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Colorado Rockies: 8 Albuquerque Isotopes players you may not know but should

ByNoah Yingling|
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 24: Relief pitcher Chad Smith #70 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning of the MLB spring training game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on March 24, 2022 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 24: Relief pitcher Chad Smith #70 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning of the MLB spring training game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on March 24, 2022 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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Chad Smith, Colorado Rockies, Albuquerque Istopes
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 29: Chad Smith #56 of the Colorado Rockies pitches in his major league debut in the seventh inning during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on May 29, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Relief pitcher Chad Smith

Of the eight players on our list, Chad Smith is the only one that has actually played for the Rockies at the MLB level this year but you still might have missed him since he only made two appearances before being sent back to Albuquerque.

Smith, 27, was added to the 40-man roster a few weeks ago and called up to the majors to provide some relief at the end of May but for Albuquerque, he has been their closer.

Smith has converted all nine save opportunities that he has had and he has a 1.80 ERA in 18 appearances. Batters are only hitting .180 against him and he has a WHIP of 1.000.

Relief pitcher Zach Lee

Colorado is Zach Lee’s ninth organization since he was the Dodgers’ first round pick back in 2010. They ended up trading him to Seattle in 2016 for Chris Taylor in a deal that worked out very well for Los Angeles.

Lee, 30, has only appeared in four games at the MLB level in parts of two seasons and he struggled with allowing so many hits, as he has allowed at least 9.8 hits per nine innings in each season in the minors from 2016 through 2021 (with the exception of 2020 since there was no MiLB season).

That problem has reversed this year (.209 opponent average) but his walk rate has skyrocketed to 5.7 BB/9. However, he has still pitched well in the league (relatively speaking) as he has a 4.56 ERA in 25 games with two saves.

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