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Three players the Colorado Rockies should extend right now

By Noah Yingling

Jun 15, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon (24) on deck in the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 15, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon (24) on deck in the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /
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Colorado Rockies pitcher Jon Gray
Jul 25, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray (55) pitches in the first inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

The Colorado Rockies should into extending starting pitcher Jon Gray

The case for the Colorado Rockies extending with Jon Gray could not be more clear. The Rockies decided not to trade him at the trade deadline because they think that either a) they can extend him or b) the compensatory draft pick in 2022 was more valuable than the trade return that they would have received for him.

However, considering interim GM Bill Schmidt’s revelation after the trade deadline that the team wasn’t even shopping Gray on the market, the former is almost certainly the case more than the latter.

Jon Gray has repeatedly expressed his desire to stay with the Rockies (including when he spoke with Rox Pile’s Kevin Henry here) and why not?

He is the poster child of a pitcher that pitches better at altitude than at sea level. Just look at the numbers in recent seasons (excluding his injury-plagued season of 2020, where the season was already shortened on top of his injury)

2021 Home/Away Splits — Game-Level (not including Gray’s August 11 start)
Split W L W-L% ERA GS IP H ER HR WP WHIP SO9
Home 5 3 .625 3.27 11 63.1 42 23 8 1 1.089 8.4
Away 2 4 .333 4.21 9 47.0 51 22 5 2 1.447 8.0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

2019 Home/Away Splits– Game-Level
Split W L ERA G GS IP H ER HR BB SO WHIP SO9 SO/W
Home 6 2 3.46 13 12 75.1 73 29 8 24 71 1.288 8.5 2.96
Away 5 6 4.22 13 13 74.2 74 35 11 32 79 1.420 9.5 2.47

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

2018 Home/Away Splits — Game-Level
Split W L ERA GS IP H ER HR BB SO WHIP SO9 SO/W
Home 7 4 4.91 16 88.0 93 48 13 28 100 1.375 10.2 3.57
Away 5 5 5.34 15 84.1 87 50 14 24 83 1.316 8.9 3.46

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

2017 Home/Away Splits — Game-Level
Split W L ERA G GS IP H ER BB SO WHIP SO9 SO/W
Home 5 1 3.13 8 8 46.0 43 16 13 41 1.217 8.0 3.15
Away 5 3 4.06 12 12 64.1 70 29 17 71 1.352 9.9 4.18

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Nearly every stat for each season is better for him at Coors Field. It’s hard enough to get quality pitching at Coors Field so why not make him a Rockie for years to come? After all, he has proved that he pitches better at Coors than on the road.

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