What should concern Rockies fans with the 2025 club? What areas provide hope after consecutive 100-plus loss seasons?

Here are three things to watch on each side of the worry and hope spectrum:

Worries

Corner outfield: Last season, Colorado’s left fielders ranked 29th in OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) at .623 while right fielders combined for .676, placing the Rockies 22nd out of MLB’s 30 teams.

Colorado won’t look to Nolan Jones (OPS+ of 75 in 2024 after finishing fourth in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2023 with an OPS+ of 140) after the presumed left-fielder was traded. In the opposite corner, a mixture of Sean Bouchard, Nick Martini and even Kris Bryant must come together to produce at the plate.

Kris Bryant’s health: In his three seasons in Colorado, the former National League MVP has battled numerous injuries, playing in a total of 159 games with only 44 extra-base hits during that time.

In the middle of a seven-year, $182 million deal, Bryant is being penciled in as Colorado’s primary designated hitter to keep him as healthy as possible. After an offseason regimen redesigned to focus on his health, if the 33-year-old Bryant misses significant time again this season, serious questions about his future in the Mile High City will be raised.

Second base: With Thairo Estrada missing opening day with a fractured wrist, the Rockies will not have their primary choice at second base through, at least, the first month of the regular season.

Kyle Farmer, signed in the offseason to be the team’s utility infielder, will likely get the majority of innings at second base with Estrada out. Farmer, however, has a career OPS+ of 87 and is not the offensive upgrade at the position the Rockies were seeking when they parted ways with Brendan Rodgers in the offseason.

If Farmer can start the season hot at the plate, it will be a huge plus for the franchise. If he struggles, however, the Rockies will have to mix and match at the position to try to find an answer until Estrada returns (likely in May).

Reasons for hope

The ninth inning: Last season, Colorado relievers combined for a 7.10 ERA in the ninth inning, by far the highest mark of all MLB teams in 2024 and the second-highest number (behind Colorado’s 2023 team with 7.17) in MLB in a full season since 1974.

So why is there hope this season? Victor Vodnik and Seth Halvorsen, both expected to get save opportunities in 2025, took plenty of late lumps last season but looked solid overall in spring outings. Combined with some fresh faces (Jimmy Herget and Scott Alexander) who could play a factor late in games in 2025, Colorado’s options for the ninth inning seem, at least on paper, stronger than they did in 2024.

Resting Ryan McMahon: McMahon, Colorado’s perennial Gold Glove candidate at third base, is a career .230 hitter in the second half of the season, dropping down from the .256 average he produces before the All-Star break.

Over the last four seasons, McMahon has played in no fewer than 151 of his team’s 162 games. This season, that number is expected to go down with a plan to rest the 30-year-old McMahon earlier in the campaign to make sure he stays fresh until the end of the season. The hope is that more rest for McMahon turns into more production at the plate throughout the year.

The stars up the middle: Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and center fielder Brenton Doyle each won Gold Gloves last season, showcasing them as two of MLB’s best defenders. That is important when you play 81 of your games at cavernous Coors Field, where a misplayed ball can often spell doom for a pitcher.

While both excelled on defense last season, both also stepped up at the plate. The 26-year-old Doyle became one of four players in Rockies history to have 30 or more stolen bases and 23 or more home runs in a single season (Larry Walker, Dante Bichette and Ellis Burks). The 23-year-old Tovar, meanwhile, finished 2024 with 45 doubles, four triples and 26 home runs. That’s a total of 75 extra-base hits that ranked second in the National League behind only NL MVP Shohei Ohtani’s 99.

If both can continue their progression, their first appearances in the All-Star Game in 2025 isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.