5 Bold Predictions for the Colorado Rockies 2020 season

Let’s get bold.

They say you can’t predict baseball and most of us spend a great deal of time trying to do so anyway. It’s fun to think about the most likely potential outcomes before a season even begins. But it might be even more fun to leave what is “likely” in the dust and focus on what is conceivably possible.

And since the year 2020 hasn’t brought much to be excited about, we figured we would focus on the most fun potentialities for your Colorado Rockies.

Here are five bold predictions for awesome things that could happen for your ballclub this season.

5. Raimel Tapia finishes Top 10 in the NL in hits

Nobody is surprised by a DNVR endorsement of Raimel Tapia’s ability to hit baseballs. But now the exuberant outfielder who bring mucho swag will finally get a shot to be an everyday player.

With Ian Desmond opting out of the year and the DH coming to the NL, Tapia will get regular at-bats as long as he is healthy and will show what he can do with them.

Don’t expect much pop, and the other parts of his game will probably remain equal parts awe-inspiring and head-scratching, but this is the year his minor league numbers translate to the bigs.

He has a legitimate chance to be one of the Rockies more consistent hitters but we’re going a step beyond that here. Tapia can finish Top 10 in the NL in base hits.

He said himself that his goal is nothing less than league MVP (even we aren’t going that bold) and that confidence is backed up by hitting coach Dave Magadan who told us a few weeks ago that Tapia has all the tools to be “one of the best pure hitters in the game.”

We have observed this since 2013 and now is the time. He has a career .274 batting average through countless ups and downs and almost no regular playing time. He’s learned a lot over the last three years, has put on some muscle, and has finally been told that it is officially Tap Time.

4. A Colorado Pitcher finishes Top 3 in Cy Young

Pick one of the top three. These dudes are out to prove everyone wrong.

Kyle Freeland is the least likely candidate to make a run for the award which is ironic since he has come about as close as any pitcher in franchise history to actually winning the thing.

Jon Gray has all the stuff and showed last season that he has settled down the issues that caused him to be so inconsistent earlier in his career. A hot stretch for him like the one he had to finish 2017 would get him into the conversation for sure.

But the best bet here is Opening Day starter German Marquez.

He already owns the franchise record for strikeouts in a season and has shown an ability to absolutely dominate quality MLB lineups in big games. Remember when the Phillies were supposed to contend in 2018 after going big at the trade deadline? Remember when Marquez struck out eight of them in a row to begin a game that his team needed to win in order to make the postseason?

Marquez’ biggest issue through the first three years of his career has been momentary lapses in focus. When he is locked in, he has some of the best swing-and-miss stuff in MLB. He’s also always had an advanced mind for pitching, especially for his age.

Now, at 25-years-old, Marquez is perfectly situated to show that he has learned from his missteps in the past and is ready to turn in his very best every time out.

We’d love to predict a Colorado pitcher finally wins the dang thing but that might have about as good a chance as Tapia being voted MVP.

3. Matt Kemp will finish Top 4 on the team in Home Runs

When the Rockies picked up Kemp, the move quickly became the butt of jokes. Of course this team would sign a 35-year-old who produced nothing a year ago and somehow think they’ve solved either a depth issue or answered the question about who should be their primary DH.

There is plenty of data to suggest he may well be done at the MLB level, but there is also some data that suggests he may be the perfect fit for the current Rockies roster.

With him slated to get most of the DH chances against lefty pitching, him now calling Coors Field home, and the fact that he is being overlooked after an injury-riddled season has us thinking maybe he’s got a little something to prove and is the perfect environment to do so.

You expect the usual suspects of Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and Trevor Story to be at the top of the Rockies home run rankings, and you might be thinking that David Dahl, Ryan McMahon, or Daniel Murphy is the next most likely player to go yard with regularity.

But how about one last run in the sun for Matt Kemp who showcases his power and manages to out-slug one of those players and end up as one of the best Rockies power hitters in 2020.

2. The Rockies make an impactful in-season trade

Another tough one to define but generally speaking, this bold prediction has the Rockies playing well enough in the first half to make a trade for a notable player who helps them win important games down the stretch.

Could that be the type of move we’ve seen them make in the last few years like adding relievers Pat Neshek and Seungwhan Oh? Something closer to a blockbuster?

Hard to say. But there is a unique opportunity here for the Rockies to solve multiple issues with an in-season move, including signaling to their superstar third baseman that they are serious about competing as long as the team on the field is producing.

1. Ryan McMahon becomes a star

There won’t be an All-Star Game in 2020 but if there was, Ryan McMahon would play in it.

This might seem like maybe the least bold prediction on this list. But we don’t just see McMahon blooming into a very solid player who gets more national recognition once the year is over.

We see a ballplayer capable of becoming a consensus Top 5 second baseman in all of baseball. And he won’t even play second base the entire time.

Because of his positional versatility, untapped power potential and general aptitude for the game, he could even become one of the better all-around values in baseball.

The world is gonna know his name.