Colorado Rockies' Charlie Blackmon says everyone needs to lead

The Colorado Rockies don’t have a leader. And that’s OK.

Now that the Troy Tulowitzki era is entirely a thing of the past, the Rockies find themselves with a vacancy at shortstop and no obvious answer about who takes over the ambiguous role of clubhouse leader.

Some have rushed to bestow that title upon the team’s best player Nolan Arenado. It makes some sense. He is a superstar still coming into his prime and the most likely candidate to be a vocal leader. Nado’s energetic conversations can be infectious but he is reluctant to supplant the voices of the coaching staff and in many ways is still a young and growing player himself.

Carlos Gonzalez has been around a few more years and proved in the second half of 2015 that he still has plenty of star power (and bat power) left in the tank. Also the biggest contract on the team, Gonzalez is loved and respected by is teammates but like Arenado is hesitant to be a demanding voice.

But having spent some time in the clubhouse and knowing his reputation for setting high standards of work ethic and focus – in addition to having an old school baseball mindset that guys “up the middle” are always your leaders – I found myself gravitating toward Charlie Blackmon as my favorite candidate for the available position. He is a natural tone setter as a hard worker, the centerfielder, and leadoff man. Plus, he is the perfect example for young guys because he has found a way to consistently improve throughout his entire career, proving doubters wrong at every turn.

Blackmon doesn’t accept the premise of the question. He says he thinks of himself as a leader “a little bit.”

“I would like to think that I’m doing the right things and setting a good example for everybody,” says Blackmon. “I do think this year is a little different and I think that now everybody needs to be something of a leader to make a good clubhouse and a good team.”

If everyone is doing their job, says Blackmon, accountability becomes automatic so don’t expect him, or for that matter Arenado or Gonzalez, to do a lot of talking. The Rockies centerfielder clearly believes that leading by example is the superior strategy. None of these men are the typical “rah rah” guys, nor are they inclined to appoint themselves the Scolder-in-Chief.

“There’s a time and a place for [vocal leadership]” Blackmon argues “But words are just talk. It doesn’t mean much if you can’t back it up. No one is going to pay attention to what you are saying if they don’t respect you.”

I would not presume to know how each guy in that clubhouse felt about the previous player/leader but some of what Blackmon says here speaks volumes about how a clubhouse can become fractured.  Players can go from awe-inspired to walking on eggshells to tuning you out altogether very quickly

There is a palpable difference in the tone of the clubhouse this season. It is clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that the veterans have the respect of the rest of the team, and that can go a long way.

While we in the media search to anoint the new king of the Rockies, Blackmon, Arenado, and Gonzales will be busy showing instead of telling.