Colorado Rockies Countdown: Top Five Right-Handed Pitchers

The Colorado Rockies have been consistently towards the bottom of the league in team pitching throughout their 24-year history … but that isn’t to say that the Rockies haven’t had some talented pitchers come through Blake Street.

While most pitchers don’t call Denver home for an entire career, some have had special individual seasons or made a significant impact on the club in one way or another. As a part of Rox Pile’s all-time list series, let’s take a look at some of the best right-handed pitchers to sport purple pinstripes.

It’s an understatement to say that there was a much bigger pool of talent to choose from when examining right-handed pitchers vs. the southpaws. Not surprising seeing that a majority of players are right-handed. Out of six pitchers that have made the All-Star Game for Colorado, four of them have delivered from the right side of the mound. As for the two lefties to be named All-Stars, one is Brian Fuentes (the only Rockies pitcher named to multiple All-Star Games) and the other is, inexplicably, Mike Hampton, who sported a 5.41 ERA the year he was selected.

As per usual, Rox Pile used Baseball Reference‘s Career Wins Above Replacement statistic (bWAR) to compile the following list. Please note that the bWAR number applies only to a player’s tenure with Colorado and negates any career numbers with other teams. Please also note that a players bWAR looks at a player’s contributions as a collective, and negates any particular season where a player may have performed above average in comparison to the rest of their time in Colorado. That means guys like Marvin Freeman (2.80 ERA, 112.2 innings pitched in 1994) didn’t make the cut for this list. Don’t agree with the rankings? Feel someone was snubbed? Rox Pile wants to know!

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