Colorado Rockies: A transaction in the Rockies bullpen

According to Thomas Harding of MLB.com, the Colorado Rockies have granted the release of reliever DJ Johnson.

In one of the first transactions of the offseason for the Colorado Rockies, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reported on Twitter on Thursday that the Rockies have released right-handed reliever DJ Johnson.

In a follow up tweet, Harding notes that Johnson, 30, will look to further his career by seeking opportunities in Japan.

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After making his professional debut in 2010 with the Tampa Bay Rays, Johnson bounced around the minor leagues and independent baseball, including stints in the minors with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins, and Los Angeles Angels, Johnson came to the Rockies organization in 2017 where he pitched out of the bullpen for Double-A Hartford.

He was promoted to Triple-A for the first time in his career in 2018 and he pitched very well for the Isotopes as he pitched to a 3.90 ERA in 50 games in the pitcher friendly Pacific Coast League (the league average ERA was 4.60) and he recorded 18 saves.

He then made his MLB debut with the Rockies as a September call-up in 2018 and even made the Rockies postseason roster, as he appeared in Game 1 of the 2018 NLDS, recording two outs, both via the strikeout.

However, 2019 was not as successful as his 2018 season as he pitched to a 5.04 ERA in 28 appearances at the major league level for the Rockies and he pitched to a 5.63 ERA in 40 appearances in Albuquerque.

His struggles, at least at the major league level, could mainly be attributed to the fact that his walk rate skyrocketed nearly 2.5 times from 2.8 per nine innings in 2018 to 6.8 per nine innings in 2019. In Albuquerque, it did rise but nowhere near as significantly (2.4 per nine innings in 2018 up to 3.0 per nine innings in 2019).

With the release of Johnson, the Rockies bullpen depth becomes a bit thinner as it was already bit thin to begin with.