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Colorado Rockies: Top Five Second Basemen in Franchise History

By Noah Yingling

DENVER, CO - MAY 05: Manager Walt Weiss #22 of the Colorado Rockies challenges a call by umpire Kerwin Danley on a play at first base against the Texas Rangers as DJ LeMahieu #9 and Eric Young #21 of the Colorado Rockies looks on in the second inning during Interleague play at Coors Field on May 5, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. Danley called DJ LeMahieu #9 of the Colorado Rockies out and the call was overturned after video replay as the Rockies defeated the Rangers 8-2. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - MAY 05: Manager Walt Weiss #22 of the Colorado Rockies challenges a call by umpire Kerwin Danley on a play at first base against the Texas Rangers as DJ LeMahieu #9 and Eric Young #21 of the Colorado Rockies looks on in the second inning during Interleague play at Coors Field on May 5, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. Danley called DJ LeMahieu #9 of the Colorado Rockies out and the call was overturned after video replay as the Rockies defeated the Rangers 8-2. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /
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27 Jul 2000: Todd Walker #14 of the Colorado Rockies runs to first base during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Dodgers defeated the Rockies 16-11.Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport
27 Jul 2000: Todd Walker #14 of the Colorado Rockies runs to first base during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Dodgers defeated the Rockies 16-11.Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport /

Number 4: Todd Walker (2.9 bWAR, 2.0 fWAR, parts of 2 seasons as a Rockie, 129 games at 2B)

Todd Walker was acquired by the Rockies in the middle of the 2000 season and the Rockies traded him to the Cincinnati Reds one year and four days later so, essentially, he played one season with the Rockies.

In 142 games (129 at 2B), he hit .304/.363/.514 with an OPS+ of 103. He had a defensive WAR of 0.4 while with the Rockies so he was slightly above average in that department.

He bounced around to a few different teams throughout the rest of his career before playing his last MLB game in 2007.

Number 3: Kazuo Matsui (3.9 bWAR, 3.4 fWAR, parts of 2 seasons as a Rockie, 123 games at 2B)

Kazuo Matsui (also known as Kaz) was acquired by the Rockies from the New York Mets in June of 2006. He mainly played off of the bench but in the 126 plate appearances he made that year, he hit very well as he hit .345/.392/.504 with an OPS+ of 120 and a WAR of 0.5.

In 2007, he took over for Jamey Carroll as the primary second baseman and he was a big reason why the Rockies got to the World Series that year.

He was okay at the plate during the regular season (.288/.342/.405 slash line with an OPS+ of 87) but he had 14 DRS so his main game was defense. That’s why his bWAR was 3.4 in 2007.

The main reason how he helped the Rockies was during the postseason. He hit .304/.347/.500 during the 2007 postseason, including a .294 batting average in the World Series when the Rockies only hit .218. He also hit .417 in the NLDS with six RBI in the Rockies’ three-game sweep of the Phillies.

Matsui signed with the Houston Astros in free agency in 2008. He struggled a lot in 2009 and the beginning of 2010 (65 OPS+ between the two seasons) and the Astros released him in late May of 2010. He resigned with the Rockies on a minor league deal but he did not play particularly well in Triple-A Colorado Springs so he never was called up.

After the season, he returned to his home in Japan and played in the Japanese Baseball League through the 2018 season (his age-42 season) and then he retired.

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