What to make of the ZiPS projections for the Colorado Rockies

On the pitching front, the Colorado Rockies have built a decent starting pitching staff. It’s by no means elite but it is pretty good. The problem will be what production do they get out of their fifth starter and their depth.

As is the case with the entire team, they have absolutely no depth. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: If you have to get a spot starter (Ryan Feltner) from Double-A because you don’t trust your Triple-A guys, that’s a massive problem. In 2021, the only starter that wasn’t on the IL at some point was Germán Márquez and some of them were on the IL at the same time, which is why Feltner was called up in September.

The bullpen is and will continue to be a problem until other issues are addressed with the team. As Szymborski says, the bullpen is a cheap issue for the Rockies and that’s better than an expensive issue (Ian Desmond, Wade Davis, Daniel Murphy, Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee, etc.).

They do have some pieces, as GM Bill Schmidt has said, but he believes that they just “need more pieces.” In theory, that’s true but to be a contender in 2022 especially with the current lockout, they need far too many players to step up and too many “pieces” in free agency or a trade to be close to playoff contention in 2022.