Four Colorado Rockies pitchers out of options and under pressure

With the 2020 Major League Baseball season comes a new wrinkle in the roster sizes for each team. The Colorado Rockies and other MLB teams will have 26 players on their Opening Day rosters, including 13 pitchers.

The extra man will add some intrigue this season, especially for the Colorado Rockies who have needed fresh bullpen arms in the past after dealing with the run-scoring games and altitude effects that Coors Field can level against a pitching staff.

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

Colorado has had the luxury in the past of using some of the minor league options as a way to keep players bouncing between Triple-A Albuquerque and Denver. It has not only allowed for fresh arms to be called up when needed but also allowed some of the younger arms who have needed more development time to find that in the minors.

This season, four of those arms are out of minor league options, meaning the Rockies are likely forced into keeping them all on the roster heading into the season. Sure, it’s possible the Rockies could designate one or more of them for assignment in the spring, but that’s unlikely to happen. With that, that means these four players will need to not only find their role, but also succeed in it.

Let’s take a look at the four pitchers without options heading into the 2020 campaign.

Chi Chi Gonzalez

On the surface, the 28-year-old Gonzalez went 2-6 with a 5.29 ERA and 99 ERA+ in 14 games (12 starts) with the Rockies in 2019. But there’s much more to the right-hander’s year than just those numbers and the key he might hold for Colorado this season.

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

Gonzalez shined in September, going 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in five starts. Those starts included times on the hill against the Los Angeles Dodgers (twice), St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, so Gonzalez was shining against some of the National League’s toughest competition. Plus, in three of those September outings, he went six innings or more.

With Chad Bettis and Tyler Anderson no longer in the rotation mix, Gonzalez is considered one of the front-runners to fill the fourth or fifth starter role for the Rockies in 2020. If he can match his September numbers (something the Rockies desperately need this season), Gonzalez could solidify a back end of the rotation that is currently a question mark.

Gonzalez and the two pitchers listed after this are the candidates for not only a starting role but also could fill a long-relief role as well. Our prediction? Gonzalez slates into a starting role, likely as the number four starter.

Editor’s Note: It was reported by Kyle Newman of The Denver Post about two weeks after this article was published that Gonzalez actually has one remaining option left on his contract as he had four options originally, not the standard three options.

Jeff Hoffman

It seems like every season the Rockies want to see how Jeff Hoffman can fit into the pitching mix. It also seems like every season that the question isn’t answered.

Colorado Rockies

This, however, is seemingly the last year that Hoffman can answer that question for the Rockies. Out of options, Hoffman has to perform this season, whether that’s in the rotation (where he has started 38 of his 52 career games with Colorado) or in a bullpen role (where he hasn’t pitched for the Rockies since 2018).

In his career, Hoffman has been more successful as a starter, although none of the numbers have been overly impressive. Last season, walks became a big problem for the 27-year-old right-hander (giving up 4.4 per nine innings) as were home runs (21 surrendered in just 70 innings pitched, accounting for the third-highest total of dingers allowed on the team).

Those numbers have to be better in 2020. Fans know it. The Rockies know it. Hoffman knows it. This is likely the last chance for the former ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft to shine for the Rockies. He will likely get that chance as the fifth starter or long reliever to start the season.

Antonio Senzatela

Pick which side of the coin you want to look at from last season with Senzatela.

The good side? Senzatela made 25 starts and racked up 11 wins. With the injury bug hitting the Rockies rotation hard last season, the 25-year-old right-hander was consistent.

The bad side? That consistency wasn’t something the Rockies wanted to see on the mound. A career-high 6.71 ERA and career-low ERA+ of 77 in addition to a WHIP of 1.749 and 11.6 hits surrendered per nine innings were all marks that led to 2019 not being a great season in the Senzatela storyline.

He also dropped from 6.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 2018 to 5.5 strikeouts per nine innings in 2019. He wasn’t fooling hitters at all last year and that’s certainly a concern heading into 2020.

Let’s stick with the “dropped” theme for a moment. Senzatela reportedly dropped 15 pounds this offseason (something manager Bud Black said he needed to do) so he will enter spring training in good shape. Can he become a solid option for the back end of the rotation? The Rockies need him to do that, and we predict he starts the season as part of the rotation.

Prediction: Senzatela and Gonzalez fill out the rotation (along with Kyle Freeland, Jon Gray, and German Marquez) while Hoffman and Almonte are part of the bullpen.