Colorado Rockies: Grading and Analyzing the 2016 Rotation

EDDIE BUTLER, JEFF HOFFMAN, JORDAN LYLES, GERMAN MARQUEZ: 2016 GRADE D+ (COMBINE fWAR 0.0)

Colorado Rockies

The spot starters and September call-ups were asked to start 23 games for the Rockies in 2016. Under those circumstances, it’s easy to tell why they weren’t in the rotation. Once considered a top prospect in all of baseball, Eddie Butler went 2-5 on the year with a horrid 7.17 ERA. Butler has since been shipped out of town. It unfortunate, but not all good prospects pan out. The good news is that another team saw enough potential to try and “fix” Eddie. Here’s to hoping a change of scenery brings him more success.

In that same vain, Jordan Lyles has struggled as a Rockie as well. Lyles days as a starter appear to be behind him as he is now competing for the long man spot out of the pen as we head into Spring Training. While his ERA isn’t outstanding (5.83), Lyles very rarely gives up the long ball. For this reason, Jordan could be a valuable innings eater in one-sided games.

That brings us to Jeff Hoffman and German Marquez. Marquez is a prospect that seemingly came out of nowhere to play across three different levels in 2016. As for Hoffman, he is a Rockies top prospect. Both guys flashed some success in 2016, albeit with some major growing pains.

Next: Analyzing and Grading the 2016 Catchers

As 2017 is around the corner, Marquez and Hoffman will battle it out in spring to be the team’s fifth starter. Due to a talent gap, expect Hoffman to come out on top of that position battle.