Rockies Outfielders Don’t Fit The Mold Of Coors
Louis Taggart | @LTTtalksFootball | July 17, 2023
There is no secret about it, Coors Field has the most unique park environment in the sport. Most people believe that home runs will kill you at Coors Field, but that’s simply not the case. With the outfield being so large, anything hit out there will most likely drop for a hit. As a ballpark, it produces the most hits in the league and always has crazy high-scoring games.
Since the Rockies play in this unique environment, it would make sense if their team-building philosophy matches the odd environment. Instead, they re-signed an aging Chuck Nazty to a long-term deal, signed injury-ridden Kris Bryant, and decided Jurickson Profar would be the perfect final piece in left field. That’s not how any of this works.
How Bad Does It Get?
The Rockies’ outfield this season might be the worst defensive outfield in all of baseball. Out of 252 qualified players, Profar, Grichuk, and Bryant rank 243, 240 and 220 in Outs Above Average (OAA) respectively. Every outfield position has a negative OAA this season. These numbers are bad for any team, let alone the Rockies, who play at Coors Field. It shouldn’t be surprising that every Rockies pitchers has struggled this season, they have no help.
It’s been like this for years. In 2018, they resigned 31-year-old Charlie Blackmon to a six-year contract extension. Extending a 31-year-old, who already wasn’t a plus defender and is only getting older is……appalling. Add the signing of Kris Bryant, it’s sickening how little sense this makes.
Bad fielders exist because they excel on the offensive side of the spectrum. When 200+ million dollar man Kris Bryant isn’t injured, his offensive numbers aren’t good enough to outweigh his defensive shortcomings. With Jurickson Profar it’s even worse. His baseball savant page looks like the Arctic.
Sacrificing defense for a plus bat is a choice most teams decide to make. It made sense with Charlie Blackmon, but now they just have a bunch of guys who struggle defensively.
What Works?
Speaking of big outfields, the Rockies don’t even have the biggest outfield in baseball. Kauffman Stadium takes that crown, and the Royals have adapted. During their World Series run, they employed the outfield of Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain and Alex Rios. All three of those guys are rangy outfielders who are elite defenders. They also had Jerrod Dyson and Ben Zobrist, who brought defensive versatility.
The defensive approach to the outfield worked back then, and it will work at Coors. With stolen bases taking off again, this approach will guarantee efficient base stealing, as good defenders are often good base stealers.
Everyone loves the raw hitter outfielder, but for the Rockies, that doesn’t make sense. With Kris Bryant presumably taking up the DH position for the next couple of years, it is critical that they can find everyday fielders that can patch up the outfield and provide value on the base paths.
Silver Lining
With all this being said, there is one player on the Rockies right now that is perfect. Brenton Doyle is a good defender with one of the strongest arms in baseball and looks like the future center fielder of the Rockies.
I can write a million words about how unique Coors Field is and how little the Rockies use it to their advantage. Hopefully, Brenton Doyle can point the front office in the right direction.
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