5COLORADO ROCKIES

O/U WINS: 63.5

KEY PLAYER: German Marquez. It’s rough pitching with Coors Field as your home park, but the right-hander has quietly been solid (3.75 ERA last year), and perhaps more importantly for a volatile rotation, has stayed healthy to shoulder heavy innings. PLAYER WHO’LL NEED TO STEP UP: Ryan McMahon. The once top-100 prospect could see the bulk of time at third base with Nolan Arenado gone and has some sizable shoes to fill. He was a strong hitter in the minors but has batted just .239 with a .745 OPS over the last three seasons (284 games). NAME YOU’LL GET TO KNOW: Fairly or (probably) unfairly, any time Austin Gomber pitches, it will likely be mentioned he headlined the trade return for Arenado. The 27-year-old lefty should get the chance to prove himself in the rotation. BIGGEST QUESTION MARK: How much longer is Trevor Story a Rockie? After losing the teammate that played to his right for the last five years in Arenado, the pending free-agent shortstop could very well be the next Rockies staple to go. HOW IT’LL GO DOWN: It could be a rough year for the Rockies, especially for their fans if they lose another homegrown star in Story. Kyle Freeland’s spring training injury won’t help the rotation either, as it already had some question marks before then. It’s a tough time to be the punching bag in the NL West.

PROJECTED LINEUP LF Raimel Tapia CF Garrett Hampson RF Charlie Blackmon SS Trevor Story

1B C.J. Cron

3B Ryan McMahon 2B Brendan Rodgers C Elias Diaz

ROTATION

RHP German Marquez RHP Antonio Senzatela RHP Jon Gray

LHP Austin Gomber RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez