A Different Rodgers Center

 

2022 was supposed to be the season of Kris Bryant in Denver. It...really isn't. And I think the Rockies are content enough with the player this season has become based around, though.

What's important to remember is that the Rockies' homegrown infields have defined the last decade or so of play. Having people like Troy Tulowitzki, Nolan Arenado, D.J. LeMahieu and eventually Trevor Story in the same infield boosted the defensive and cohesive appeals of a Rockies team, and let to them competing a great deal in the mid-to-late 2010s. Then, once those piece all left, the worry was that they wouldn't be able to recapture the cohesion of those earlier teams. Having Ryan McMahon, Garrett Hampson and Brendan Rodgers on the same team is one thing, but actually making a consciously strong infield is another thing entirely.

I honestly think that this season has illuminated how good the Cron-Rodgers-McMahon core is as a formative infield combo. I think right now Garrett Hampson is feeling less like a sure thing than he did before, and therefore Jose Iglesias and his less-comforting defensive abilities have to fill the void, but...Cron, Rodgers and McMahon all playing well is a nice start. Brendan Rodgers is having the kind of early season that people have wanted from him for years, with 84 hits and 48 RBIs in 82 games. His average isn't perfect, and he hasn't mastered the long ball yet, but he's feeling more confident than he has thus far, and is reassuring the team that giving him 2nd over Hampson was a good idea. Cron is not only surging but he seems like he's sticking around for at least another year or so. And Ryan McMahon is still an excellent foundational piece that will be here for another 5 or so years.

This is, I assume, the smart thing about this Rockies team, and the thing that will likely keep them out of last for a bit: they have a lot of players nailed down for a little while. McMahon, Bryant, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela and Elias Diaz are all here for the next few years at least, and while Diaz seems like a puzzling investment right now, they're making sure they at least have something to build off of. I imagine in the next year or so they'll lose Blackmon, and they might trade German Marquez eventually, but having those people who are ensured on the team for a little longer definitely helps. 

I don't think the Rockies are going to compete at all the rest of this year, but they at least have a team they know they can build off of in the future, which is more than a lot of lower-rung teams have right now.

Coming Tomorrow- One of the many home-run hitters for my team.