The 5 Colorado Rockies players most impacted by expanded rosters

There are a lot of way in which the 2020 MLB season is going to look a lot different than any we’ve ever witnessed before.

Of course, the 60-game schedule stands out as the headliner among the changes as well it should.

Perhaps next on the list, though, is the expansion of the rosters from 26, already up one from year’s past, to 30. Additionally, to protect somewhat against unforeseen health issues, each team now gets a “taxi squad” of three players who will travel with their club and be on immediate standby.

As such, the Colorado Rockies (and everyone else) will open their season with seven players making the trip who would not have in the before times.

Who are the guys most impacted by this wrinkle in the system? Let’s get to the list.

5. Jake McGee/Bryan Shaw

Had to cheat with this first one and pick two players who are almost in the exact same situation wherein the larger rosters can both help and hurt them.

In the immediacy, any fear that Bryan Shaw or Jake McGee would be cut from the roster to make room for more deserving candidates has been washed away. The Rockies will be adding more members to their bullpen, not subtracting any.

Therein lies the potential problem down the line for these two.

The Rockies will now no longer need to make a call to Albuquerque and make a decision of finality about either player in order to move them aside. There will be pitchers like Tyler Kinley, Jesus Tinoco, Yency Almonte, the No. 3 player on this list, and even some former starters already on the roster and ready to step in should their failure of the last few years continue into 2020.

Their contracts are safer than they used to be, but their playing time is decisively not.

4. Matt Kemp

In any other year, the signing of a past-his-prime veteran to a minor league deal would be standard run-of-the-mill stuff. In most cases, those players end up getting lost in a roster crunch at the end of Spring Training anyway. But it’s usually worth the incredibly low level of risk anyway.

With four extra roster spots and the universal DH, Kemp has a much better shot to make this club than he would have under typical circumstances.

Spots are slightly less sacred due to them being more plentiful, so you can much more easily justify taking a guy on the premise that he might recapture a bit of what he once was.

If he doesn’t pan out, you now even have taxi-squad insurance.

3. Phillip Diehl

In Spring Training 1.0, Diehl was in fact dealing. He was potentially forcing the Rockies into a tough decision regarding either McGee and Shaw, but since teams are disinclined to pay players to play against them, Diehl was likely going to have to start the season in Triple-A at wait for that first call.

Instead, he almost has to be the third lefty in the bullpen and an immediate on-hand insurance policy in the event that those veterans to indeed falter.

This one if fairly simple. He was just barely on the outside looking in and now a solid showing at Summer Camp should secure his spot with relative ease. Speaking of which…

2. Sam Hilliard

Before lockdown, the conventional wisdom was that Hilliard would be the classic case of a young guy showing a promise who gets caught up in the fact that he would be better served getting regular at-bats down in Triple-A rather than sitting on the bench for only occasional playing time in MLB.

Now that there is no Triple-A and no 26-man roster to limit such fringy players, Hilliard is a near lock to make the roster. In fact, if Charlie Blackmon can’t return to form in time, Hilliard may well be set to take over a starting role.

The expanded rosters are not the only new rule that help Hilliard either. With the DH coming to the National League, it makes even more sense to get his young legs and incredible throwing arm out into the field so that less quality defenders (like Blackmon) can take their turns playing offense only.

Hilliard’s above average speed, defense, arm, and power make him a shoe-in to step into some big moments in this truncated season for Colorado.

1. Jeff Hoffman

There may not be another case in baseball more black and white than that of Jeff Hoffman. Out of options and having shown more downs than up in his MLB career, Hoffman was looking like he would not only miss out on making the roster in March but also, therefore, being designated for assignment and likely on his way out of Colorado.

If he couldn’t win either the fifth rotation spot, where the Rockies like both Chi Chi Gonzalez and Peter Lambert, or the final bullpen spot with any number of guys with MLB experience competing for it, Hoffman was on his way out of town.

But with four more roster spots it makes too much sense to carry the young man who throws a 97 MPH fastball and a devastating curve but has never put it together. Colorado can stash him in the bullpen, give him spot starts and spurts of innings until he can prove himself. Perhaps unleashing his raw “stuff” an inning or two at a time will be the key. If not, having him as the 29th or 30th man on the roster costs them very little.