Colorado Rockies: 3 players who deserve an All-Star Game roster spot

The All-Star Game will be upon us in less than a month. The greatest players from the American and National League (including representatives of the Colorado Rockies) will descend upon Miami for a star-studded game that is rightly called “The Midsummer Classic.”

While there is little we know for sure about this year’s All-Star game, we do know this … Colorado will be represented. As of this writing, Charlie Blackmon had the second-highest number of votes for an outfielder and looked like he would nail down one of the starting spots. Nolan Arenado trails Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs in the race to start at third base, but it’s widely expected that Arenado will earn his third consecutive trip to the All-Star Game.

We also know a couple of other things about this year’s All-Star Game. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement assures us that the winner of this year’s game will not automatically get home-field advantage for the World Series. Additionally, the All-Star Game roster sizes have shrunk from 34 to 32 players under the new CBA.

That’s a very important notation and one that could affect a trio of Rockies who are deserving of All-Star bids but may be squeezed out in the numbers game.

Let’s take a look at three Colorado players not named Arenado or Blackmon who should be playing in Miami on July 11.

Greg Holland has been lights out for the Rockies this season and should easily get the call to come out of the bullpen for the National League.

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Prior to Wednesday’s game in Pittsburgh, Holland has appeared in 25 games for the Rockies this season and was 23-for-23 in saves with a 1.14 ERA. In the 23.2 innings that he’s pitched, he’s allowed just 10 hits and struck out 32 batters.

How effective has he been for Colorado this season? He’s the only reliever with more than 20 saves in either league, with Craig Kimbrel of Boston and Tampa Bay’s Alex Colome second in Major League Baseball with 18 saves each.

Holland was recently called the best offseason signing by any Major League team, and the 31-year-old right-hander has proven Colorado’s faith in his recovery from Tommy John surgery was well-founded.

His success to lock down games has been a welcome change for a Rockies bullpen that has struggled mightily in recent years. With Holland as the closer, Colorado has found one of the weapons it has been missing. His dominance is one of the reasons why the Rockies have a National League-high 41 wins.

It’s not often that the Rockies have to lobby to get a pitcher brought onto an All-Star Game roster. However, as Colorado fans can attest, this is no ordinary season.

Colorado Rockies

While Greg Holland might get a lot of credit for what he does at the back end of a game, Chris Rusin is making a huge impact for the Rockies in whatever way he is needed. The 30-year-old southpaw is having a solid season serving as Colorado’s bullpen glue.

Whatever Rusin has been asked to do this season, he’s done … and he’s done it well. Prior to Wednesday’s game in Pittsburgh, Rusin was 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA in 35.0 innings on the mound this season. Finally able to settle into a role as a reliever, Rusin has seemingly found his groove.

Opponents are hitting just .184 against him this season. That’s well below the career-low .259 average he posted last year. He’s also throwing a career-high amount of strikes, hitting the strike zone with 65.7 percent of his pitches.

Rusin’s season-long appearance also says a lot about what he has meant to the team. On April 13, Jon Gray suffered a foot injury and had to leave the game in San Francisco unexpectedly in the fourth inning. Rusin came in and hurled 3.1 innings, allowing just two hits and one runs, as the Rockies persevered to beat the Giants, 3-1.

When the Rockies have needed him, Rusin has been there this season and performed at a career-best clip. If that’s not worthy of an All-Star appearance, we’re not sure what is. However, his chances are long at best. Middle relievers don’t often get a lot of love from All-Star Game managers. Here’s hoping 2017 is different.