Isaac Stevens | August 5, 2024

Brad Hawpe was kind enough to spend about 30 minutes with us sharing stories and insights of his time with the Colorado Rockies. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube!

A player not included with the notables, is former Rockies All-Star Brad Hawpe. He seems to have always been overlooked during his Rockies tenure. Hawpe trailed right behind Holliday in the Rockies’ end-of-season win streak. Having a .423/.508/.808 slashline, while leading the team with 20 RBIs. Hawpe got the job done consistently, and his entire career with the Rockies was like that. Here we will discuss his excellence and legacy to players today.

The Colorado Rockies have one of the most famous winning streaks in MLB history, where in 2007 the Rockies won 14 of their last 15 Regular Season games (including the notorious game 163 with the Padres) to make the playoffs. In those 15 games, many players served important roles. Matt Holliday led the team in that stretch in both Batting Average (.442 AVG) and Home Runs (5 HR), accumulating a 241 wRC+. Troy Tulowitzki kept finding ways to get on base, and eventually scored 16 Runs (tied Holliday for first). Not to mention how the entire pitching staff had a 3.13 ERA, which is significantly better than their season 4.32 ERA. Everyone did their part at the end of the season.

Before the MLB

Hawpe was born in Fort Worth, Texas. A big baseball city that also produced Aubrey Huff, Brock Holt, and many others. After being selected in the 46th round by the Toronto Blue Jays as a Left-Handed Pitcher, Hawpe decided not to sign and pursued his dream of playing D1 baseball as a position player. His road to D1 was unorthodox, he had to call Louisiana State University to watch him play, and after one game they gave him a full-ride scholarship to play baseball (read more here). While playing for LSU, he and the Tigers won the 2000 College World Series. After his collegiate career, the Rockies then selected Brad Hawpe in the 11th round of the 2000 MLB Draft.

In the early 2000s teams developed players differently, they started at the lowest affiliate, and every year they moved up to affiliate. That norm was the same for Hawpe. Every year before his Major League Debut, Brad Hawpe had a Slugging Percentage (SLG) of at least .500, and a .840 OPS (On-base plus slugging). He dominated Minor League Baseball. His strong performances had him selected to the Northwest League All-Star team in 2000 (Low-A), and the Texas League All-Star Game in 2003 (Double-A). He also took home the 2002 Carolina League Most Valuable Player when he was in High-A. 

When Hawpe made it to Triple-A in 2004, he was a candidate to be called up to the MLB. After continuing his impressive run at the plate, the Rockies did just that. That season he was up and down between Triple-A and the MLB, but it got his feet settled in what was to come for his impressive MLB career.

Brad Hawpe’s Career Minor League Stats: 568 G, 617 H, 111 HR, 404 RBI .301 AVG, .390 OBP, 541 SLG

During the MLB

The first two seasons of Brad Hawpe’s Major League career started off slow, but that is to be expected with any prospect. In his rookie season in 2004, Brad Hawpe appeared in 42 games while striking out 28.8% of the time. That translated to a 69 wRC+. However, in his Sophomore season, he rebounded well by dropping his strikeout percentage by almost 9%, and increasing his walk percentage by 3%. He started hitting the ball better in 2005 too, batting .262 with a tune of 89 wRC+. 

Then in 2006, he put everything together and became a lock to be a Rockies outfielder of the future. That season he was 27th in the MLB in on-base percentage (.383 OBP), over the likes of David Wright, Paul Konerko, Grady Sizemore, and many other MLB Stars. Overall in 2006, he had a slash line of .293/.385/.515 to go along with 22 home runs. That was just the start of one of the best stretches in Rockies’ history. 

The back-to-back lineup threats in Matt Holliday and Todd Helton are one of the most famous duos in Rockies history, Brad Hawpe was not too far away from them. On the 2007 World Series team, Hawpe was the third-best hitter (based on wRC+), and was consistently in the mid-to-lower half of the lineup. He compiled 116 RBIs over the season, and in the final 15 games, he racked up 20. The consistent clutchness and contributions from Brad Hawpe helped the Rockies make it all the way to the World Series that year.

His notable singular All-Star selection came in 2009. At the time of the All-Star Game, Hawpe had a .320/.396/.578 slashline with a 144 wRC+ ~ 10th highest in the National League. He went 0-2 in the game and had a homerun robbed by Carl Crawford: who won All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. 

Between 2006-2009, Brad Hawpe was one of the most productive bats in the lineup. Most of that success came from facing Right-Handed Pitchers. He led all Rockies in that time frame with 79 home runs, and 304 RBIs, and was second (to Matt Holliday) in slugging percentage (.543 SLG). Brad Hawpe proved to be one of the most important bats in Rockies history, during their two playoff appearances in that time, and their World Series run. Not only was he great compared to other Rockies players, but he was also great compared to the rest of the MLB at that time. His 134 wRC+ against Right-Handed Pitchers in that time, ranked 26th in the MLB.

After the 2009 All-Star Game, Hawpes’s career then started to slow down. He hit just .240 after the All-Star Game (as opposed to his .320 AVG in the first half), though he was still walking at an elite clip where he had an on-base percentage of .370, giving him an above-average 106 wRC+. Where for the rest of his career he spent time with the Rockies,Padres, and Angels, he slashed .243/.341/.410 and just a 95 wRC+. Though injuries could be blamed for such a sudden career end, what he did on the field was legendary and helped the Rockies through their most successful seasons in team history.

Brad Hawpe’s Career Major League Stats: 910 G, 806 H, 124 HR, 492 RBI, .275 AVG, .368 OBP, .477 SLG, 112 wRC+

Hawpe’s Legacy

Many believe that Rockies players only hit well at Coors Field, but for Hawpe, it was the opposite. He has the second-highest wRC+ in Rockies history in away games at 118, behind Todd Helton (121 wRC+) who is the best Rockie of all time. While Hawpe’s Coors Field wRC+ was 7 points lower at 111. Joining Todd Helton only shows that Brad Hawpe is one of the best pure hitters in Rockies History.

Hawpe to this day finds ways to help out with the Rockies system. He helps out with the Rockies Instructional League and Spring Training and shares his wisdom of what winning looks like as a team. Every year that Hawpe wore a Rockies uniform, Colorado had a .484 winning percentage. Since 2019, the Rockies have a .414 winning percentage. So Hawpe has valuable wisdom for the Rockies on what a winning team looks like.

Brad Hawpe was the epitome of consistency, and being an overall great offensive player. He would give you 20+ home runs, with a good hit tool and even better discipline. He is a player that any hitter should label their game after.

Thank you for reading!

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