Colorado Rockies: Looking at aces who never panned out

Ubaldo Jimenez, Greg Reynolds, Drew Pomeranz, Tyler Matzek, Franklin Morales, Jhoulys Chacin …. and Jon Gray?

Throughout the years, the list of Colorado Rockies top pitching prospects who were anointed as the future “ace” of franchise goes on and on and on. Jon Gray has shown glimpses of dominance (including Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the Padres) since his MLB debut in 2015. But with his slow start to the 2018 season, is he in danger of becoming another casualty of having high expectations in high altitude?

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As I was doing researching for this article, I happened to stumble across thebaseballcube.com. This website is a great database with more information than anyone would need, including a breakdown of Baseball America‘s Top 10 prospects by year. If you want to take a trip down memory lane, take a gander at some of the past names on this list.

Surprisingly, every single player in the current Rockies’ rotation was brought up through the Rockies’ minor league system. What’s not surprising is that Chad Bettis and Tyler Anderson are the only two players left from Baseball America‘s Top 10 list before 2013. This means there have been a lot of pitchers who have not panned out in purple pinstripes.

Let’s take a look at a select few so called “aces” that didn’t pan out.