When the Rockies open their 2023 season Thursday against the Padres at Petco Park, every player on the 26-man roster — from four-time All-Star Charlie Blackmon to rookie third baseman Elehuris Montero — will carry baggage from their own journey.
Even for those players selected early in the draft, the failure rate in baseball is high when compared to the other major North American professional sports. From 2000-17, only 64.53% of first- and second-round draft picks ever played in the majors. In the NFL, that number is 99.39% , in the NBA it’s 85.87% and in the NHL it’s 80.72% .
The developmental road is full of potholes and hazards: injuries, immaturity, loss of confidence, the minor-league grind, and a player’s realization that he’s simply not good enough. In his final game, he served up two home runs, including one to future major-leaguer Cody Ross. The funny thing was, Mangum thought he located both pitches well.
“The joy I get out of coaching is much greater than the joy I got out of playing,” he said. “It’s so weird to say that, but I’m not embarrassed by it. I’m a teacher who just happens to know a lot about baseball.”Right-handed reliever Justin Lawrence, whom the Rockies have high hopes for this season, had plenty of reasons to quit. A 12th-round pick out of Daytona State in 2015, he didn’t make his major league debut until April 2021 at age 26.
For Lawrence, who maintains that he never knowingly took PEDs, the 2021 season was do-or-die. He certainly wasn’t great — a 4.73 ERA at Triple-A and 8.64 ERA in 19 games with the Rockies — but he flashed enough promise to stick on the 40-man roster.
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