Colorado Rockies: There are seven starters but not seven spots

Up In The Air

Jon Gray

The once and most likely future ace of the Colorado Rockies staff will make his first start of the second half on Wednesday … and his second since his short minor league demotion. He is 8-7 with a 5.44 ERA in just under 100 innings with slick strikeout and walk ratios.

His return to the majors saw a solid performance where he worked into the seventh inning and the Rockies offense clicked to give the Colorado club a win against Seattle on July 14.

Gray is poised to have a huge second half and makes sense to be in the rotation. Meanwhile, there is less faith in him currently than there is any of the other six guys, which juxtaposes his position quite awkwardly.

Antonio Senzatela

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“Senza” has made three starts this season and none of them have been particularly impressive. Overall, he’s worked better as a reliever and he figures as the best option as a long-man for the Rockies. With the injuries and inconsistencies of Chris Rusin in 2018, the Rockies badly need somebody at the front end of their bullpen.

German Marquez

He’s 8-8 with a 5.00 ERA and he’s pitched exactly like that. Sometimes he’s been really good. Other times he’s been very okay. He’s never been bad but he hasn’t been as consistently impressive as many would have hoped. He will stay in the rotation and should … but his performance the past month or so has decreased.

Chad Bettis

Bettis has been a stopper and has been very steady for the Rockies all year. Some of his numbers aren’t impressive and he has had starts where it has gone poorly for the Rockies. However, more times than not, he’s been good and helpful.

Bettis has the least talent out of any of these seven guys and you might think he would profile better out of the bullpen. That is not true. In 29 appearances out of the bullpen, he has a 9.09 ERA. Not being over-dramatic, but he could be the worst reliever in franchise history. Over the course of two seasons, he soured so poorly and he came back so strong as a starter that I doubt the Rockies would even try this idea again.