Why Haven’t The Rockies Tried The Knuckleballer Strategy Yet?

Why Haven’t The Rockies Tried The Knuckleballer Strategy Yet?

The Colorado Rockies don’t just suck. They’re historically bad. Shout out to Hanny, who put together this awesome piece detailing just how bad this franchise has been.

I just have one follow-up question. Why haven’t the Rockies tried the Knuckleballer strategy yet? Here’s where I’m at with this thing. If the Rockies are going to be this bad, why wouldn’t they lean into the chaos that might be so weird it might actually work?

A few years ago, I put together a team-building post on how I would run the Rockies. Given where we’re at with this team, it’s time to expand upon it. The truth of the matter is, every single team in MLB should team build based around their home ballpark, and the Rockies haven’t come close to attempting to do that with Coors Field.

Every team should put together a team that’s designed to win games at their home ballpark. The Rockies don’t have an identity period. Riddle me this. Name the last time you watched the Rockies and have been able to answer the “who are we” question? You can’t and you won’t.

The bottom line here is that the Rockies have a chance to do something so chaotic that it just might actually work. Given where the franchise is at, I can’t believe they haven’t called me to let me institute it. Here’s a promise… I bet you this strategy has the Rockies in a better spot than the single worst team in all of baseball.

How I Would Run The Colorado Rockies

A: The rotation must be filled with three knuckleballers. No more than three total pitchers on the roster who throw harder than 95 MPH.

Do the Rockies understand they play in a stadium with a cheese elevation aspect? The harder the ball comes in, the harder it goes out. I’m not a science guy, but they say every 800 feet adds 1% distance. Why not try to cheese your way though it?

Limit the velocity the hitter gets to face, and maybe you will create a scenario where you’re simply creating a lot of flyouts. It will also be so different from what the typical athlete faces on a daily basis that it could catch people by surprise. Almost like a goalie whose catching glove is on the opposite hand.

Let’s really boil it down. The entire sport is trying to get pitchers who throw the ball harder. The more time goes on, the more the Rockies suck. Why not go the other way with it? We’re not trying to miss bats. We’re trying to prevent balls from becoming home runs, and this is the best way to do it.

B: The entire outfield mix should look like players who resemble Ceddanne Rafaela.

We want fly outs. Knuckleball approach will create plenty of balls hit in the air. We need outfielders who will create outs. If the outfielder doesn’t look like Ceddanne Rafaela… we don’t want him. This is about team building. This is about establishing who we are. Our outfield will chase down balls that should be hits in any other ballpark, but won’t be because of team building.

C: Infielders can’t just be plus defenders. They can’t just get on base. They have to have some natural raw power element to their game.

Infielders who hit homers are hard to find. That’s why we have to corner the market for all of them. Our outfielders have their assignments. Our infielders have to provide the power element. That’s just the way it needs to be.

Call me crazy, but this is the plan to get this team back to relevance… and it just might be crazy enough to actually work.

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