5 players the Colorado Rockies wish they still had on their roster

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DENVER, CO – AUGUST 01: Starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz #13 of the Colorado Rockies delivers against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field on August 1, 2012, in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 9-6. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies have made a few roster moves that come back to bite them and they could use their players on their current roster.

The Colorado Rockies have made some good roster decisions in the last few years including trading for German Marquez, signing Daniel Bard after he was a mental skills coach in the D’Backs organization, trading for Kevin Pillar, and claiming Adam Ottavino off of waivers from the Cardinals in 2012.

However, they have made a lot of roster moves that have ended up biting them in the last decade or so and it’s partially why the Rockies are where they are right now.

So let’s take a look back and look at the five players that they wish would still be on their roster.

Drew Pomeranz

Drew Pomeranz was acquired by the Rockies in 2011 (among other prospects) in exchange for Ubaldo Jimenez. While Pomeranz did pitch for the Rockies (even in the 2011 season), the Rockies ended up trading him to Oakland for starting pitcher Brett Anderson before the start of the 2014 season.

In parts of three seasons as a Rockie, Pomeranz went 4-14 with an ERA of 5.20 in 34 appearances (30 starts). While he had seasons of hiccups since, now, he is one of the relievers that the San Diego Padres relied upon to get them to the postseason in 2020.

In 20 games, he had an ERA of 1.45 and he struck out 29 in 18 2/3 innings. He did not allow a single earned run until his final outing in the regular season.

He was a big part of the Brewers bullpen in their playoff push in 2019 as well as after they acquired him from the Giants, he pitched to a 2.39 ERA in 26 1/3 innings for them down the stretch.

The Rockies are also lacking a left-handed reliever in their bullpen but especially in the backend of their bullpen so the Rockies would really love if he back with them if he could pitch like that.

Greg Holland

Again, the Rockies’ bullpen issues in 2019 and 2020 make the loss of Greg Holland even worse. In his single season in the purple pinstripes, Holland had an ERA of 3.61 (140 ERA+) with an NL-leading 41 saves. That ERA would have been a minuscule 1.69 if not for August.

He struggled a bit in 2018 and 2019 after he left the Rockies but he pitched well once again for the Royals (in his second stint with the team) as he had an ERA of 1.91 in 28 games with nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings and slightly more than two walks per nine innings. His WHIP was an excellent 0.953 and his FIP was 2.52.

He’s a free agent this offseason, as we mentioned in our look at free-agent relievers earlier this week, so perhaps the Rockies may be interested in a reunion.

Tyler Matzek

Yet another reliever on the list. Sense a pattern? Consistent pitching, particularly out of the bullpen, can be hard to come by and up until August, left-hander Tyler Matzek would not be a guy that would be on this list whatsoever because he had been out of the majors since last pitching for the Rockies five years ago.

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Matzek didn’t pitch poorly while with the Rockies but injuries derailed his career and he wasn’t able to catch a break until the Braves took a chance on him and in 2020, he was one of the best relievers in one of the best bullpens in baseball.

He spent the 2014 and 2015 campaigns with the Rockies in the majors, pitching to a 4.06 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) with an ERA+ of 107. The Braves made him a reliever and as a middle-reliever, Matzek pitched to a 2.79 ERA (172 ERA+) in 21 games (29 innings). His FIP was even better at a sparkling 1.92 with a WHIP of 1.138 and 13.3 strikeouts and 3.1 walks per nine innings.

Tom Murphy

The Rockies let Tom Murphy go before the start of the 2019 season after Drew Butera made the team as back-up catcher and Murphy had a phenomenal season with the Seattle Mariners while the Rockies catching corps, once again, struggled at the plate and were league average, at best, in pitch framing and other defensive metrics.

In 2019, Murphy posted a 3.2 fWAR season in just 76 games with 7 Defensive Runs Saved and pitch-framing metrics that were above league average. He also hit .273/.324/.535 with 18 home runs and 32 RBI.

He missed all of the 2020 season since he suffered a fractured foot in Summer Training but even with that one season (a half-season, at that), he would be the Rockies best catcher right now.

DJ LeMahieu

This one is obvious. For the same length of contract and amount, which do you want: Daniel Murphy or DJ LeMahieu? The Rockies decided that they wanted to sign someone early and rather than be patient, they got Daniel Murphy who had two of the worst seasons of his MLB career. DJ LeMahieu signed with the Yankees and produced the best two seasons of his career, without question.

He was an All-Star, won a Silver Slugger, and came in 4th in AL MVP voting after hitting 26 home runs and 102 RBI (both career highs) and hitting .327/.375/.518. He also played some third and first base for the Yankees all while playing above-average defense at all three positions.

This season, he led the AL in WAR (Baseball-Reference) at 2.9. He had 10 home runs (equivalent to 32 in a full season), 28 RBI (87 in a regular-season) while leading the AL in batting average (.364), on-base percentage (.421), OPS (1.011), and OPS+ (177).

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He’s a free agent once again this offseason but now, he very well could be outside of the Rockies price range.

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