Colorado Rockies bolster bullpen with a closer

The Colorado Rockies have made a few moves here on Saturday night and they are continuing with their additions. According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN, the Colorado Rockies have reached an agreement with reliever Alex Colomé for a one-year deal.

Colomé, 33, will help bolster the Colorado Rockies bullpen, which was in need of some serious help.

The Colorado Rockies have agreed to sign closer Alex Colomé

Alex Colomé should be an excellent addition to the backend of the Colorado Rockies bullpen in 2022, especially because he has a lot of experience as a closer.

Colomé spent the 2021 season with the Minnesota Twins and, in 67 games, he had a 4.15 ERA and 17 saves. He also had a 103 ERA+, a 4.23 FIP, a 1.400 WHIP, and he walked 3.2 and struck out 8.0 batters per nine innings.

He was better in previous seasons, though. In the previous five seasons (with Tampa Bay, Seattle, and the White Sox), Colomé never had an ERA north of 3.24. He also has had at least 12 saves in each season since then. He led the majors in saves in 2017 with 47.

The 2016 All-Star also is a big groundball pitcher, which is essential for success at Coors Field.

Colomé’s groundball rate since 2019 is 50.2 percent, which is 31st in baseball among relievers with at least 100 innings pitched. His groundball rate was 53.7 percent in 2021, which was also 31st among relievers with at least 40 innings pitched.

For comparison, the Rockies did not have a reliever with a groundball rate that was higher than 70th. Who was that reliever? Colorado native Lucas Gilbreath, whose 45.9 percent groundball rate was a key to his success after his first few MLB outings (which were rough) and a big key to his success at Coors Field.

In his final 42 appearances, Gilbreath had an ERA of 2.41 and he had a 0.96 ERA after the All-Star break (29 appearances). At home, he had a 2.42 ERA. Batters hit .173/.280/.309 off of him at Coors Field.

Overall, the Rockies bullpen ERA was 4.91 and their FIP was 4.58, both of which were 26th in the sport.

Colomé joins José Iglesias and Scott Schebler as the Rockies first additions to the team this offseason via free agency. Iglesias and Colomé are their first two MLB free agent signings since the Rockies signed Jhoulys Chacín for their first and only MLB free agent signing last offseason. That deal was agreed upon less than 24 hours before Opening Day.