Colorado Rockies practicing cautious optimism with Ryan McMahon

Perhaps no player arrived at Colorado Rockies spring training with more pressure than Ryan McMahon.

Sure, there are plenty of players with just as much, if not more, to prove. David Dahl comes to mind, and there are more than a few guys who may be nearing their last chances to prove they can truly stick at the MLB level.

But when it comes to the immediate success of the MLB club, McMahon is the guy who clearly must step up, and in a big way, after the Rockies neglected to go outside the organization to replace Mark Reynolds and/or Carlos Gonzalez.

While both veterans struggled mightily at times a year ago, both also had moments where they carried the Rockies, and now Colorado will be looking to a rookie with 17 plate appearances in the Bigs to provide that vital production.

This is a major reason why McMahon has played in every spring training game thus far. And he has responded by leading the team in hits (8) and doubles (3) in 17 at-bats. He has yet to strike out.

But while their actions show that the team intends to give the young man every chance to succeed, and that they’ve put quite a few of their eggs in his basket, their words who that they are practicing cautious optimism.

Manager Bud Black is impressed with his approach more than his results. “He just wants to stay on the ball, to drive it the other way,” he said. “We’re just looking for good at-bats from Ryan, and in a very small sample size so far, he’s given us good at-bats.”

He’s definitely done that so far. It’s tough to bat .471 with zero strikeouts at just about any level and it’s encouraging for a player with limited experience against MLB pitching. It’s even harder to do it when you know everyone is looking at you to produce, but he seems to have embraced the challenge.

General Manager Jeff Bridich is taking the long view, noting that he is excited by how much McMahon has developed over the last couple of years. “I think every new year shows you where you are at,” he said. “He’s definitely still a young player. But when you compare him now to how he was a couple of years ago, you can easily see some maturity there.

When it comes to what we can expect out of McMahon, what fans can hope for, Bridich gave a more than a little cryptic, “We’ll see.”