2 former Rockies the team will regret letting go of in 2024

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As the pitchers and catchers report for the beginning of the 2024 Spring Training period, there are some new faces (many of them are youngsters). There are also a lot of veterans on the club that will look to guide this youthful group through a rebuild while some are simultaneously trying to rebuild their value in hopes of scoring another payday.

The Rockies certainly won't be making moves to contend this year, but they did take a couple of shots on some potential rebound candidates that could lead a young group. Coming into the offseason, the Rockies lack of pitching depth was obvious. They ended up adding veterans Cal Quantrill and Dakota Hudson, also bringing back Denver native, Ty Blach.

This offseason, the Rockies weren't expected to make any big splashes, giving way to some prospects that have recently debuted. They could come to regret missing out on a few solid free agents. They also didn't have a lot of free agents they were going to have to try and retain, a lot of their higher-end talent is still under club control for quite a bit longer. With that being said, the Rockies had a couple of free agents that they will come to regret letting go; one of them was one of the Rockies better pitchers last year, while another has flashed some strikeout potential for a team seriously lacking in that department.

One of the best Rockies pitchers in 2023, Brent Suter, heads home to Cincinnati on a low risk move

The Rockies were surprisingly able to claim Suter off of waivers from the Brewers after the 2022 season. Suter had spent eight years with the Brewers and had been a dependable swing man over his career. He had started to work more out of the bullpen later on, but he was a really good pitcher for them. In his eight years, he through 464 innings with just a 3.51 ERA in a very hitter friendly park. He was able to do this with his solid strikeout and walk numbers (7.7 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9). He also proved an ability to limit home runs in what is arguably the most hitter friendly park outside of Coors Field (1.2 HR/9). He built upon this with the Rockies throwing 69.1 innings with a 3.38 ERA and maintained his walk and strikeout ability (7.1 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9).

Suter is 34 years old and was certainly going to get a short-term contract. The Reds ended up pulling the trigger on him and he will prove to be a steal for a team that is on the brink of becoming a playoff team in a struggling division. The part that makes this so frustrating is that Suter signed for just $3M ($2.5M salary in 2024 with a $3.5M club options for 2025 that includes a $500k buyout). They also opted not to trade him at the 2023 deadline, leaving many fans confused. This is such a low risk move and for someone that was arguably the best arm in your bullpen for 2023, it just doesn't make sense to let him walk away.

Former top pick, Tommy Doyle, gets 2nd chance with former World Series champs

The Rockies invested a lot into Tommy Doyle, drafting the college reliever with their 2nd round pick in the 2017 draft. It made sense at the time as the Rockies were fighting for playoff positions and trying to make a push to a World Series with franchise icons, Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, Jon Gray, Trevor Story and DJ LeMahieu. Doyle dominated in his final year at Virginia, throwing 33.2 innings with a 1.87 ERA. He put up some great walk and strikeout rates (10.2 K/9 with 2.7 BB/9).

Doyle didn't make it to the major leagues to help the Rockies playoff push in time, despite some really solid numbers. He debuted in 2020 but struggled mightily with a 23.14 ERA and a 15.4 BB/9. He had shoulder surgery in 2022 losing the hole year before trying to come back in 2023. He came back and was relatively impressive at Triple-A Albuquerque, throwing 37 innings wiht a 3.41 ERA and an impressive strikeout rate of 10 per nine. He threw 23.2 innings in the major leagues, but the struggles remained, with a 6.85 ERA and just a 6.8 per nine strikeout rate.

Doyle ended up signing with the Braves and got a non-roster invite to spring training. This is a low risk move for a reliever that has shown some impressive strikeout ability (something that the Rockies really lack). There are a lot of question marks surrounding the Rockies pitching staff as a whole and, though Doyle could have wanted a fresh start, taking a flier on a former 2nd round pick with impressive numbers seems like no brainer move. Doyle won't become a high-leverage reliever, but in the dog days of summer when the Rockies need some pitching help, they could be kicking themselves for letting Doyle walk for nothing.

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