Every team needs their stars to lead by example, both on the field and statistically. It’s a waste of time to tell you that Nolan Arenado and German Márquez need to be good. That’s obvious.
Starting with the first exhibition game on Tuesday and running through Opening Day on Friday, we’ll highlight those players – The Definitive Five – outside of the core performers whose season will truly determine whether the Rockies will reign again.
No. 5 – Tony Wolters, C
No. 4 – Wade Davis, RHP
No. 3 – (Wednesday, July 22)
No. 2 – (Thursday, July 23)
No. 1 – (Friday, July 24)
No. 4: Wade Davis (Reliever)
With a quick dishonorable mention for Kyle Freeland, no member of the Colorado Rockies had a worse 2019 season than closer Wade Davis. And no player was more responsible for it falling apart.
Take a look at the 10 key losses from last season that took a year with promise and turned it into a total disaster and you will see a blown save from Davis in at least eight of them.
In fact, his 2019 campaign wasn’t just bad for the Rockies, it was historically bad for any reliever in MLB. One year after setting the franchise record for saves and serving a vital role in a run to the postseason, Colorado’s closer put up a staggering 8.65 ERA made somehow even worse by a 6.12 BB/9 rate.
In other words, he was essentially giving games away.
Because of this performance, there are plenty of fans, perhaps even a majority, who would have been fine watching Davis walk out the door along with fellow highly-paid-yet-under-performing-vets Jake McGee and Bryan Shaw. But that might be a bit hasty.
In Spring Training 1.0, Davis showed up with some mechanical tweaks and a major mental adjustment and was looking like the version of himself that made him one of the best relievers in baseball with the Royals, Cubs, and even Rockies. He continued to look sharp in Summer Camp. Still, all we have are the exhibition games for now.
Bud Black had intimated in March that, despite the events of a year ago, Davis was still on the inside track for the closer job, which may have as much to do with keeping Scott Oberg in a “fire man” role as anything but still raised a few eyebrows.
More recently, the Rockies manager has hinted that several players, also including Carlos Estevez and Jairo Diaz, could be given chances to record a few saves depending on who is pitching better (or is more well rested) at the time.
As such, the Rockies don’t need Davis to return to form fully. They just need him to split the difference between the intimidating, lights-out guy he once was and the train wreck that he became last season.
At 34-years-old and with nine years of good-to-great pitching and just one terrible year on his resume, there is plenty of reason to believe that Davis should have something left in the tank.
Exactly what he has left could go a long way towards making the Rockies into contenders. Without him, they can still patch together a decent bullpen but only if young and unproven players take a step forward. With him, those guys can settle into set-up roles and Davis can join Oberg as a suddenly fearsome backend combo.
What Colorado absolutely cannot afford is a repeat. They could survive Davis giving them zero value in 2020 but only if they quickly move him down the depth chart and give more chances to other players should his struggles continue. They cannot survive this season if they tether themselves to their 2018 concepts of a closer that no longer exists.
The big trick will be finding the right balance early in the year. If he looks good, there are no issues and you just work him back into the mix. But it is incredibly important that the Rockies get out to a good start this year with the schedule in the first half looking far less daunting than the schedule in the second half.
So which games Davis is entrusted to try to close out early on will be massive for both him and the season.
If Wade Davis can find himself, and maybe even recapture some of that magic he showcased for nearly a decade in MLB, the Rockies will almost certainly take one of their biggest weaknesses from last year – the bullpen – and turn it into a strength.
