Imagine, if you will: Hard-throwing right-hander Chase Dollander, 23, makes the starting rotation straight out of spring training; lefty Carson Palmquist, 24, makes his big-league league debut in April as a reliever; and Seth Halvorsen, 24, emerges as the closer.
Those intriguing scenarios, and plenty of others, loom as real possibilities as the Rockies open spring training on Thursday when pitchers and catchers hold their first workout at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Most national pundits see the Rockies flirting with their third consecutive 100-loss season. The Rockies, of course, take umbrage with that.