Colorado Rockies: Who could benefit the most from a 29-man roster?

An increase from a 26-man roster to a 29-man roster could impact a few Colorado Rockies players for the better.

On Friday morning, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that MLB will likely allow the 30 MLB teams, including the Colorado Rockies, to carry 29 players on their roster for the first month of the season, whenever it returns.

That would be beneficial for a few Rockies players to try to establish themselves on the roster. Let’s take a look at some of them

Jeff Hoffman

There’s really not a nice way to say this: Jeff Hoffman had an awful 2019 season. In the majors, he pitched to a 2-6 record with a 6.56 ERA in 15 starts. His FIP was even worse, as it was 6.80. He made 17 appearances (16 starts) for Triple-A Albuquerque and he pitched to a 6-8 record with an ERA of 7.70 so, combined between the majors and minors, he pitched to a 7.18 ERA.

He also didn’t pitch well in 2018 when he pitched to a 4.94 ERA in 21 starts in Albuquerque and a 9.35 ERA in six games (one start) at the major league level.

In Spring Training, he pitched to a 6.35 ERA in three games (one start) before games were halted. In 5 2/3 innings pitched, he allowed 10 hits, seven runs (four earned), and three walks.

He is out of minor league options so the Rockies either have to carry him on their MLB roster or designate him for assignment, which would either mean that he would have to be traded, claimed by another team, or taken off the 40-man roster and optioned to Albuquerque.

If the Rockies end up playing a lot of games early in their schedule and a lot of doubleheaders, in particular, Hoffman could be the beneficiary of the Rockies needing more pitchers on the roster.