Kyle Freeland shares his favorite Rockies of all time

If you grew up in Colorado — and if you haven’t heard, the Rockies starter for Friday’s home opener did — then you probably have a favorite ballplayer who donned the purple pinstripes.

Some of these familiar faces have returned over the years. You could find Eric Young Sr. and Vinny Castilla at the ballpark on any given day in 2016, and Ellis Burks returned to the team in an advisory role.

Depending on your age, the original Blake Street Bombers might be the the first group of guys that pops into your mind when getting a bit nostalgic about baseball in Denver. Castilla and Burks and Andres Galarraga, and Dante Bichette.

But if you are a little on the young side, like 23-year-old Kyle Freeland who will be making his MLB debut in addition to opening the season of baseball in Colorado, you might look a little later in Rockies history when walking down memory lane.

“You can go down the list: [Todd] Helton. [Larry] Walker,” Freeland told the press on a conference call this afternoon. “[I was a fan of] The Blake Street Bombers … to name a handful of them.’’ Weren’t we all?

But as Freeland grew up, and grew into his position, and starting watching the Rockies put together some successful seasons in his Thomas Jefferson High School days, his fandom turned toward the mound.

“Loved watching Jeff Francis pitch, [Aaron] Cook pitch,” he said. And we seriously doubt it is a coincidence that those two pitchers happened to toe the rubber for a team that went all the way to the World Series.

We have been fortunate enough to have a number of conversations with Freeland since he was drafted in 2014 and look forward to continuing to cover his development as he hopes to add his name to the lists that Colorado kids, just like himself, keep of their favorite Colorado Rockies players.