Colorado Rockies Quick Hits: Walker speaks, Rosario tries to return

In the morning after the newest class heading into the Baseball Hall of Fame was introduced, there is news and notes regarding the Colorado Rockies and Cooperstown as well as a former Colorado catcher who wants to return to Major League Baseball.

Let’s start with the news about former Colorado Rockies catcher and first baseman Wilin Rosario, who hasn’t seen Major League action since 2015 but is reportedly looking to return to MLB next season. He will be working out for teams in the Dominican Republic later today after playing the last three seasons in Korea and Japan.

Turning 30 next month, Rosario played five seasons for the Rockies from 2011-2015. He saw action in more than 100 games for Colorado from 2012-2014 and hit 21 or more home runs in two consecutive seasons and drove in 71 or more runs in those same two seasons.

His offense was impressive but he also led the National League in passed balls three consecutive seasons and committed a league-leading (for a catcher) 13 errors in 2012.

More from Colorado Rockies News

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: 3 things we appreciated from Tuesday in San Francisco
• What Bill Schmidt’s comments mean for the Colorado Rockies in 2023

Needless to say, if Rosario returns to the Majors, it will be because of his bat and not because of his glove.

In other news, as we reported on Tuesday night, Larry Walker made some incredible gains in his bid for the Hall of Fame this season. Walker was named on 54.6 percent of ballots, a jump of 20.5 percent year over year.

After the results were announced, Walker spoke to Rox Pile and other media members on a conference call. He joined the call by announcing, “54.6 here” to the laughs of the reporters on the call.

Walker said the jump this year was “very gratifying and rewarding,” but also quickly added that he didn’t know if he would gather enough votes in 2020 to make the Hall in what would be his final year on the ballot.

"“I don’t know if it’s enough to make that final leap next year. Probably not, in all honesty,” Walker said."

Walker added one of the most rewarding things about this year was seeing that voters were discussing more than just what he did at the plate during his 17-year career, including 10 seasons with the Rockies.

"“It’s nice to see something other than the offensive numbers,” Walker said. “I tried to be good at every aspect of the game. I worked at it because I didn’t have high school baseball growing up. I learned the game in the minor leagues and I tried to learn the game as well or better than anybody else that I was playing against. To get that recognized, as far as the base running and the defense and the stolen bases, it was nice to hear that.”"