All Rockies team 1965-2017, position players

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The Colorado Rockies hitting stats are easily the most inflated of any team in baseball. They are baseball version of empty calories. That makes them an interesting team to look at. They have more examples of gargantuan offensive stats coupled with low WARs than any team I've looked at. Having said that, they've had some outstanding players ply their trade in Rockies uniforms. And we're off!

Catcher: Chris Inetta All that talk about inflated numbers doesn't apply to the catching position in Colorado. Chris Inetta has put up decent numbers, including an OPS of .788 during his 6 seasons with the Rockies, but has a WAR of 8.2 in that time frame. That includes some decent defensive metrics. Chris' best season was 2008 when he put up a EWAR of 3.1. Inetta hit 18 homers that year and had an OPS of .895 that season. There was a time when Wilin Rosario looked like he might be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but like bread, he went stale fairly quickly. In 2012 he slugged 28 home runs, but it was downhill after that.

First base: Todd Helton Coors Field effect or not, the Toddfather's stats are staggering. In 17 seasons in a Rockies uniform, Todd's CAREER OBP was .414. That's just amazing. He also hit with power, hitting 369 home runs. In 2000, Helton led the NL in doubles with 59, hits with 216, RBIs with 147, batting average at .372 while hitting 42 home runs. He also led the NL in slugging percentage. The dude had himself a year. He followed that up with a 49 homer, 146 RBI season. From 2000-2004 Helton an OPS of over 1.000. The numbers could go on and on, but the point is clear. Helton was an offensive machine. He's an easy choice, though Andres Galarraga gets mention by virtue of having a 150 RBI season in 1996 and 140 RBI season in 1997. Both of those numbers led the NL in that category.

Second base: D J LeMahieu The big offensive numbers don't carry over to second base. LeMaheiu is the choice he though he's somewhat of an anomaly in Colorado. He's a glove first guy. Having said that, this glove first guy led the NL in batting average in 2016 with a mark of .348. His OPS for that year was .911 and he had a WAR of 5.2. That has been the exception for D J. He's not bad, but I wouldn't look for him to lead the league in hitting again. He has won two gold gloves. I wouldn't be surprised to see him win more of those. D J is also a two time all star. Eric Young gets mention for being a good leadoff man on those early Rockies teams.

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki In Tulo's 10 seasons with the Rockies, he put up nice numbers that would have been much greater if he hadn't constantly dealt with injuries. I had not realized what a defensive force Tulowitzki was. His defensive WAR for his time in Colorado was 13.4. His total WAR was 39.1. Tulo had three seasons with a WAR of better than 6.0. That's really hard to do in as few games as he played. Trevor Story has done fairly well in two seasons in Colorado. His value is power driven coupled with good defensive metrics.

Third base: Nolan Arenado Nolan Arenado is one of the 10 best players in baseball. He may even be in the top 5. His home run totals from 2015-17 are 42-41-37. His RBI totals for that same time are 130-133-130. That's amazing consistency. Factor in he's won the gold glove for all 5 of his seasons in the big leagues and you have a very special player. He was 26 years old at the end of the 2017 season, so he should be great for a few more seasons. Arenado gets the call, but Vinnie Castillo gets mention by virtue of his production from 1995-99. He hit 32-40-40-46-33 home runs during those seasons. As you might expect, he drove in 100+ RBIs in four of those seasons. He was also a solid defender. His total WAR in Colorado was 17.4. His peak was 1998 when his WAR was 5.8.

Left field: Matt Holliday Matt wins this slot over Dante Bichette. Bichette has some really remarkable numbers. In 1995 Dante led the NL in hits with 197 as well as homers with 40 and RBIs with 128. Great numbers, right? Dante's WAR for that season was 1.2. It seems almost impossible to do that. Those numbers sum up Dante's time in Colorado. It's like cotton candy. It looks like a lot, but when you bite into it, there's not much there. In 2007, Matt Holliday put up similar numbers to what Bichette put up in 1995. Holliday led the league in hits with 216, doubles with 50, batting average at .340 and RBIs with 137. He also hit 36 home runs. His WAR for that season? 6.0. In 5 seasons with the Rockies, Matt hit .319, had an OBS of .938 and a WAR of 18.4. Holliday's numbers were substantial and seem to have substance.

Center field: Charlie Blackmon Charlie's career is trending in the right direction. In 2017 Charlie led the NL in runs scored with 137, hits with 213, triples with 14, batting average with .331 while recording a OPS of 1.000. His WAR was 6.0. That's on the heels of an excellent 2016 campaign where he put up a WAR of 4.5. Charlie's defense in center his passable, but his offense makes for a very good overall package. Ellis Burks gets a shoutout, primarily on the strength of a huge 1996 season when he led the league in runs scored with 142 and slugging percentage at .639. He also hit 40 home runs that season. While Ellis spent all or part of 5 seasons with the Rockies, his playing time in some of those seasons was limited. For his time in Colorado, Ellis had a batting average of .306 and an OPS of .957. His WAR for that time was 11.9. Not bad, but not as good has Blackmon's.

Right field: Larry Walker With or without Coors Field, Larry Walker was a great ballplayer. I raved about Todd Helton's OBP, but Walkers was even better. His OBP for 10 seasons with the Rockies was .426. In 1997 Walker was the league MVP with a league leading 49 home runs and 130 RBIs. His OPS was 1.172. Larry led the NL in that category twice and was over the 1.000 5 times. His WAR in that 1997 season was 9.8. His career total WAR for the Rockies was 48.2. Larry was a five time gold glove winner and his arm was recognized as one of the best in the game. All in all, that's good enough to prevail over Carlos Gonzalez. Carlos has had a strong career in Colorado, highlighted by his 2010 season. During that season, Carlos led the NL in hits with 197 and batting average at .336. Not bad for a runner up.

So there's my Colorado Rockies team. What do you think? Let me know.

You might also check out my designs.