Top 5 players to play for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks

As the Colorado Rockies move on from Oracle Park in San Francisco, it is again time to scout the upcoming opponent. This report isn’t traditional though, as we reflect on the past and rank the top five players to play for both the Rockies and whoever they play next.

In this series, the Colorado Rockies will be facing the Arizona Diamondbacks. Let’s get started at our look back at the players who have suited up for both franchises.

Total number of shared players: 61

Exclusively Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks players: 3

Tim Olson

Juan Sosa

Ryan Wheeler

Honorable Mentions:

Jeff Cirillo

Royce Clayton

Craig Counsell

Steve Finley

Mike Hampton

Will Harris

Matt Herges

Liván Hernández

Greg Holland

Byung-Hyun Kim

Chris Owings

Tony Womack

Daniel Descalso

So who makes our top 5? Here we go…

5. Chris Iannetta

Chris Iannetta has an interesting distinction, as he and Carlos González are the only players to be on the Colorado Rockies roster for three different postseason runs. While he recorded no at-bats in 2007 and 2009, he was more heavily involved in the 2018 postseason run.

The Rockies drafted Iannetta in 2004 out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and he ended up spending 10 years with the franchise and its farm system. Interestingly enough, Iannetta was on the Diamondbacks when they played the Rockies in 2017. He did not play in the game, but he would record five at-bats with the team in the National League Division Series against the Dodgers. This means that Iannetta has been on one of the teams’ rosters in four of the Rockies’ five playoff appearances.

4. Jorge de la Rosa

Jorge de la Rosa was a two-time Opening Day starter for the Colorado Rockies and spent a decent nine seasons with the team. He has an interesting postseason history with the Rockies, similar to Chris Iannetta above. While de la Rosa was only on the Rockies roster for the 2009 playoff run, he was on the Diamondbacks roster in 2017 and the Cubs roster in 2018. He actually pitched in both games, albeit for only two-thirds of an inning combined, and had a perfect ERA of 0.00 against his former team. For Arizona’s playoff run, he would end up appearing in three games for 2.1 scoreless relief innings.

Jorge de la Rosa was the rock of the Colorado Rockies rotation during one of the lowest points in franchise history. He deserves acclaim for it.

3. Mark Reynolds

More from Colorado Rockies All-Time Lists

Mark Reynolds is on this list for one real reason, and everyone knows it. He was a very good defensive baseman and was key to getting the Rockies into the postseason in 2017 and was top five in the league in putouts and double plays turned. He was never particularly stellar with the bat in his career, though he did get an RBI in the 2017 Wild Card game.

I will admit, while I think he was a very good first baseman for the team, the real reason I have him on here is of course because of his time in Arizona. For the D-backs, he led the league in strikeouts three times, one of which is still the most strikeouts ever in a season (223 in 2009), and another that is in the top 10 all-time (211 in 2010). He was also good for Arizona in the 2007 NL Division Series, hitting a critical homer in the first game of that series. It’s actually quite funny because Arizona won that series and would play the Colorado Rockies in the NLCS. Reynolds would actually be one of the few D-backs runs in that series with a solo shot in Game 3. This means that yet again we have a player who has played for and against the Colorado Rockies in the playoffs. Chris Iannetta was involved in four playoff years, Jorge De La Rosa was involved in three, and Mark Reynolds was involved in two. I wonder who could be next.

2. Mike Myers

Unfortunately, neither number one nor two continue the strange Rockies playoff trend. However, Mike Myers appeared in the postseason for Arizona twice in 2004.

Despite that, he is on the list for how insanely good for the Rockies he was. Myers played for the Rockies in 2000 and 2001. You read that right, an insanely good pitcher in pre-humidor Coors Field. During his two years in Colorado, Myers appeared in 151 games and accumulated an impressively low 2.74 ERA during his time, with an even more impressive single-season ERA of 1.99 in 2000. The years in Colorado were the best in his career, which, for a Rockies pitcher, is saying a lot.

1. Gerardo Parra

Gerardo Parra is one of the most fun players in baseball. He is aloof and goofy, and just a great presence to have on the team. He is also certainly the best player to play for both franchises.

In Arizona, Parra was a two-time Gold Glove winner and winner of the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year award in 2013. The D-backs brought him up as an international signee and was eighth in Rookie of the Year in 2009. Ironically, Parra has a similar mold to Iannetta, de la Rosa, and Reynolds as he played both for the Diamondbacks in the playoffs in 2011 and against them for Colorado in 2017.

This is a Colorado Rockies website though, so what did he do for them? Well, he was a critical player in both the 2017 and 2018 runs. Not only did he bat .309 in 2017, but Parra also batted .500 in the 2017 Wild Card Game against Arizona, .500 in the 2018 Wild Card Game against the Cubs, and .500 in the 2018 Division Series against Milwaukee.

While his accolades did not come with the Colorado Rockies, he was still an important part of the team’s history, and he performed well, perfectly fitting of number one.

Note: Statistics and data were found using Baseball Reference.