In an effort to avoid going stir crazy with MLB and every other major sports league shut down during the coronavirus pandemic, I've decided to take a look at the best of the best for each baseball franchise. We've created a 30-day series making an all-time team for each MLB club. We're breaking down one team each day throughout April, continuing today in Denver.
As a (hopefully?) fun twist, I'm making a Baseball Stars team for each. That's right, the old-school Nintendo video game "Baseball Stars," which I still consider to be the best baseball video game ever. It allowed you to create teams and I used to make all-time lineups for prominent MLB franchises. There are the eight position players with four starting pitchers, one reliever and five bench position players on each Baseball Stars squads.
Up next are the Colorado Rockies. They've only been around since the 1993 season, making it one of the younger franchises in baseball.
Catcher
The history isn't rich here. Catchers rarely last long here, and it has to do with the thin air and how much catching takes out of a player. Did you know there has only ever been one Rockies catcher qualify for the batting title in a single season? Joe Girardi in 1995 had 506 plate appearances. In a full season, 502 is the cut-off point.
Anyway, we're going with Chris Iannetta here by a nose over Wilin Rosario.
First base
Andres Galarraga was one of the Rockies' first great players, but Todd Helton runs away with it here.
Second base
There were a few good Eric Young years and we should mention Clint Barmes, but it's all DJ LeMahieu here. He was an excellent defender, won a batting title and stole some bases in his time in Colorado. Interestingly, the power never really came until he left. He never slugged .500 as a member of the Rockies. Still, he sits 10th in career WAR with Colorado and is a fine pick, despite the 93 OPS+.
Shortstop
Trevor Story burst onto the scene in 2016 with seven homers and 12 RBI in his first six games. As it turned out, he wasn't the Rockies' version of Chris Shelton. He had a down 2017, but in the last two years, he's gotten down-ballot MVP love and has hit .293/.355/.561 (122 OPS+) while averaging 36 homers, 97 RBI, 100 runs and 25 steals. He's already up to sixth in Rockies WAR behind the obvious five best players. Unfortunately for Story, one of them blocks him here.
The pick is Troy Tulowitzki.
Third base
Vinny Castilla! Garrett Atkins! Jeff Cirillo?
Nah. We know the pick. Nolan Arenado.
Left field
It's pretty crowded out here. In left field alone I've got Matt Holliday and Ellis Burks. Carlos Gonzalez played out here, but he played all three spots. I also know I'll have to deal with Charlie Blackmon while Larry Walker is locking down right field. Essentially, if I want Blackmon in center, Gonzalez gets consideration here. Or do I kick Gonzalez to center and decide between Holliday and Burks here?Let's sort through it.
Holliday: .319/.387/.550, 131 OPS+, 18.5 WAR in six years
Burks: .306/.378/.579, 128 OPS+, 12 WAR in five years
Blackmon: .304/.360/.509, 116 OPS+, 17.1 WAR in nine years
Gonzalez: .290/.349/.516, 116 OPS+, 23.7 WAR in 10 years
Holliday was the left fielder on the pennant-winning 2007 team and who could forget he was the game-winning run in the one-game playoff against the Padres? We'll give him the edge in left field. That pushes Gonzalez to center to compete against Blackmon. I lean toward Gonzalez ever-so slightly.
Center field
CarGo. A few years from now it could be different, though.
Right field
Walker is the pick.
Apologies to Dante Bichette, David Dahl, Dexter Fowler, Brad Hawpe and a few other outfielders who didn't get a mention above.
Starting pitchers
Obviously the crop won't look quite as impressive here, but we have to remember the conditions in which Rockies pitchers are forced to work in roughly half their starts.
On that note, let's start with Ubaldo Jimenez. Remember him as a Rockies pitcher, not the worn-down version we got used to in the ensuring years. He was third in Cy Young voting in 2010 behind prime Roy Halladay and Adam Wainwright. In Jimenez's three full years in the Rockies' rotation, he was 46-32 with a 3.43 ERA (137 ERA+) with six complete games and two shutouts, including a no-hitter. He's the ace.
Next up, Aaron Cook spent nearly his entire career with the Rockies. There were some down years, but his prime was quality. From 2004-09, he was 57-43 with a 4.09 ERA (117 ERA+). He got a start in the 2007 World Series and was an All-Star the next season.
Those were the two easy ones. For the next two spots, we've got a mix with Jorge De La Rosa, Jhoulys Chacin, Jon Gray, German Marquez, Kyle Freeland, Pedro Astacio and Jeff Francis.
Chacin sits fourth in WAR, second in ERA+ and fourth in FIP. Zeroing in on 2010, 2011 and 2013, those were three of the better seasons from a Rockies starter in terms of run prevention. He didn't have great luck with run support, but we can toss out W-L record here because the offense is loaded now (so is the infield defense, just in case he can keep it on the ground like he did in 2011).
Finally, I'm latching onto Marquez. He's already sixth in WAR while sitting fourth in ERA, first in WHIP, sixth in hit rate (lowest hits allowed per nine), first in walk rate (low BB/9), second in strikeout rate (K/9), first in K/BB, third in ERA+ and third in FIP. He's only 25 and through team control through 2024.
Reliever
We can mention guys like Huston Street, Adam Ottavino, Jose Jimenez and a few others, but Brian Fuentes checks every box here. He's the career leader in saves, the relief leader in WAR, he has dominant rate stats (adjusted for ballpark, obviously) and was the closer on the 2007 pennant-winning team.
The Lineup
Baseball Stars uses six characters for each name. What follows is the Baseball Stars lineup.
- Walker, RF
- Helton, 1B
- Nolan, 3B
- Matt H, LF
- CarGo, CF
- Tulo, SS
- Chris, C
- Pitcher
- DJLM, 2B
SP: Big U, Aaron, Chacin, German
RP: Brian
Bench: Trevor (Story), Vinny (Castilla), Ellis (Burks), Nasty (Charlie Blackmon's nickname is "Chuck Nasty") and Andres (Galarraga).
I can see the lineup causing a stir, but I can't justify giving the Rockies version of LeMahieu more plate appearances than the top three. Walker got on base at well over a .400 clip and he stole bases. There's plenty of power on down the lineup through the six spot, but Holliday, Gonzalez and Tulowitzki weren't nearly as good at getting on base as Walker and Helton. I know it's jarring to see a player with Walker's power at the top, but with these all-time lineups, that's the luxury you have. The guy hitting sixth averaged 29 homers for every 162 games with the Rockies while slugging .513. We don't "need" Walker's power lower.
