rockies also had a need at middle infield and were using a tandem of Alan Trejo and Harold Castro (who they were very attached to) after Brendan Rodgers suffered a shoulder injury in Spring Training. After Montes’ first option, Evan Lang wrote about the Rockies needing to make a decision about their infield. And finally, Skyler once again wrote about Montes as a prospect to look at during the twilight of the abysmal 2023 season.
True, the Rockies needed to make a decision. Montes forced his way onto the roster but then was given sporadic playing time when compared to his fellow prospects. What will he happen to him in 2024 remains unknown.
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