Former Colorado Rockies pitcher Christian Bergman on pitching at Coors Field, more

Christian Bergman’s best season in the majors was in 2015 for the Colorado Rockies

Christian Bergman had his best season in the majors in 2015 for the Colorado Rockies. He appeared in 30 games (four starts) and had an ERA of 4.74 in 68 2/3 innings.

That year, the Rockies were not good as they went 68-94 and they traded their franchise player, Troy Tulowitzki to the Toronto Blue Jays in July.

However, that team had a decent bullpen. By ERA, they weren’t good, as were last in the majors but their ERA was 4.70. But for comparison, the Rockies bullpen ERA was 4.91 in 2021 and 5.18 in 2019. The 2015 bullpen had a FIP of 4.09 and a 2.9 fWAR, which were 23rd and 18th in baseball.

Bergman reminisced on the 2015 Rockies and the bullpen that he was part of, including some of the characters.

“That was a great bullpen we had that year,” said Bergman. “Ax (Rockies closer John Axford) was an awesome teammate. We also had Chad Qualls, Jason Motte, and Boone Logan. Qualls was a constant source of entertainment. One of my favorite memories isn’t really a bullpen story, but has to do with Axford.

“That year we opened up (the season) in Milwaukee and obviously, Ax is a legend there (Axford played with the Brewers for parts of six seasons). We had our bullpen dinner at one of his favorite steakhouses that he used to go to. We were sitting down in a private dining room, and a few minutes before our steaks came, the owner came down and presented Ax with his customized, engraved steak knife in a wood box that they keep at the restaurant for whenever he comes in.”

That restaurant (Carnevor) is also a favorite of Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon. Blackmon also has a personally engraved knife just for him there too.