Rox Pile
Fansided

Colorado Rockies: There are seven starters but not seven spots

By Jake Shapiro

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 26: Chad Bettis #35 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the first inning at AT&T Park on June 26, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 26: Chad Bettis #35 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the first inning at AT&T Park on June 26, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next
PHOENIX, AZ – SEPTEMBER 13: Relief pitcher Jeff Hoffman #34 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during fifth inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on September 13, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ – SEPTEMBER 13: Relief pitcher Jeff Hoffman #34 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during fifth inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on September 13, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

DENVER – Sports are funny because, no matter how good or bad you are, you always have a problem. There are problems like being bad and not having a single decent player. There are problems that even the reigning World Series Champion Houston Astros, who are in Denver to face the Colorado Rockies this week, have … not having a closer.

Obviously these problems are not good … for the Colorado Rockies or any other team.

There’s an old saying in football: When you have two quarterbacks, you have none.

But there are good problems too … yet somehow they are still problems. The Rockies have a problem. It’s a good problem, but still a problem. They have too many capable pitchers and not enough spots for them. To be exact, the Rockies have seven solid pitchers and only five spots to utilize them.

It’s key to note that the Colorado Rockies have only used eight starting pitchers, dating all the way back to mid-September of 2016 when Jorge De La Rosa was moved to the bullpen. That’s how familiar these faces are to Rockies fans. In fact, there’s only one of those starters the Rockies can’t use … and that’s current Chicago Cub Tyler Chatwood.

The eight used in that period is by far the least amount used in baseball, which is a very nice thing the Rockies have had going for them.

So when Chad Bettis returns to health and German Marquez returns from paternity leave (scheduled to start on Sunday), the Rockies are going to have to make some decisions.

Where do they go and what do they do with this problem? Let’s break down the candidates.

Outside Looking In

Jeff Hoffman

There’s only one of the seven possible guys who clearly will not make the rotation when the Rockies move back to five. Hoffman has started 23 games in the majors and is currently in Triple-A. The time is approaching for the 26-year-old where the Rockies may look to him more as a reliever long-term. Five of the six MLB appearances in 2018 for the once-Rockies top pitching prospect have been as a reliever. Every single one of his minor league games this season has seen the righty work as a starter.

Home/Colorado Rockies News