3 trade targets from the San Diego Padres for the Colorado Rockies

San Diego Padres reliever Nabil Crismatt could help the Colorado Rockies bullpen woes

The Colorado Rockies did not have a great bullpen in 2021 and, frankly, it was far from it. It has been far from it for a long time. San Diego Padres reliever Nabil Crismatt could help turn that around for the Rockies.

Crismatt, 27, made his debut with the Cardinals in 2020 and only appeared in six games (3.24 ERA). But the Cardinals let him go and the Padres signed him to a minor league deal with an invite to MLB spring training.

He made the Padres Opening Day roster and he pitched very well in 45 games as a long reliever. He had a 3.76 ERA in 81 1/3 innings with a 103 ERA+ with a 4.20 FIP, a 1.365 WHIP, and an average of 2.7 walks and 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

Crismatt is an odd pitcher in today’s era in that he barely tops 90 MPH with his fastball, as he averaged just 90.1 MPH on his fastball in 2021. He also utilized the changeup more than any other pitcher in baseball, as he used it 52.3 percent of the time.

That changeup also induced a lot of groundballs. As Rockies fans know by now, the Rockies starting pitchers have seen good success at Coors Field with high groundball rates but the bullpen doesn’t have anybody with a high groundball rate. In 2021, Crismatt’s was 50.6 percent, which was 33rd-highest among relievers with at 50 innings pitched. The Rockies didn’t even have a reliever among the top 60.