SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- No positional hole screams for Rockies second-year right-handed hitter Elehuris Montero, but he could fill an important void.

Since coming over from the Cardinals in the February 2021 Nolan Arenado trade, Montero has hit 43 home runs in 185 combined Minor League games. Yes, the Rockies already have a third baseman (Ryan McMahon), a first baseman (C.J. Cron) and a designated hitter (Charlie Blackmon). But they’ll find starts and playing time for Montero if he can translate his power to the Majors.

“That’s the plan,” Montero said through interpreter and bullpen catcher Aaron Muñoz. “One of my goals is to repeat what I’ve done in the Minor Leagues, hit those home runs. We have great players here. But at the end of the day, I want to go out there and be the best version of myself. Whatever the case, I want to be in the lineup and be able to hit.”

In his 53-game debut stint in the Majors last year, Montero batted .233 with six homers, two during a 7-4 victory over the Giants on Aug. 19. Montero’s easy power could be a boon to an offense that slugged below .400 for the first time in the team’s 30-season history and tied for the eighth-fewest home runs in the Majors last year with 149. 

Even with no obvious place for him, Montero should be in line for starts. Manager Bud Black said he wants to give the team’s mainstay players days out of the lineup at home during the first half to lessen potential fatigue in Denver’s unique atmosphere.  

In his rookie campaign last year, Montero’s swing produced a 39.7 percent hard-hit rate -- promising, given his sporadic playing time. His swing generally produces contact in the middle of the field. But opponents are often inclined to challenge him with breaking pitches, on which he had a 47.9 percent whiff rate last season.

“More contact, a little bit more selective,” Black said. “You saw the attack plan against him -- a lot of breaking balls. That’s as simple as I can put it. Cut the strikeout rate down, be able to handle the breaking ball, be on time with the fastball when he gets it and square it up.”

Breezy bullpen
In the quiet building of their bullpen, the Rockies have added experienced relievers who miss bats.

Last season, reliever Daniel Bard showed two pitches (four-seam fastball and slider) with above a 35 percent whiff rate and one other (changeup) at 22.2 percent. Hitters whiffed on Dinelson Lamet’s slider 52.3 percent of the time, and Tyler Kinley had a 47 percent whiff rate on his slider before his midseason forearm flexor tendon injury (he is on track to return in the middle of the 2023 season). Offseason pickups Pierce Johnson (30.1 whiff rate on the curve) and Brent Suter (50 percent whiffs on changeups) also fit the profile.

Johnson joined the Rockies for one year and $5 million, Bard originally joined the Rockies after being out of the game because of control issues and the rest were waiver claims. The two-year, $19 million deal Bard signed last July is by far the biggest expenditure for the bullpen.

Black said there isn’t a stuff or strategy profile, although acquisitions and homegrown pitchers emphasize pouring in low strikes over pitching high -- misses at the top of the zone and even some pitches above the zone can fly out of Coors. Black tends to more closely examine difficult-to-measure traits.

“You look for talent,” Black said. “But we also want to make sure we’re getting the right guy to be able to pitch in our environment. For me, there’s got to be the mental toughness and the wherewithal -- for a number of factors. Physically, and also knowing that statistically things might look a little different than they’re used to. The constitution of the player has to go along with the talent.”

Handling the mountain air
Outfielder Kris Bryant’s debut season with Colorado last year consisted of just 42 games because of back and right foot injuries, and an open question was whether the adjustment to altitude was part of the issue. He said he’s adjusted his workout and rest-and-recovery routines, and “we can’t look at that as an excuse, [by] any means.”

This year, he won’t have to deal with a lockout-related shutdown -- which delayed his signing a seven-year, $182 million contract until mid-March of 2022.

“Last year was different just because I was essentially home for an extra month -- with the lockout, it was just really hard to prepare,” Bryant said. “I know that how I'm feeling right now is where I want to be.”