Rockies Fantasy Baseball Draft Preview | Nolan Jones, Ezequiel Tovar, Charlie Blackmon, Elias Diaz, Kyle Freeland and More

Discussing the top fantasy players from the Colorado Rockies as the 2024 season approaches.

The fantasy baseball season is closing in quickly. FantasySP has published a number of articles about the top players at every position, and while those kinds of stories will continue until the regular season starts up, we wanted to make sure we covered as many fantasy players as possible, so it’s time to look at options on a team–by-team basis.

We’ve covered the Texas Rangers (hitters and pitchers), Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers (hitters and pitchers) and Washington Nationals so far, and now it’s time to discuss the Colorado Rockies.

Get ready for draft season! Check out our Mock Draft Simulator, Average Draft Position list and Draft Genius!

Top Fantasy Hitters

Just four Colorado players appear inside the FantasySP Average Draft Position list, which now spans 312 players. All four of those players are hitters.

First up is Nolan Jones, who is one of my favorite picks outside the top few rounds. He’s ranked 132nd overall with an ADP mark of 130.48.

In his first season with Colorado, he hit .297 and got on base at a .389 clip. He tallied 109 total hits across 106 games, with 46 extra-base hits (20 homers) along the way. He drove in 62 runs, scored 60 times and stole 20 bases. I’d love to see what Jones could do over the course of a full season.

Jones is expected to hit in the heart of the Rockies’ lineup, which will give him plenty of chances to drive in runs. There’s a couple power hitters behind him, and with Jones’ stealing ability, he should also score plenty of runs and be a well-rounded fantasy asset by the end of the season.

Jones played all over the field, which maybe gives him some position versatility in your league. He was in left field for 60 games, right field for 34 games and center field for five contests. He also played at first base in 10 games, with one game at third base. Check your league’s player pool and see what positions Jones could start in - the more options, the better fantasy asset he becomes.

There’s some risk involved with drafting Jones because we haven’t seen a full season of production, but it’s hard to argue against what he did over 106 games last season. You’re also not spending a really high pick on him, so you can afford to take some risk. I’m fine with Jones serving as one of your final starters in the outfield, but would not count on him to lead the charge (although he could be capable of it). 

Infielder Ezequiel Tovar is next up, ranked 208th and with an ADP right now of 160. He’s expected to hit second, right before Jones.

Tovar did some good things in his first full season in the big leagues. He finished with a .253 average, .287 on-base percentage, 147 total hits, 73 RBIs, 79 runs scored and 11 stolen bases. Tovar had 56 extra-base hits, including 15 home runs.

Tovar’s average and on-base percentage weren’t great, but he posted some decent numbers otherwise. He’s just 22 years old, so there’s room to improve. Tovar was a .283 hitter in the minor leagues, and if he can even split the difference between that mark and his MLB average last season, he has draft steal written all over him.

At his ADP, there isn’t too much risk involved, with plenty of potential for being a much better fantasy asset. I’d target Tovar as my backup shortstop, who could potentially start everyday at another infield or utility spot. He only plays shortstop (and does it pretty well, so he’s likely sticking there) so unfortunately there’s no position versatility at this point. Tovar is still a pretty low risk, high upside pick.

Charlie Blackmon and Elias Diaz are the other two Rockies being drafted, and they are going near each other. Blackmon is ranked 282 and has an ADP of 182, while Diaz is ranked 287 with an ADP of 185.

Blackmon isn’t the hitting machine he once was, but he’s still a decent fantasy asset when he’s out there. That’s another issue though, as he only played 96 games a season ago.

Blackmon finished with a .279 average and .363 on-base percentage in 2023. He had 100 total hits, with 37 going for extra bases (eight homers). Blackmon drove in 40 runs, stole four bases and scored 57 runs. 

He will either play in right field or be the designated hitter, so there’s not much position versatility. The veteran is expected to serve as the leadoff hitter, so the chance to score a lot of runs and have a good OBP is there. This late in fantasy drafts, he’s worth taking a chance on, as he plays nearly every day when he’s healthy and can still post good hitting numbers.

Diaz is the team’s top catcher. Jacob Stallings is expected to back him up.

Diaz was an All-Star last season, finishing the season with a .267 average, .316 on-base percentage and 130 total hits across 141 games. He had 40 extra-base hits (14 homers), 72 RBIs and 48 runs scored.

He’s expected to hit near the bottom of the order, so while some RBI chances will be there, he might not score too many runs again. Diaz is a decent backup catcher, especially because he plays so many games. If he gets hot, then you could plug him in as a utility player possibly.

There’s some other at least somewhat known names in the lineup, but not many are getting draft love.

The biggest name of the bunch is Kris Bryant. He is expected to play first base primarily this season, but should have right field eligibility too after playing 46 games there last season. Across just 80 games played in 2023, Bryant had a .233 average, .313 on-base percentage, 70 total hits, 36 runs scored and 31 RBIs. He homered 10 times among his 20 extra-base hits.

If Bryant could ever recapture a bit of his magic he had with the Chicago Cubs, he’d be a fantasy star in hitter-friendly Colorado. He’s worth monitoring on the waiver wire in case he gets hot, but he’s probably not worth a pick outside of deeper leagues.

Ryan McMahon, Brendan Rodgers, Sean Bouchard and Brenton Doyle are projected to fill out the starting lineup. McMahon is the only one of that group to have gotten in a full season in 2023, but he hit just .240. He drove in 70 runs and homered 23 times among his 133 hits.

Doyle played 126 games, hitting for a .203 average. He posted 81 total hits (10 homers), drove in 48 runs and stole 22 bases. Rodgers played just 46 contests, tallying a .258 average - he had 46 total hits (four homers) and 20 RBIs. Bouchard appeared in 21 games, posting a strong .316 average - he had 12 total hits (four homers) and drove in seven runs.

All four of these guys can be decent fantasy performers, but they aren’t likely to be everyday options. Maybe they could get hot for a bit, but otherwise, they are probably waiver wire options for most of the season.

Top Fantasy Pitchers

No Colorado pitchers appear on the ADP list.

Kyle Freeland, Cal Quantrill, Austin Gomber, Ryan Feltner and Dakota Hudson are expected to fill out the rotation. 

A year ago, Freeland went 6-14 with a 5.03 earned run average across 155 2/3 innings pitched. Gomber made 27 starts, finishing 9-9 with a 5.50 ERA over 139 innings. 

Quantrill pitched for the Cleveland Guardians, going 4-7 with a 5.24 ERA over 99 2/3 innings. Hudson was with the St. Louis Cardinals, finishing 6-3 with a 4.98 ERA over 81 1/3 innings. Feltner made 10 starts for Colorado, going 2-4 with a 5.82 ERA over 43 1/3 innings.

As you can see, there aren't too many great fantasy options in that group. Freeland and Quantrill are likely going to be the best options, but really all of them are more streaming options than anything else.

German Marquez will be another starting option when he returns from his injury in late July.

Justin Lawrence is the favorite to open the season as the closer for Colorado. He went 4-7 with a 3.72 ERA across 75 innings pitched last season. He earned 11 saves and struck out 78 batters along the way.

Tyler Kinley ended last season as the team’s closer, and will battle Lawrence in spring training for the job. Kinley had a rough 6.06 ERA and 0-4 record across 16 1/3 innings pitched last season, but did earn five saves.

I like Lawrence to win the job, but neither are safe picks until it’s actually announced. So much like the team’s starting options, I’d try to avoid drafting any Colorado relievers. 

Some Colorado players will get hot during the season, and FantasySP will help you identify those players, so be sure to check back all season!

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