Ooooh, I bet you thought that just because they restructured the draft lottery rules, that meant that the Rockies wouldn't have a #1 overall guy surfacing this year. Think again! They've got Mickey Moniak. True, THEY didn't draft him first overall [the Phillies did], but it's better than nothing.
And yes, as far as 1st overall picks go, Mickey Moniak is around the mid-to-bottom tier, and he knows it. Not the absolute bottom, because...Brady Aiken and Mark Appel and Bryan Bullington exist, but he's entered into the tier of 'letdown that's still capable of a late-20s surge. You saw what happened with Tim Beckham out of nowhere, how he started hitting homers with Baltimore. And how Matt Bush crashed out then eventually became a likable relief option with the Rangers. Even guys like Phil Nevin, Adrian Gonzalez, Kris Benson and, yes, Josh Hamilton needed to set the expectations a bit before they had their breakouts.
Not everyone is gonna be like Griffey or Strasburg and Skenes and be incredible right from the start. Sometimes you get a Mickey Moniak, who takes an extra three years to develop, gets hurt the second he has a shot with the team that drafted him, is traded for a rental the same day that team gets a centerfielder they actually CAN trust [from the same team!!], dries out in mediocrity for a year, gets cut, winds up playing for the worst team in the league AND THEN, SUDDENLY, BECOMES GOOD. Make 'em work for it!
Moniak, though sidelined for a little bit with an injury, has surfaced fully in Denver, because that's what becomes of all power hitters once thought lost. It honestly surprises me that Colorado parted with Blaine Crim so easily; yes, T.J. Rumfield's a better working option, but Crim seemed so at home in Coors Field. Moniak has that same feeling, he's hitting .280 with 12 homers and 28 RBIs. At the moment he does lead the team in long balls, but Hunter Goodman's heating up, and he's got 11 right now. Moniak is 28, and the heights that were once assumed for him have come down, but he's still a pretty nice hitter with some defensive perks, and the Rockies need a guy like that right now, as they begin to assemble the next stage of the rebuild.
Right now, they've got slightly surer footing than before. Goodman and Rumfield are locked in, Tovar's been struggling but he's still great at short. Karros is more serviceable than anything but he's becoming more sure of himself. I think Troy Johnston's more of a placeholder guy, a good contact walloper in the tradition of Nathan Lukes and Addison Barger, without much defensive ability. A shame Beck, Doyle and Ritter haven't done much, as well as Zac Veen still in the minors. Freeland and Quintana's last few starts have ballooned their ERAs, and now Dollander's hurt, but Tomoyuki Sugano's been keeping things down and still has an ERA under 4. The bullpen's solidified but very snakebitten so far.
As of right now they're still a last place team, but the Rockies arguably have more of a spark than the Giants at rest. This dismal May stretch just hasn't done them any favors, and they're now at 20-34, which is more in line with how things were the last few years. I still think an improvement is imminent, but they need to get past this month and get back to how surprising they were in April.
Coming Tomorrow- Moving to 1st base isn't for everyone, but after a couple seasons he's fully adjusted and is now focusing more on pure power damage.
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