Colorado Rockies news and links for Monday, December 30th, 2024
Young Colorado Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar turned in a 2024 season to be proud of. Not only did he sign a long-term extension with the Rockies that brings him and his family generational wealth, but his on-field performance was one that told the Rockies they had made the right decision to lock him down for the foreseeable future.
In 157 games, Tovar led the Rockies in hits, doubles, home runs, and total bases. He led all of Major League Baseball with 45 doubles, won his first career Gold Glove Award at shortstop thanks to his fantastic defense, and even received a few down-ballot MVP votes.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
However, baseball is a game in which the best players never stop learning and adjusting, and Tovar has homework to do this off-season as he heads into his third big league season.
Tovar’s problem is one the entire team had in 2024: too much chasing, too many whiffs, and poor pitch recognition. The Rockies led the league in strikeout percentage (tied with the Seattle Mariners) at 26.8% and had the second most strikeouts in baseball. Their team 7.5% walk rate was tied for fifth worst in the league.
The Rockies had some of the worst plate discipline in baseball with the second highest chase rate at 31.8% and the worst chase contact rate at 48.6%. They were also one of the most free-swinging teams in the league with a second-highest 50.7% swing rate all while whiffing on a whopping league high 29.8% of pitches.
Ezequiel Tovar represents this team issue distilled into one player. In 2024 he set all-time MLB single season records in both swings and whiffs.
Ezequiel Tovar set all-time MLB single season records in 2024 with 1,576 swings and 528 whiffs and those are not typos.
— Codify Baseball (@codifybaseball.bsky.social) 2024-12-26T16:33:51.168Z
Tovar not only had the most strikeouts on the 2024 Rockies with 200, but also had the second most strikeouts in the league behind Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds. He had the worst walk rate and lowest on-base percentage of all full-time Rockies hitters while that .295 OBP wa s the 15th lowest among all MLB hitters.
According to MLB’s statcast, Ezequiel Tovar’s plate discipline in 2024 was among the very worst in the league.
Tovar has some homework to do leading into 2025, and he has the perfect classmate to copy off of in Brenton Doyle.
Doyle was one of the most improved hitters in the league this past season, taking a tremendous leap forward from his rookie year. He improved his batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage by more than 50 points each and cut down his strikeout rate from 35.0% in 2023 to 25.4% in 2024. He also massively improved his plate discipline.
Doyle worked during the tail end of the 2023 season and during the off-season to adjust his swing mechanics with an emphasis on simplifying his swing and improving his vision at the plate.
“The biggest thing was trying to minimize the movements in my swing,” Doyle said. “That allows my body to stay quiet and it allows my eyes to work a little bit better. Also, when things aren’t going well — and that happens all the time in this game — if your swing is really simple, it’s easier to make little adjustments. You don’t have to work so hard on it because there aren’t so many moving parts to fix.”
If Tovar can emulate the improvements made by his teammate and fellow Gold Glove winner, it would help Rockies fans feel a lot more confident in his future. His current profile reminds me somewhat of Carlos González at his worst, who similarly never met a breaking ball low and away he didn’t want to swing at. When González’ bat speed began to diminish as he entered his 30s, his offense production took enough of a nosedive that he found himself out of the league just one year after leaving the Rockies organization following the 2018 season.
Tovar will likely always be a high strikeout batter, but what’s important is that when he’s not striking out he is still able to get on base and do damage offensively. Teoscar Hernández of the Los Angeles Dodgers had just twelve fewer strikeouts than Tovar in 2024, but hit .272/.339/.501 on his way to becoming an All-Star, Silver Slugger, and tying Tovar for 19th in National League MVP voting.
Ezequiel Tovar is one of the most exciting young players in the Rockies organization, but he also needs to keep working, learning and improving. He needs to show his willingness to do so by taking another step forward in 2025.
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One prospect to watch for each team in 2025 | MLB.com
As the clock ticks ever nearer to the new year and subsequently the 2025 baseball season, MLB.com provides a list of prospects to watch for the coming months. For the Rockies, right-handed pitcher Chase Dollander is at the top of the list. Dollander is tantalizingly close to his major league debut and will be given the opportunity to break camp with a spot in the big league rotation this spring.
1 (realistic) free-agent target to fit every team | MLB.com
MLB.com has the Rockies as a realistic landing spot for Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki.
“But why not swing for Sasaki? His agent, Joel Wolfe, said his client is not necessarily wed to teams with Japanese teammates, location isn’t a priority and he might want to play in a smaller market to reduce the media glare. Plus the Rockies have a healthy amount of international signing bonus money and don’t have to use a 40-man roster spot. Wolfe said it’s possible Sasaki has a “trailblazer” in him, so…”
It’s the hope that kills you…
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