There’s a strange sensation emanating from Salt Rivers Fields down in the Arizona desert.
Could it be actual, legitimate, try-not-to-say-it-too-loud “hope” that the Rockies will be competitive this season?
After the signing of left fielder Kris Bryant, the contract extension given to third baseman Ryan McMahon and sneaky-good trade for center fielder Randal Grichuk, the Grading the Week staff might be starting to .
Of course, this comes with one tiny caveat from the Grading the Week staff…
Rockies hope — B
The time has come for Rockies manager Bud Black to free Connor Joe.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past 12 months, it’s this: Joe is an every-day major league hitter.
Unfortunately, health and injury concerns have kept the 26-year-old utility man from realizing his potential the past two seasons, including a promising 2021 with the Rockies cut short by a hamstring issue. We can only hope Colorado general manager Bill Schmidt’s recent acquisitions of Bryant and Grichuk won’t do the same once Joe and Co. return to LoDo.
It would appear a near certainty Bryant, Grichuk and veteran right fielder Charlie Blackmon will sop up most of the time in the Rockies outfield. And the re-signing of C.J. Cron to a two-year, $14.5 million contract would seem to indicate he will be the primary first baseman.
So where does that leave Joe, who’s essentially a first baseman/outfielder?
If the Grading the Week staff were making the call, he’d be the primary designated hitter, with the occasional cameo appearances in the field. Basically, whatever it takes to make sure he gets 450 plate appearances this season.
Why, you ask, do we hold Joe in such high esteem?
Aside from Joe’s inspirational backstory — Joe overcame a testicular cancer diagnosis in 2020 — his numbers are simply too good to ignore. A year ago, he slashed .285/.379/.848 with eight homers and nine doubles in 63 games. This spring, he entered Friday at .500/.538/.583 with a home run and a double in 13 plate appearances.
On top of that, he’s got the pedigree as the 39th overall pick of the 2014 draft.
Really it just boils down to this: A hitter like Joe — who works counts, draws walks, gets on base at a high rate and even hits for power — should have a place near the top of the order five days out of seven.
Make that happen, and this Rockies lineup starts to look really dangerous.
KSE continuity — A
Say what you will about the Kroenkes’ inability to get their teams on local cable television, they sure know how to find good coaches and keep them.
Is there another MLS coach you’d rather have right now than the Rapids’ Robin Fraser? Is there another NBA coach who could extract more out of the injury-plagued Nuggets lineup than Michael Malone?
Both were given contract extensions by KSE earlier this week, and we can only assume one will be coming for the Avs’ Jared Bednar after his team’s Stanley Cup run this spring.
That’s three coaches in Mile High country at or near the top of their profession — all under the KSE umbrella.
Now if we could only watch their teams play.
