Colorado Rockies 2022 player predictions: Germán Márquez

Germán Márquez was, by all measures, the best pitcher on the Colorado Rockies in 2021. In fact, he was the only All-Star for the team.

Entering the All-Star break (19 starts), Márquez was 8-6 with a 3.36 ERA with a 3.27 FIP. His opponents hit just .212/.291/.316. He faltered down the stretch, though.

After the All-Star break (13 starts), Márquez went 4-5 with an ERA of 6.12 and a FIP of 4.85. Opponents hit .285/.340/.495 as well.

He ended up going 12-11 with a 4.40 ERA in 32 starts with an ERA+ of 108, a FIP of 3.86, an rWAR of 3.3, and an fWAR of 3.4.

The 2022 predictions for Colorado Rockies ace Germán Márquez are similar to 2021

Entering 2022, Germán Márquez will still be the ace of the Colorado Rockies but ZiPS projects that he will have nearly the same exact numbers.

It projects that he will have a 13-8 record with a 4.15 ERA in 30 starts. Also, it projects a 3.75 FIP, a 119 ERA+, and a 3.2 fWAR. So, overall, it projects a slight downtick in WAR but a better ERA+ and ERA.

The two main problems for Márquez will be consistency and the run support that he receives.

If he’s the pitcher that he was in the first half of the season, he would, arguably, be the Rockies’ best player overall on the season but he can’t have the second half regression.

Rockies manager Bud Black attributed the lack of second half success due to “fatigue” and the lack of “crispness” of his pitches and Márquez himself cited his fastball command and general consistency (in pitches, timing, etc.). On the season overall, he led all of baseball with 15 wild pitches so that’s something that he will have to work on.

The other problem is the run support, which Márquez won’t be able to do much about, especially with the DH coming to the NL in 2022.

Of his 32 starts, Márquez had 11 losses. Only three of them came when the team scored more than three runs and none of them came when they scored more than four runs. He was 0-5 when they scored two runs or fewer.

Through the All-Star break, the Rockies averaged 1.6 runs per game in his six losses. That’s why the Rockies must address their offense if they plan on being contenders. Márquez and the starting pitching staff can’t be 1968 Bob Gibson out there every night.

If the Rockies start to give Márquez and the starters some run support, a lot of their issues will be alleviated but as they say, “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.” For the Rockies, when you consistently put out a mediocre offense on the field every day, you’ll continue to have lackluster teams.