Colorado Rockies: The best players to wear each number (#0-#10)

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CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 02: Adam Ottavino #0 of the Colorado Rockies pitches in the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs during the National League Wild Card Game at Wrigley Field on October 2, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Throughout Colorado Rockies franchise history, a total of 76 numbers have been worn by players.

Even though the Colorado Rockies are one of MLB’s youngest franchises, they have had their fair share of numbers be worn by players. In fact, every number between 0 and 68 has been worn and a handful of players have worn numbers in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

For this list (and the future installments), we will be consulting the uniform list that Baseball-Reference has on their site for the Rockies as well as Baseball Almanac, as there are some discrepancies between the two. For some of them there are some really good battles and for some (as you will see in a moment), there’s really no battle whatsoever.

Let’s get into them.

Number 0- Adam Ottavino

This is one that is not a battle whatsoever. Why? Adam Ottavino is the first and, thus far, only Colorado Rockies player that has ever worn the number.

He spent part of seven seasons with the Rockies and he pitched to a 17-18 record with an ERA of 3.41 in 361 games, all in relief. He had a 10.4:3.8 strikeout to walk ratio. His strikeout and walk rate increased later in his career with the Rockies as in his last three seasons, it was 12:4.7.

He also is one of, if not, the best waiver claims that the Rockies have made in their franchise history.

OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 30: Troy Tulowitzki #2 of the Colorado Rockies looks on from the on-deck circle against the Oakland Athletics in the top of the first inning at O.co Coliseum on June 30, 2015 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Number 1- Jamey Carroll

There hasn’t been a huge standout player who has worn #1 for the Rockies which made this fairly easy.

Ryan McMahon wore the uniform for part of 2017 but it was only part of the season and he doesn’t wear it anymore. Currently, Garrett Hampson wears the number so he could eclipse Jamey Carroll in the coming years but, for now, Carroll is the winner.

He had a 3.3 bWAR season in 2006 for the Rockies, partially due to his superb defense (19 bDRS between second base, shortstop, and third base).

He didn’t have a great 2007 campaign but he did hit the fly ball to right field that “scored” Matt Holliday in Game 163 against Bud Black‘s Padres.

Number 2- Troy Tulowitzki

This is another one with no debate. In fact, Troy Tulowitzki is the only Colorado Rockies player to wear the number for more than one season.

Alexi Amarista, Jeff Frye, and Brent Butler are some of the others who wore it. You likely haven’t heard of the others who wore the uniform.

Tulo played parts of 10 seasons with the Rockies and in that span, he ranked in MVP voting six times, was an All-Star five times, won two Gold Glove Awards, won two Silver Slugger Awards, and came in second in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2007.

DENVER, CO – AUGUST 17: Michael Cuddyer #3 of the Colorado Rockies hits a solo home run hit in the sixth inning during the second game of a split doubleheader at Coors Field on August 17, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. Cuddyer would complete a cycle during the game. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

Number 3- Michael Cuddyer

Number 3 was not a huge debate on this one but there have been a few Rockies that wore the number.

Dale Murphy was the first to wear the number as he wore it in 1993 and, overall, he’s the best player to wear it of them but for their Rockies career, it’s Michael Cuddyer.

He spent three seasons with the Rockies and the second season is why he’s on the list. In that season (2013), he was an All-Star, won a Silver Slugger Award, and came in 20th in NL MVP voting. He also won the NL batting title that year as well.

Number 4- Jeffrey Hammonds

This was a close one but even though Jeffrey Hammonds was only a Rockie for one season (2000).

The main competitor Hammonds has is Nick Hundley. His first season with the Rockies was good but the second was a big dropoff.

Hammonds, in that one season, played in 122 games and he hit 20 home runs, had 106 RBI, 14 stolen bases, a slash line of .335/.395/.529, and an OPS+ of 111. He was also an All-Star.

By bWAR, Hammonds was at 2.3 in the one season and Hundley had 2.0 in two seasons.

DENVER – APRIL 17: Matt Holliday #5 of the Colorado Rockies prepares for a pitch from the San Francisco Giants on April 17, 2007 at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies won 5-3. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

Number 5- Matt Holliday

This one was a very close one. Essentially, as far as WAR is concerned, do you want total or do you want the highest average? The former? Carlos Gonzalez. The latter? Matt Holliday.

Carlos Gonzalez played 10 seasons with the Rockies and he played in 1247 games with 227 home runs, 749 RBI, a .290/.349/.516 slash line, and an OPS+ of 116. He was an All-Star three times, won three Gold Glove Awards, won two Silver Slugger Awards, and in 2010, he came in 3rd in NL MVP voting.

Matt Holliday played six seasons with the Rockies and he played in 723 games with 130 home runs, 486 RBI, a .319/.387/.550 slash line, and an OPS+ of 131.

He was a three-time All-Star, ranked in NL MVP voting three times (including coming in second in 2007), and three Silver Slugger Awards. In 2007, when the Rockies went to the World Series, he led the NL in hits (216), doubles (50), RBI (137), batting average (.340), and total bases (386).

Coincidentally, the Rockies traded Holliday after the 2008 season to the Oakland A’s for a package that included CarGo.

Even though he played fewer seasons in a Rockies uniform, I have to go with Holliday considering that he was more dominant when he was a Rockie, being a huge factor for the Rockies making the World Series (he was the NLCS MVP), and he was one of only a few Rockies who actually played well in the World Series.

LOS ANGELES – SEPTEMBER 3: Kazuo Matsui of the Colorado Rockies attempts to steal second base during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on September 3, 2006. The Rockies defeated the Dodgers 12-5. (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Number 6- Corey Dickerson

This is one of the discrepancies that we mentioned at the beginning. Baseball-Reference says that Kazuo Matsui wore #6 for 2006 and part of 2007 and #7 for the rest of 2007. Baseball Almanac says #16 for 2006 and #7 for 2007. Considering the picture above shows that he wore #16 in 2006 and it would be close battle anyways, Corey Dickerson is the winner.

Dickerson played three seasons with the Rockies and he played to a 4.4 bWAR, with 3.1 of that coming from 2014. That season, he played in 131 games and he hit 24 home runs, 76 RBI, and he hit .312/.364/.567, and an OPS+ of 141.

The Rockies traded him to the Rays for German Marquez and Jake McGee. Not a bad deal for the Rockies at all.

Number 7- Jeff Cirillo

Unfortunately for Matsui, he doesn’t get number 7 either. Jeff Cirillo gets that honor.

He played two seasons with the Rockies and he was an All-Star in the first season as he had 115 RBI (compared to only 11 home runs). Combined between the two seasons, he hit .320/.379/.475 with an OPS+ of 99.

Seth Smith was another candidate for the winner of #7.

Number 8- Yorvit Torrealba

Charlie Blackmon also wore #8 but he played less than a season’s worth of games wearing it. Therefore, Yorvit Torrealba is the winner.

In parts of five seasons with the Rockies, he hit .256/.313/.379 with an OPS+ of 74 and a bWAR of 1.0.

Gerardo Parra, Kirt Manwaring, Roberto Mejia, and Michael McKenry were the other players that have worn the number and played three or more seasons with the Rockies wearing that number.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JUNE 28: DJ LeMahieu #9 of the Colorado Rockies hits a two-run home run in the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on June 28, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Number 9- DJ LeMahieu

Another close one here: Vinny Castilla‘s nine seasons as a Rockie and a 17.5 bWAR or DJ LeMahieu‘s seven seasons as a Rockie and a 16.1 bWAR.

Based on his average season as a Rockie, I went with LeMahieu.

The three Gold Gloves and good defense are what made me give LeMahieu the *slight* edge over Castilla but really, it could go either way.

Number 10- Dante Bichette

If you go by WAR, Dante Bichette won’t win anything. That’s part of the reason why WAR is a good barometer but not the be-all, end-all.

WAR doesn’t like Bichette because he had a relatively low on-base percentage and he wasn’t a good defender. With that, he only accumulated 4.6 bWAR in seven seasons as a Rockie.

However, considering that he averaged a .316/.352/.540 slash line and 29 home runs and 118 RBI while he was a Rockie, I think that, at the bare minimum, he is the best Rockie to ever don the number 10.

Next. Podcast: Catching up with former Rockie Mike Kingery. dark

The only others that may give Bichette a run at it are Mike Hampton (but not for his pitching as a Rockie) and Jeff Baker.

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