Colorado Rockies: Why Caesars 82 win prediction is wrong

According to Caesars Palace, the Colorado Rockies are predicted to win 82 games in 2019. But, if you break down all the numbers, that prediction is light.

In 2018, the Colorado Rockies won 91 games. Somehow Caesars thinks that they’re going to win 82 in 2019. While there’s nothing wrong with a .500 season, that’s a huge decline, especially considering the team looks better than last year,

It’s way too early to see how the Rockies offseason is going to affect their 2019 campaign, but from the looks of it, the team is a bit better, mostly thanks to the signing of Daniel Murphy.

For starters, the Rockies infield is now better than it was in 2018. It will start the season led by Murphy, Nolan Arenado, and Trevor Story, all of whom look ready for an improvement.

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In 2018, Murphy hit .299 split with the Nationals and Cubs. He posted a .790 OPS with 27 extra-base hits while missing most of the season. It was technically a bad season for Murphy, but playing at Coors Field should be able to rejuvenate him. Another .300 season with 20  home runs shouldn’t be out of the question.

Story and Arenado both did very well in 2018. Story hit .291 with 37 home runs while Arenado hit .298 with 38 home runs. It’s very possible that the Coors Field air could give help the trio combine for a .300+ batting average and more than 100 home runs if they all play full seasons.

Charlie Blackmon is also playing as good as ever and both David Dahl and Ryan McMahon are proving that they can produce.

The only area which the Rockies could suffer is from the possible losses of Carlos Gonzalez and DJ LeMahieu, both the offense is still as good as ever.

As for pitching, Kyle Freeland, German Márquez, and Jon Gray have been showing improvements. The three of them have combined for 43 wins.

As it stands, the Rockies only need to really make one big splash and they would be set for their 2019 campaign and an easy playoff spot. It might be a bit difficult for them to replicate another 91 win season, but it looks like 82 wins is also out of the equation.

A more realistic finish for the 2019  Colorado Rockies is somewhere around 88 wins. Most fans should be happy if they manage that.