Colorado Rockies: 4 starting pitchers that could help the Rockies rotation

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ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – APRIL 02: Manager Bud Black #10 of the Colorado Rockies calls for Carlos Estévez #54 from the bullpen to relieve Kyle Freeland #21 during the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on April 02, 2019 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

Entering Sunday, the Colorado Rockies had the worst starter’s ERA in the National League (and second worst in baseball) at 5.55. Sunday’s 4 2/3 inning outing from Jeff Hoffman, in which he allowed 6 earned runs did not help matters for the Rockies.

Heading into the 2019, most people thought that the Colorado Rockies’ strength would be their starting rotation, and why not?

Kyle Freeland came in 4th in the NL Cy Young Award voting last year, German Marquez was coming off a good season (3.77 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 196 IP), and the only way Jon Gray could go was up.

However, they entered Sunday with a starter’s ERA of 5.55, which was 29th in baseball. After Hoffman’s start against the Mets on Sunday, the Rockies starter’s are, entering Monday, are dead last in baseball with a 5.63 ERA. This has been because Freeland’s results were atrocious (7.13 ERA/6.37 FIP in 12 starts) before being sent back to Triple-A Albuquerque, Antonio Senzatela has struggled (4.95 ERA/5.56 FIP in 11 starts), Tyler Anderson‘s struggles and injury, and Jeff Hoffman‘s struggles.

The team, however, is still in contention so the Rockies could find themselves in the market for a starting pitcher before the trade deadline.

Today, we’re going to look at four possible targets that the Rockies have.

NOTE: No starters from the NL West are considered as the percentage chance of that happening is much lower than outside of the division. Therefore, Giants starter Madison Bumgarner is not on this list.

Marcus Stroman

Stroman, 28, has pitched to a 3-8 record for the Toronto Blue Jays but don’t let that fool you as the Blue Jays offense is one of the worst in baseball.

He has a 3.31 ERA in 14 games (all starts). He has pitched 81 2/3 innings for an average of just under six innings per start, a 133 ERA+, a 3.75 FIP, 1.322 WHIP, 3.1 walks per nine innings, and 6.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

He is a free agent after the 2020 season so if Jeff Bridich and co. are looking for somebody that could be in the rotation after this season, Stroman would fit the bill. However, if you check out his stats throughout his career, he has been a bit spotty. He has been great this year but was not good last year (injuries derailed him to a 5.54 ERA in 19 starts) but he was good in 2017 (3.09 ERA in 33 starts, 201 IP, 8th in AL Cy Young voting).

Matthew Boyd

Matthew Boyd, 28, has been one of a few bright spots for the Detroit Tigers this season. He has been a bit of a late bloomer in his career but he has gotten better each of the last two seasons.

If you take a look at Boyd’s numbers in both 2018 and 2019, nearly every single stat has improved in both seasons.

Standard Pitching
Year	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W
2017	6	11	5.27	26	25	135.0	157	84	79	18	53	110	85	4.51	1.556	10.5	1.2	3.5	7.3	2.08
2018	9	13	4.39	31	31	170.1	146	87	83	27	51	159	102	4.45	1.157	7.7	1.4	2.7	8.4	3.12
2019	5	4	3.08	14	14	84.2	73	30	29	10	15	105	152	2.91	1.039	7.8	1.1	1.6	11.2	7.00

The thing with Boyd is that he would likely cost a bit more in a trade because he is only arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason, meaning he will not be a free agent until 2023 and the Rockies would have 3 1/2 years of team control for him.

Tanner Roark

Roark,, was acquired by the Cincinnati Reds this past offseason from the Washington Nationals as he was entering his final season before free agency. Roark needed a bit of a change of scenery as he went 22-26 with a 4.50 ERA in 63 games (60 starts).

The Reds, whom, like the Rockies, play in a hitter’s park but their offense hasn’t really fired on all cylinders this year.

That’s part of the reason why Roark is 4-5 but he has pitched to a 3.74 ERA in 13 starts. He has pitched 67 1/3 innings with an ERA+ of 122, a FIP of 3.44, a WHIP of 1.411, 3.6 walks per nine innings, and 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

Since he would be more of a back end of the rotation guy and he’s a free agent at season’s end, he would likely be a pretty cheap option.

Sonny Gray

Like Roark, Sonny Gray was acquired by the Reds this past offseason and he was somebody that needed a bit of a change of scenery. He was one of the best starter’s in baseball but he was traded to the Yankees from the Athletics and he did not pitch well in the Bronx.

With the Yankees, in part of 2017 and all of 2018, he pitched to a 15-16 record with a 4.51 ERA in 41 games (34 starts).

Again, like the case with Roark, the Reds offense has been very anemic when Gray is pitching this year. He has a 2-5 record but he has an ERA of 3.65 with a FIP of 3.01. He has pitched a total of 66 2/3 innings with a 1.22 WHIP, 3.5 walks per nine innings, and 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

The Rockies would have team control on him for the next three seasons after this year plus a $12 million option for 2023 so with more control, he would be more pricey to acquire.

Final Thoughts

The Rockies rotation likely needs some help at the trade deadline if the Rockies are in contention. However, the Rockies current starters will still have to step up for the Rockies to be a force in September and, potentially, October.

Next. Is Tony Wolters deserving of an All-Star appearance?. dark

An extra starter(s) will likely be needed, however, so these four guys could potentially find themselves in Denver in the coming weeks.

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