Established in 1991, the Rockies played their first season in 1993 and got their first playoff spot in 1995 but fell in the NLDS. The Rockies didn't return to the playoffs until a 90-win season in 2007. They made their first World Series that year but were swept by the Boston Red Sox. They haven't been to the NLCS since, making just three more playoff appearances.
In their short history the Rockies are yet to win their division, but they have been competitive at times and have not slumped to a 100-loss season at any point. The Rockies are just 25th in win percentage among MLB teams, but as one of the most recent teams to come into the league they are only one hot streak away from flying up the standings. Can you provide them with that hot streak and claim a first division title and World Series triumph?
*All stats correct at time of writing
Team Rating
MLB The Show 19 doesn't have a single team OVR to compare ball clubs like other sports games, instead you have a ranking. This is nice as it clearly shows you where a team lies within the Majors, but it does mean you can't see the gap between a team that ranks 3rd and one that ranks 11th.
The Colorado Rockies come in at 12th in the MLB, a solid spot to build from. Their best aspects are with the bat in hand. They rank 6th in contact and 6th in power. They also don't really have a weak spot as they rank 11th in speed, 16th in pitching, and 17th in defense.
The one place the Rockies may struggle to compete is financially. Their team budget of $181 million is some way off the big guns of the Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs, and Dodgers. That means you'll need to be selective with your investments and make sure you have the budget to hold onto your stars. Who are the players that you will be building your roster around?
Nolan Arenado, Third Base (99 OVR)
Age: 27
Throws/Bats: R/R
Contract: 8 years/$260 million
Secondary Position: 1B
Hitter Tendency: Pull Hitter
Best Stats: Contact vs L (99), Power vs L (99), Clutch (99), Durability (95), Arm Strength (92), Arm Accuracy (84), Reaction (83), Fielding (80)
Nolan Arenado was a second-round pick for the Colorado Rockies in 2009 and got his MLB debut in 2013. He played 133 games that year, hitting .267 with 10 homers and very good defense as he claimed his first gold glove, which he has defended successfully in every season so far. In 2015 Arenado's power arrived in a big way as he mashed 42 homers with 130 RBI and a .287 average. He has hit at least 37 homers in every season since and bumped his average up to at least .290. Surprisingly Arenado is yet to win an MVP award.
In The Show 19 Arenado absolutely kills left-handed pitchers (contact 99, power 99) and backs that up with strong stats against righties (contact 75, power 76). He is good in the field (80) and has terrific arm talent (arm strength 92, arm accuracy 84). He's great in the clutch (99) and is exceptionally durable (95).
Kyle Freeland, Starting Pitcher (86 OVR)
Age: 25
Throws/Bats: L/L
Contract: 1 year/$575k + 3 years arbitration
Pitches: 4-Seam Fastball, Slider, Changeup, 2-Seam Fastball
Best Stats: Stamina (88), Clutch (88), Break (73), H/9 (72), HR/9 (70), Velocity (65), K/9 (65)
Kyle Freeland was the eighth-overall pick in the 2014 draft for the Colorado Rockies and he got his MLB debut in 2017, making 28 starts in which he pitched 149.2 innings with a 4.15 ERA. In 2018 Freeland really broke out, making 33 starts with a 2.85 ERA, a 7.7 K/9, and finished fourth in Cy Young voting.
In The Show 19 Freeland has terrific stamina (88) and is good in clutch situations (88). He has ok break (73) and his velocity is on the light side (65) but Freeland is only 25 and has the time ahead of him to improve that. His control (56) is also an issue, but again with time is should be better.
Charlie Blackmon, Right Field (84 OVR)
Age: 32
Throws/Bats: L/L
Contract: 6 years/$108 million
Secondary Position: LF, CF
Hitter Tendency: Pull Hitter
Best Stats: Clutch (99), Contact vs R (95), Durability (95), Contact vs L (93), Power vs R (78), Vision (70)
Charlie Blackmon was a second-round pick for the Rockies in 2008 and got his MLB debut in 2011, playing 27 games and hitting .255 with one homer. Blackmon got his first All-Star appearance in 2014 as he added some power to his game with 19 homers, hit .288, and played solid defense. Blackmon's best season to date is 2017 when he mashed 37 homers with an NL-best .331 average and 14 triples and came 5th in MVP voting.
In The Show 19 Blackmon is a contact monster (95/93) and has good power against righties (78). Blackmon is superb in the clutch (99) and is extremely durable (95) but his speed (58) is not great for an outfielder and his fielding (53) is poor.
Colorado Rockies MLB Roster
There can be fluctuations in OVR from save to save on MLB The Show 19, but the underlying stats of players are always the same. We'll start our look at the Colorado Rockies MLB roster with the position players and then move onto the pitchers.
Player | OVR | Age | Position | Bat Hand | Best Contact | Best Power | Fielding | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nolan Arenado | 99 | 27 | 3B | R | 99 (L) | 99 (L) | 80 | 28 |
Charlie Blackmon | 84 | 32 | RF | L | 95 (R) | 78 (R) | 53 | 58 |
Daniel Murphy | 83 | 34 | 1B | L | 94 (R) | 65 (R) | 45 | 25 |
Trevor Story | 82 | 26 | SS | R | 89 (L) | 98 (L) | 70 | 88 |
David Dahl | 81 | 25 | LF | L | 80 (R) | 66 (R) | 63 | 73 |
Ian Desmond | 77 | 33 | CF | R | 72 (L) | 60 (L) | 65 | 65 |
Garrett Hampson | 75 | 24 | 2B | S | 59 (L) | 34 (L) | 76 | 95 |
Chris Iannetta | 75 | 35 | C | R | 59 (L) | 62 (R) | 51 | 21 |
Mark Reynolds | 72 | 35 | 1B | R | 72 (R) | 77 (R) | 59 | 7 |
Tony Wolters | 69 | 26 | C | L | 50 (R) | 34 (R) | 78 | 32 |
Player | OVR | Age | Position | Throw Hand | Stamina | Control | Velocity | Break |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wade Davis | 87 | 33 | CP | R | 24 | 52 | 74 | 99 |
Seunghwan Oh | 86 | 36 | RP | R | 25 | 74 | 63 | 94 |
Kyle Freeland | 86 | 25 | SP | L | 88 | 56 | 65 | 73 |
Jon Gray | 83 | 27 | SP | R | 82 | 64 | 79 | 80 |
Tyler Anderson | 79 | 29 | SP | L | 80 | 66 | 67 | 85 |
Scott Oberg | 78 | 29 | RP | R | 25 | 64 | 83 | 84 |
Chris Rusin | 76 | 32 | RP | L | 33 | 55 | 63 | 76 |
Mike Dunn | 76 | 33 | RP | L | 22 | 49 | 71 | 73 |
German Marquez | 75 | 24 | SP | R | 81 | 69 | 82 | 90 |
Antonio Senzatela | 72 | 24 | SP | R | 65 | 51 | 71 | 51 |
The Rockies roster has 13 position players and 12 pitchers. This gives you an 8-man lineup with a 5-man bench, and a 5-man rotation with a 7-man bullpen including your closer.
The offense is powered by Nolan Arenado (contact L 99, power L 99) as well as Charlie Blackmon (contact R 95, contact L 93) and Daniel Murphy (contact R 94, contact L 80). That trio is supported by Garrett Hampson (speed 95, contact L 59), David Dahl (contact R 80, contact L 70), and Trevor Story (power L 98, contact L 89) along with Mark Reynolds (power R 77, contact R 72), Ian Desmond (contact L 72, speed 65), and Raimel Tapia (speed 89, contact R 64).
In the field the Rockies have some good talent. Arenado (fielding 80) is a star and fellow infielders Hampson (fielding 76) and Story (fielding 70) are strong too while Tony Wolters (fielding 78) is a good defensive catcher.
The Rockies rotation is shaky. Kyle Freeland (stamina 88, break 73) and Jon Gray (stamina 82, break 80) top the rotation and are solid enough arms, though neither is close to being an ace. The 3-5 spots are taken by Tyler Anderson (break 85, stamina 80), German Marquez (break 90, velocity 82), and Antonio Senzatela (velocity 71, stamina 65). Marquez and Senzatela are just 24 and have room to improve, but they are going to struggle through starts against good lineups.
The bullpen is also top heavy, with closer Wade Davis (break 99, H/9 96) and Seunghwan Oh (break 94, clutch 78) able to close out games well, but bridging to them could be difficult. Mike Dunn (break 73, velocity 71) and Scott Oberg (break 84, velocity 83) are your best bets but the likes of Chris Rusin (break 76, velocity 63) and Bryan Shaw (velocity 81, break 66) will only be useful as innings eaters.
Lineups
The Show 19 gives you four lineups to set. These are against right-handed starters with and without the DH and against left-handed starters with and without the DH. As the Rockies are in the National League the majority of games will be played without the DH. The Show 19 will have preset lineups you can use.
Against righties without the DH The Show 19 puts 2B Garrett Hampson at the top of the order with 1B Daniel Murphy and RF Charlie Blackmon at #2 & #3. Next is 3B Nolan Arenado, LF David Dahl, SS Trevor Story, and CF Ian Desmond, with C Chris Iannetta at #8 followed by the pitchers slot. With the DH Mark Reynolds comes into the lineup at #7 and will play the field at 1B while Murphy takes the DH spot.
Against lefties without the DH the top 4 of Hampson, Murphy, Blackmon, and Arenado is unchanged, while SS Trevor Story moves to #5 over Dahl, followed by Desmond and Iannetta. With the DH once again Reynolds comes into 1B at #7 and Murphy takes the DH role.
These lineups are ok, but we can do better.
The biggest change is pushing Hampson way down the lineup. While his speed is nice at the top of the order his lack of contact skill or discipline means he'll struggle to get on base often enough to be useful. Against righties without the DH we have put Charlie Blackmon at #1 and left Murphy at #2 while moving Arenado up to #3 with Dahl and Story following. We've put Raimel Tapia in CF at #6 with Hampson at #7 followed by Iannetta. With the DH Mark Reynolds still comes into 1B and will hit 6th.
Against lefties Blackmon, Murphy, and Arenado stay at the top of the order but Story moves to #4 and Ian Desmond comes back into CF at #5. Dahl hits 6th followed by Hampson and Iannetta, with the DH Reynolds comes in at #8.
Farm System
The farm system in MLB The Show 19 can be frustrating as the movement in OVR also happens in potential and can ruin a strong prospect. There is also a lack of some real life prospects so you can't just pull up a list of the Rockies best prospects and move them up. Still, there are some useful prospects that the Rockies will hope can come good.
Jon McNeal, Closing Pitcher (73 OVR)
Age: 20
Potential: A
Throws/Bats: L/L
Pitches: 4-Seam Fastball, Changeup, Slider, Cutter
Best Stats: Arm Strength (93), Velocity (78), H/9 (70), K/9 (70), Clutch (64)
Jon McNeal is Colorado's best prospect. He brings good velocity (78) already and is solid in the clutch (64). His stamina (28) is elite for a closer. The issue is his control (49) and break (46), but at just 20 years old McNeal has time to develop that and by the 2020 season he could be ready for a spot in the Rockies bullpen.
Daniel Aquavito, Relief Pitcher (64 OVR)
Age: 19
Potential: B
Throws/Bats: R/R
Pitches: 4-Seam Fastball, Sweeping Curve, Changeup
Best Stats: Arm Strength (83), K/9 (77), Break (73), Arm Accuracy (71), Velocity (63), Control (63)
Daniel Aquavito is just a teenager but he already has solid control (63) and combines that with good break (73) and ok velocity (63). With all that he has a strong K/9 (77) and can field his position well (arm strength 83, arm accuracy 71). He has no ability in the clutch (30) just yet, but that can come on later.
Giancarlo Pina, Right Field (61 OVR)
Age: 21
Potential: B
Throws/Bats: R/R
Secondary Position: LF, CF
Hitter Tendency: Pull Hitter
Best Stats: Stealing (82), Baserunning Aggressiveness (74), Reaction (71), Power vs L (70), Speed (68), Arm Strength (68)
Giancarlo Pina is far from MLB-ready, but his speed (68) and stealing (82) ability are strong. He also has solid power against lefties (70) but his contact skill is poor (26/39) and he doesn't have good vision (29) or discipline (27). That is to be expected from a young player but given some time Pina could develop into a successor for Charlie Blackmon in right field.