Colorado Rockies 2022 player projections: Jhoulys Chacín

Jhoulys Chacín was signed by the Colorado Rockies right as Spring Training was ending and the regular season was about to begin.

When they signed him, he was expected to be their long reliever but by the end of June, he was one of the Rockies setup men. That was partially due to poor results from other Rockies relievers but also, it was because Chacín had pitched well, at least in the month of June.

Through May, Chacín had an ERA of 6.75 in only eight appearances. Despite not landing on the injured list, he only made three appearances in May, as he had 7, 10, and 13 days in between each appearance.

From June through the end of the season, though, Chacín was the Chacín that the Rockies saw in his first stint with the team from 2009 through 2014. He made 38 appearances (47 innings) and he had a 3.45 ERA, a 3.64 FIP, and opponents hit just .183/.266/.308 in that span.

Overall, he made 46 appearances and had a 4.34 ERA with a 4.63 FIP and a 110 ERA+.

Projections expect a regression for Colorado Rockies pitcher Jhoulys Chacín in 2022

ZiPS projects a massive regression for Colorado Rockies pitcher Jhoulys Chacín in 2022. It projects that he will make 36 appearances (12 starts) with 84 innings pitched, a 5.46 ERA, a 5.13 FIP, a 91 ERA+, and an fWAR of 0.5.

In 2021, Chacín’s fWAR was only 0.2 and his rWAR was 0.6.

All of Chacín’s projections dropped drastically so having his fWAR increase by more than double is … quite staggering. It’s most likely due to him pitching more in the projections but that’s part of the problem with projections.

He only made two MLB appearances in 2020 and in 2018 and 2019, he made 60 appearances (59 starts). In 2022, he is unlikely to make 12 starts for the Rockies.

Additionally, Chacín’s always pitched well at Coors Field. In 2021, he had a 2.87 ERA in 22 appearances at Coors Field with a .198/.276/.369 opponent slash line. On the road, the ERA as nearly 6.00. In his career at Coors Field overall, he has a career 4.12 ERA in 415 1/3 innings.

With his success at Coors, it’s hard to believe that Chacín that he will pitch that much and have stats that bad. If his stats are that bad, the Rockies may decide to let him go in favor of a younger pitcher.