Colorado Rockies: Looking at aces who never panned out

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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?

Ubaldo Jimenez

Depending on how you want to look at it, Jimenez did or did not pan out as the Rockies’ ace. He did deliver the Rockies’ greatest season by a pitcher in 2010. That season, he threw the Rockies’ only no-hitter and he went on to go19-8 in 33 starts with an ERA of 2.88 with 214 strikeouts in 221.1 innings. He is also the only Colorado pitcher to start in the All-Star Game.

The issue is he was only the Rockies ace for three-and-a-half years before struggling in the first half of the 2011 season … which led to him being traded to Cleveland.

Had he been able sustain his dominance over multiple years, I would have declared him an ace. However, I will say that Jimenez and Pedro Astacio are the closest the Rockies have come to having a true ace.

Greg Reynolds

I am including Greg Reynolds on this list because Reynolds is the Rockies’ highest pitcher taken in the MLB Draft. Reynolds was selected second overall in 2006 while Jon Gray was third in 2013.

His career was riddled with injuries and, along with being rushed to the Majors, he never truly developed into the pitcher the Rockies had hoped.

After the 2011 season, he was traded to the Rangers for none other than Chad Tracy, who just happened to be the son of then-Colorado manager, Jim.

Drew Pomeranz

Pomeranz (along with Alex White) was the centerpiece in the trade with the Cleveland Indians for Ubaldo Jimenez.

Drew Pomeranz (the fifth pick in 2010 by the Indians) was considered a surefire #1 starter as he rose to the 31st-best prospect in all of baseball in 2012. Unfortunately, he struggled to figure out Coors Field and couldn’t find his command.

The Rockies traded him to Oakland after the 2013 season, going 4-14 in limited action throughout three seasons. After a couple of other trades, he found a home in Boston where, last year, he was a top performer for the Sox as he went 17-6 with a 3.32 ERA.

Gray has elite stuff … but so far has failed to take the next step to becoming the player the Rockies had hoped when they drafted him third in 2013 out of the University of Oklahoma.

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The Rockies were careful as they brought him up through the minors as he made his MLB debut in late 2015. In his first full season in 2016, he went 10-10 with an ERA of 4.61 in 168 innings pitched.

Last season was supposed to be his breakout season, but injuries hindered him early in the year. He would go on to a 10-4 record with 3.67 ERA but he was shelled for four runs in 1.1 innings in the NL Wild Card game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He was dominant in Wednesday’s game against the Padres at Coors Field with six shutout innings and 11 strikeouts, which lowered his ERA almost a run and a half. Unfortunately he is still sitting at a 2-4 record with a 5.79 ERA. That is not what the Rockies need from their so-called ace.

Hopefully Wednesday’s performance will turn around Gray’s season for the better and he can take that next step into becoming the ace that Jeff Bridich and Bud Black believe he can be.

Next: What Rockies hitters and pitchers think of inside pitching

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

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