Same team different results?

By Nick Stephens

Colorado Rockies 2014 season

 The 2014 season for the Rockies has been one to forget. Blame it on injuries, front office issues, misspelled jerseys, or the killer "B's" in the bullpen (Brothers, Belisle, Boone) the result is going to be the same. Although this has been one of the worst seasons in Colorado baseball history, there have been a few bright spots as well. In this article I will point out the obvious in what went wrong, and why we should look forward to a contending 2015 team.

 Through the first 52 games of the season, the Rockies had a record of 28-24, which exceeded most fans expectations. It was still early, but Rockies fans were optimistic. Tulo was healthy, pitching had been solid, Arenado and Blackmon were having All Star years, and just about everything was clicking. Unfortunately, as always, the Rockies plummeted in the standings come June.

 While it seems the front office uses the "injury" excuse year after year, it's hard to argue that the injury excuse isn't valid for 2014. Rockies players were going down left and right. The injury bug took down just about every pitcher that came to the mound. Tulo and Cargo both went down with season ending injuries. Jhoulys Chacin and Tyler Chatwood only made a few starts before hitting the DL, while Chatwood is expected to miss all of 2015 recovering from Tommy John surgery. After winning the NL batting title in 2013, Michael Cuddyer spent the majority of the season on the DL nursing multiple injuries. With just about every Rockies fan upset about how the season was playing out, it was casting a shadow on the bright spots on this team, specifically Corey Dickerson and Tyler Matzek, who give us a reason to believe in 2015.

 With Cuddyer and CarGo spending the season on the DL, it gave Corey Dickerson a chance to prove himself in the Majors. Corey Dickerson has exploded offensively while playing full time. He finished the season with a slash line of .312/.364/.567. He crushed 24 home runs while driving in 76 runners in 131 games. With all the trade rumors surrounding Carlos Gonzalez, Dickerson definitely provides some comfort knowing he's ready to fill those shoes if needed.

 Pitching has always been an issue for a pitcher who calls Coors Field his home park. While we saw 10+ different starters take the mound, we got a chance to see some of the young talent in our farm system. Tyler Matzek didn't seem phased by the hype surrounding the thin Colorado air. He was called up midseason from Colorado Springs, made 19 starts and solidified his spot in the 2015 rotation. While he was a little shaky at first, he settled in and provided a solid 4.05 ERA (3.61 ERA at Coors) over 117.2 innings pitched.

 The front office is a disaster. We all know that. We also know we have talent on this team, and if they can stay healthy, this team is without a doubt a contender in the NL West.