Punk Rockies

My expectations were pretty low for Rockies representation in the new MLB the Show 24, given that the team is coming off a 103-loss season and their only real star is Nolan Jones. Not being a coastal team also limits the pressure San Diego Studios is under to appease the Rocky Mountain fan base. There are, however some treats for Rockies fans (and some failures).

First off, the special cards. The Rockies have five legend cards at launch, which includes a Team Affinity reward Charlie Blackmon (89), two diamond (87) captain cards featuring Justin Morneau and Daniel Bard, and a gold Vinny Castilla (81) that you get from collecting all of the Live Series Rockies.

Speaking of the Live Series, despite SDS showing that had Nolan Jones was a diamond player in their reveal, he is only a gold at launch with an 82 rating. Blackmon and McMahon are the only other Rox that are even silver, both with a 75 rating. The highest rated pitchers, at 73, are Marquez and Quantrill.

The Morneau captain card is an interesting choice, as only played for Colorado for two years, winning a batting title with them in 2014. It is good to see him in purple in the Show!

There is some weirdness when you get into the individual attributes of the players. One notable example is sweeper affecianado Justin Lawrence who ships with a 99(!) velocity but only a 78 break. I’m sure a lot of batters could tell you that the movement on JLaw’s pitches is in the 90s.

Given that the game servers thus far have been hit-or-miss (much like the ’23 Rockies more miss than hit), I started an offline mode simulation of the 2024 Rockies season called March to October. The boys in purple got off to hot start on Opening Day, with a 10-0 shellacking of the Diamondbacks thanks to tanks by Bryant, Montero, and Rodgers. There are some seriously odd choices made in the lineup you’re given to start the season, though, with the following opening day lineup:

DH Blackmon
2B Rodgers
RF Jones
3B McMahon
1B Montero
LF Bouchard
C Diaz
CF(!) Bryant
SS Tovar

The rotation also includes (thankfully) Marquez and Senzatela, who follow Quantrill, with Freeland and Hudson the other starters (Gomber is in the pen and Feltner, Davis, and Lambert are in the minors).

Many of these cards will be updated with future releases, and the Rockies stable of players will hopefully grow as the season progresses (crossing my fingers for Tulo and CarGo!). Stay tuned and I’ll try to keep up!