Colorado Rockies

Steady DJ LeMahieu is providing several reasons to think he’ll be a solid regular next season.

LeMahieu, who turned 28 in July, is a durable performer who’s on pace to exceed 145 games for the third year in a row.

By also improving his hitting for the third consecutive year, LeMahieu had a career-high .920 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) through Sunday that’s also stellar when adjusted for ballpark factors. His on-base percentage is over .400, and he went into late August with career highs in doubles (25) and home runs (10).

His .288 batting average on the road, where his all-fields hitting style has held up, is encouraging for a franchise whose offense historically has faltered away from Coors Field.

Defensively, the 2014 Gold Glove winner and 2015 All-Star gets average marks in most metrics, but his consistency and knowhow could add to the infield’s cohesiveness.

LeMahieu’s salary will rise $1.8 million next year, but his $4.8 million price tag projects to be a steal.

Highly regarded pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman learned a lesson from his tough major league debut, in which the Chicago Cubs roughed him up for seven runs (six earned) in four innings at Coors Field. Hoffman said, “I wasn’t getting ahead as much as I should have been, and that obviously opened up a whole world of opportunities for them.”