One is located in the beautiful Rocky Mountains, the other represents the afterglow of the industrialization of the Motor City, the Colorado Rockies and the Detroit Tigers are very different in terms of geography and historical heritage, but they will not make the playoffs in 2021. Will the two teams that have both fished big in the free market this winter have a refreshing performance in the new season?
A brief summary of the 2021 season
Last season's Clash of Champions League West Giants and Dodgers was impressive, and the Same District Padres and Diamondbacks also won some media space because of their respective stories and topics, only Loki stumbled for another season in the bland, ending with 74 wins and 87 defeats, ranking fourth in the division for the third consecutive season.
Personnel changes
In this offseason, the Rockies have had gains and losses. Trevor Story, a two-time Silver Rod Award-winning shortstop who played home runs last season to steal a double 20 performance, tested the free agent market. Although the Rockies wanted to keep the star from his own farm at all costs, Story left Boston on the grounds of the team's competitiveness.
Still, the Rockies made a big catch on the free market, signing 2016 League MVP Kris Bryant on a seven-year, $182 million contract, and they also hoped that the heavy artillery who could defend the third base and the outfield would fill the gap left by Story's departure at a high altitude home against Heaven, leading the team to fight for the playoffs in the next few years.
Key star: CJ Cron, a first baseman
The Rockies played best last season as a clone they signed on the free agent a year ago, and despite the team's poor record, the first baseman rewarded the team's trust with 28 home runs and 92 RBIs. His adjusted attacking index of 130 also proves that his good performance does not rely solely on the pull of the high-altitude home field.
Because of his wonderful results last season, he also won the team's two-year contract extension after the end of the season, and in the new season, he will carry the Rockies' offensive line with the newcomer Bryant, looking forward to another wonderful chapter in their careers in "Hitters Paradise".
Dark Horse Candidate: Brendan Rodgers, second baseman
The 25-year-old second baseman hit a .284 shooting percentage, 15 home runs and 51 RBIs in 102 games last season, making him one of the few rockies' main players to beat the league average last season, and it was only the first season of his career to play more than 100 games.
In the new season, if Rodgers can stay healthy and build on last season, becoming an All-Star is not an unattainable dream.
Recruit Registration: Ryan Vilade, outfielder
Rocky Hill always seems to be producing good batters, but once upon a time the Rockies' outfield was also in the middle of the road that needed reinforcement. In the current situation of uncertainty in the field, will Villard become the next "mountain god"? The 2017 second-round rookie moved from three to the outfield in the 2021 season, and his excellent basemanship and ability to consistently hit strong shots also make him one of the future Rockies' best-in-gamers.
Outlook for the 2022 new season
In the powerful National League West, even the most die-hard Rockies fans may have difficulty maintaining optimism about the team's prospects for the playoffs. In the new season, the Rockies' focus is on cultivating new players, letting young players get trained through confrontation with several strong teams, and perfecting the farm system of the team's ranking in the second half of the major leagues through trades is a reasonable expectation for this team this season.
2021 Season Review
Last season, although the Tigers still lost more and won less, their performance improved a lot, with a record of 77 wins and 85 losses, which greatly improved their winning percentage from .292 in 2019 and .397 in 2020 to .475. Even in a game against the Mariners in May, Tigers' starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull threw a brilliant no-play game that left a relatively mediocre season with some memorable memories. However, in the White Sox's thriving American League Central, the Tigers could only finish third, missing the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year.
The Tigers, who were not content to be mediocre in this offseason, won the infield defense of Magic Javier Baez on a six-year contract, setting up a new leader for the team in the coming years.
In addition, the addition of rescue pitcher Andrew Chafin, who had only 1.83 ERA last season, and Michael Pineda, who shot 9-8, also boosted the team's strength.
Key star: Javier Baez, a shortstop
While the Tigers' most prestigious star is certainly miguel Cabrera, the former Triplet winner, his golden age is long gone, and the Tigers' brightest star now is the newly joined "Magician" Bayez.
As a chinese and foreign fielder, Bayez is more like a long-range heavy artilleryman, and although he swallowed the most 184 triplets in the National League last season, he also hit a brilliant 31 home runs and 87 RBIs. Especially after being traded to the Mets, his strike rate increased significantly from .248 at the Cubs to .299, showing a good momentum of bottoming out and winning him a big contract.
In the new season, his goal is still to try to replicate the performance of the second half of last season, and if he does this on the offensive end, coupled with the league's top defensive ability and running base, reliving the dream of an All-Star is also expected for him.
Dark Horse Candidate: Casey Mize, starting pitcher
The 2018 winner turned out a 7-9 record in 30 starts in his first full season last year. Leaving aside other factors, a 3.71 ERA and 150.1 innings of pitches are a good start for a rookie.
He was good at using the fast finger fork ball in college, and he almost completely gave up this famous weapon last season for various reasons, and during this year's spring training, he is also determined to find this former stunt in the new season, and solve the opponent more through the fast finger fork ball. If he can regain his grip and throw quick fingers and crosses efficiently, he's not far from becoming an ace pitcher.
Dark Horse Candidate: Spencer Torkelson, first/third baseman
As the strongest hitter in the 2020 draft, the performance of this Yuanlang last year is also worthy of this title, playing 0.267/0.383/0.552 in his first year of his career and killing AAA all the way, coupled with a good spring training performance, basically Detroit's starting base is stable. Tokelson's defense wasn't as good as his blows, but his strikes were super-top output even at first base. He has a long play rate of more than 0.500 at every level of the minor leagues, so with such a combination of strength and batting skills, it can be said that Tokelson has reserved a position in the Tiger Center for the next decade.
In the Midfield, the talented White Sox are still the biggest hits, and the Crazy Reinforcement Twins in this offseason are also not to be underestimated. On paper alone, Tigers are only the third or fourth-place level in this division. But if the tigers' young players can cash in on their talents this season, compete for a wild card spot, or at least achieve the first win-more than half of the season since 2016, it is still quite possible.
Do you think the Rockies and Tigers will be able to jump into the playoffs this season? Hurry up and leave a message to discuss with us!