Four Colorado Rockies pitchers out of options and under pressure

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DENVER, CO – MAY 7: Relief pitcher Yency Almonte #62 of the Colorado Rockies delivers to home plate during the fifth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field on May 7, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /

Yency Almonte

Almonte bounced back and forth between Triple-A and MLB last season, appearing in 30 games in Albuquerque and 28 with the Rockies. The 25-year-old right-hander never seemed to settle into a role last season, throwing more than 40 pitches in an outing on four separate occasions while throwing 10 or less six times. That could partly be to blame for Almonte’s 5.56 ERA last season and ERA+ of 94.

It was a far cry from 2018’s debut where Almonte dazzled in 14 games, striking out 14 in 14.2 innings and posting an ERA+ of 262 and FIP of 2.96 (compared to 5.51 last season).

Almonte will likely fall into the middle inning relief role this season. If given the chance to get comfortable in a role, he has the tools to be successful, as he showed against right-handers last season, holding them to a .242 average. While not eye-popping, it was much better than the .347 posted by lefties against him.

Can Almonte find his groove in 2020 as a regular member of the bullpen? Simply put, he must since he will be part of the roster.

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