MLB: 5 Teams That Could Find Themselves in Contention in 2017

Colorado Rockies

The Rockies are still in the hunt for a playoff spot this season, sitting 6.5 games out of the second wild card in the National League. With six games remaining with both the Brewers and Diamondbacks, as well as a slew of games against the Dodgers, Giants and Cardinals above them in the standings, there is a chance that Colorado could make a run this season and shock everyone.

If they don’t make it this year, 2017 should be the year they finally make it back to October baseball. With the big guns in Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez still under contract, the emergence of Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon, and the high ceiling of David Dahl, the Rockies offense will be just fine. It’s their pitching, however, that could really come on strong.

Jon Gray has big the big name in Colorado’s system since he was drafted third overall in 2013, and has been making good on that selection this season. He holds a 4.69 ERA on the year after three rough starts that have bumped it up from his low-mark of 3.77 back on August 2. Gray has a strikeout rate of 9.38, which should lead to some future success if he can continue to make adjustments. To that point, while Gray’s ERA at home (5.11) is higher than his road mark, he is 5-1 at Coors, which means that he is keeping his team close, which may be enough in the thin air.

While Gray has been the big name, he’s certainly not the only arm in the rotation worth talking about. Tyler Chatwood, while currently on the disabled list, would win the NL Cy Young if he didn’t pitch at Coors, holding a 1.82 ERA in ten road starts. At home he holds a 5.43 ERA, which is interesting since he is primarily a fastball, cutter pitcher. This offseason the Rockies front office seemed to add pitchers that threw a lot of heaters with the hope that the air at Coors wouldn’t affect them as it does breaking pitches. Either way, Chatwood’s 3.75 ranks second on the team among starters to Tyler Anderson.

Anderson burst onto the scene in June and went four starts to begin his career allowing just two earned runs and hovering right around six innings pitched each time out. In his start on Friday against a high-powered Cubs squad–at Coors– he allowed a season-high five runs over seven frames and the Rockies got the win. That was an unusual outing for Anderson at home, given that he holds a 3.45 ERA there, which includes Friday’s game. On the season he has a 3.69 ERA.

While another high-potential arm just joined the rotation to face those same Cubs at Coors, Jeff Hoffman (acquired in the Troy Tulowitzki deal) did not have the same success in his big league debut. Hoffman went just four innings and gave up seven (six earned), earning the loss. Hoffman held a 4.02 ERA in Triple-A this season, but his road numbers show that he has lots of potential to make an impact next season with Colorado. He held a 3.12 ERA on the road, struck out nearly a batter an inning (more than one an inning in total) and had a WHIP of just 1.15. This is significant because the Rockies Triple-A team is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where there is also altitude to contend with.

On the road, the Rockies have the starting pitching to compete in 2017, but with some minor improvements they could become a real threat in just a year’s time.

In three of the past four seasons the Rockies have ranked dead last in team ERA. As things stand right now, they are fourth from the bottom with a 4.89 mark. It’s not much, but it’s certainly something that Colorado can build on with their stable of young arms in the rotation.

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