Colorado Rockies: Who's most likely to get cut on the new 28-man roster?

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ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JULY 21: Elias Diaz #35 of the Colorado Rockies during a MLB exhibition game at Globe Life Field on July 21, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies will have their roster trim from 30 players to 28 on Thursday so who is most likely to be cut?

The Colorado Rockies will have to trim their roster from 30 players to 28 on Thursday, as will each of the other 29 MLB teams.

Originally, MLB’s plan was to increase rosters from 25 players to 26 for the entirety of the 2020 season. With the amended season, it was changed to a 30-man roster that would go down to 28 and then, 26. However, with the fallout of the COVID-19 outbreaks among the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins, the league changed their ruling.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that rosters will be cut down to 28 on Thursday and it will remain at 28 throughout the rest of the regular season and the postseason. The team’s taxi squad will also expand from three players to five so, essentially, the two players that are cut on Thursday will be moved to the taxi squad.

For the Rockies, there are a few players that are most likely to be cut, including some position players and some pitchers, primarily based on what playing time they have seen in 2020 thus far and the depth at each position.

Let’s check them out.

The position players that might be cut by the Rockies haven’t seen any playing time yet.

Elias Diaz

The first name that comes to mind on the position player front is Elias Diaz. Why is that? The Rockies already have two other catchers on the 30-man roster and, therefore, Diaz, at least through Tuesday, has not seen any game action in 2020 whatsoever. Not a start, not as a late-game defensive replacement, not as an injury replacement, not as a pinch-hitter.

As it is, Drew Butera (the Rockies number 2 catcher) has only seen action in two games (eight at-bats). The Rockies still have catcher Dom Nunez on their taxi squad as well.

In the event of a COVID outbreak on the Rockies or injuries to the catchers, Diaz and Nunez will prove to be helpful but right now, Diaz has not been of use so you can make a good case for him being cut.

Josh Fuentes

Josh Fuentes is another guy that you can make a good case for being cut. Why? He’s in the same boat as Diaz. He hasn’t seen any game action whatsoever in 2020. Not even as a pinch-hitter.

For Fuentes, like Diaz, he is blocked defensively as the Rockies have plenty of guys who can play third and first base (Fuentes’ primary positions).

At third base, obviously, his cousin, Nolan Arenado, is at the top of the depth chart there but he is backed up by Ryan McMahon, Chris Owings, and Garrett Hampson. At first base, there’s Daniel Murphy, McMahon, Owings, and Butera.

The Rockies have a few pitchers that could be cut too.

Joe Harvey

Joe Harvey was just added to the Rockies roster as a result of Wade Davis being placed on the 10-day injured list so, on the pitching front, he’s an obvious candidate to be cut.

In his short stint on the 30-man roster, he has yet to make an appearance. In 2019, he pitched to a 5.63 ERA in nine relief appearances for the Rockies.

Ashton Goudeau

Like Diaz and Fuentes, Ashton Goudeau has been on the Rockies roster since Opening Day but he has yet to make an appearance. He hasn’t even made his MLB debut, in general.

He didn’t even pitch at the Triple-A level for the Rockies last season as he spent the entire season at Double-A Hartford. When Goudeau was in the Seattle Mariners organization in 2018, he made it to the Triple-A level but he pitched to an 8.20 ERA in 37 1/3 innings pitched.

Two other, less likely possibilities

James Pazos and Phillip Diehl are two other possibilities of being cut from the roster. However, both of them are less likely to be cut for one reason: they are left-handed pitchers.

With Jake McGee being cut by the Rockies prior to the start of the season, Pazos and Diehl are the only left-handed relievers in the Rockies bullpen. Perhaps, that is something that will be addressed before the August 31 trade deadline since the Rockies look like they may be in contention then.

DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 12: Joe Harvey #30 of the Colorado Rockies pitches during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field on September 12, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 10-3. (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

The Rockies could go one of a few ways on their cuts.

Who will be cut?

Of the options, I would personally cut Elias Diaz and Joe Harvey since the Rockies really don’t need a third catcher on the active roster, and since Harvey was just added to the roster anyways.

For Diaz, he could still be kept on the taxi squad, and in the event they need another catcher, he or Dom Nunez could be added to the roster quickly.

However, I think that Fuentes is more likely to be cut by the Rockies than Diaz. Even with the 25-man rosters of last season, there were a few series where Bud Black had 13 pitchers and 12 position players. Therefore, he had a four-man bench (as this was prior to the DH) and he still had two catchers on that bench.

For the pitchers, Harvey is most likely to be cut since he was just added and he wasn’t on the 30-man roster to begin with.

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With the cuts, though, they will still be available on the taxi squad or in the player pool so they still could see action for the Rockies later this year.

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Colorado Rockies: Who’s most likely to get cut on the new 28-man roster?