March 19, 2021

Colorado Rockies infielder Ryan McMahon has been up and down his entire tenure with the Rockies. In 2020, he did hit nine homers in the shortened season and saw his ISO jump to a career high .203 – his second straight season posting an ISO of .200 or higher. But the averaged dipped to .215 while the strikeout rate blew up to 34.2 percent. It's not like he became a free-swinger all of a sudden. In fact, his chase rate was identical to 2019, he was just swinging less often in 2020, particularly at pitches in the zone. His swinging-strike rate in 2020 (14.6) was actually just lower than it was in 2019 (14.7). That could mean it was more of his approach, rather than a physical struggle, or it could just be circumstances of a shortened season. Regardless, we expect the strikeouts to decrease a bit this season, leading to an uptick in average. We already know he can provide plenty of power in Colorado, but posting a career-high 11.2 percent barrel rate -- and that rate climbing every year he's been in the bigs -- is reason to remain excited for that power output. McMahon is barely a top-250 pick, going off the board with an average pick of 242, but he provides multiple-positional eligibility and can provide cheap pop, if nothing else. With Nolan Arenado shipped off to St. Louis, and with Brendan Rodgers shelved with a hamstring injury, McMahon got a double dose of good playing time news this offseason. He should get a small bump up your rankings with the potential for full-time plate appearances in 2021.--Michael Florio - RotoBaller