Scottsdale – A message was sent loud and clear the day the New York Yankees signed DJ LeMahieu without any resistance from the Colorado Rockies; It’s time for a new era in Denver at second base.
The writing had been on the wall for some time, arguably reaching all the way back to when the club inked Charlie Blackmon to a long-term extension. And many, including all of us here at BSN Denver, believed that there was simply too much young talent already in the organization for it to make sense to spend the money on the veteran.
That’s great in theory. But now it’s time to see it in practice.
Never needing to be said out loud, Ryan McMahon and Garrett Hampson got the message.
“I take it as a compliment, not just to me personally but to the guys as a group,” said McMahon of the team letting go of LeMahieu. “It shows that they have faith in us as players and faith in us as people to get the job done. Obviously, it stinks to lose DJ. He’s one of the best guys – forget baseball players – one of the best people I’ve ever met.”
But that sad loss may ultimately end up the club’s overall gain.
While it’s still far too early to tell if the gamble toward the youth movement will pay off, the results thus far suggest at least that neither McMahon or Hampson, in an ode to the play Hamilton, have no intention of throwing away their shot.
McMahon has slashed an insane .412/.462/.765 with two home runs, six RBI and only four strikeouts in 34 at-bats, keeping him at the top of the league in most offensive categories.
Hampson is right behind him with a .308/.379/.654 line coupled with three home runs, six RBI, and five stolen bases.
“We’re both playing really well right now,” says McMahon. “[Hampson] has some amazing attributes… his speed is unmatched in this game right now.”
“It’s nothing tense,” says Hampson of the competition. “We’re still good friends. We’re not going to let that get in the way of having fun. This is a kid’s game, and we’re both having fun, we’re not putting too much pressure on ourselves. Obviously, not everybody can play at the same time, but we’re still going about our business and having fun with it.”
That’s one of the things that comestible from an organization that has put so much time in developing their young players not just as individuals, but as teammates.
“It’s definitely cool, man,” says McMahon of the club relying on their in-house talent so frequently. “The Rockies do a great job of developing position players.”
And sometimes that process can be slower than the player, and especially the fans, want it to be.
Calls were being made for most of last season to see more of McMahon in particular but those concerned that the Rox will remain reluctant will be encouraged to hear manager Bud Black speak to the progress he has made.
“Some of the things you go through as a young player, he’s passed all of that. Now it’s just about performing and truly do it on the field.”
The lack of starting time for McMahon in 2018, it turns out, had much more to do with the nuance of where the player and team were at rather than some all-encompassing philosophy on veterans versus youngsters.
“The composition of our roster, has made it such that we’ve been able to give players smaller doses, expose them where they don’t need to feel as though they need to be instant contributors,” says Black. “Every moment is a learning moment, regardless of age.”
Hampson and McMahon had their fair share of such moments in 2018 and will again in 2019. And the irony is, despite the chance at a starting gig bringing out the best in both this spring training, it almost doesn’t matter who wins the job.
“I think we’re both going to help the team in different ways,” says McMahon. “But we are both going to help the team.”
