New Year’s Resolutions for these Colorado Rockies

Antonio Senzatela: Rack up the strikeouts

As the leader of the Senzatela Fellas, it honestly won’t take much from our dude Antonio to really help him unlock the next level. He was, by fWAR, the Rockies’ best pitcher in 2021 just barely edging out Márquez (3.5 vs 3.4). He’s mastered contact at Coors Field, but if he can start to rack up the Ks then he’ll unlock a new level.

In 2022 he had a K/9 of 6.03, which equates to a K% of 15.5%. That’s the third-lowest K/9 and K% among starters who threw at least 100 innings in 2021. In today’s game, strikeouts are valued and the more a pitcher racks up, the better he generally will perform in the future. Senzatela’s been able to avoid much negative regression and posted up a strong FIP (3.61) and xFIP (4.17) in 2021. That points towards more future success, but he can unleash a more dominant side if he gets just a few more Ks.

His best stretch this season came June through August when he posted a:

3.63 ERA
2.79 FIP
3.74 xFIP
6.78 K/9

At almost 1 more K/9 higher than his season average, the results were evident. If Senzatela can add this dimension to his game then he can really, really take the next step forward in his career.