The Rockies have brought in a pair of left-handers — Ty Blach and Josh Rogers — on minor league contracts, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com (Twitter link). Both pitchers will be in big league camp as non-roster invitees.
Blach returns for a second season with the Rox. A Denver native, he signed a non-roster pact last winter. The veteran made the Opening Day roster and spent the year as a long relief option for skipper Bud Black. Blach threw 44 1/3 innings across 24 appearances, working to a 5.89 ERA. He only struck out 15% of opponents but walked a minuscule 5.7% of batters faced and put up a decent 43% ground-ball rate. At the end of the season, Colorado ran him through outright waivers. He elected minor league free agency but has now circled back to Colorado for another year.
The 32-year-old has never been overpowering. Blach sits in the low-90s with his fastball and doesn’t miss many bats. He’s typically shown solid control and kept the ball on the ground over parts of five big league campaigns. Blach had a fair bit of run as a starting pitcher with the division-rival Giants between 2017-18. It’s possible he gets a look as rotation depth or battles for the kind of multi-inning role out of the bullpen he had last season.
It’s a similar story with Rogers. As with Blach, he’s a soft-tossing control specialist. Rogers has pitched at the MLB level in four of the last five seasons. He spent his first two campaigns with the Orioles, starting three of eight appearances. After not reaching the majors in 2020, he returned late in 2021 with the Nationals. Rogers posted a 3.28 ERA over six starts for a rebuilding Washington club late in the year, securing his spot on the 40-man roster over the following offseason.
The 28-year-old returned to Washington last season but didn’t recapture his prior year’s success. Working out of the bullpen for all but three of his 16 outings, he allowed a 5.13 ERA through 26 1/3 frames. His 10.6% strikeout rate narrowly topped his 9.7% walk percentage and he surrendered just over two homers per nine innings. Washington let him go shortly after the trade deadline.
Rogers hooked on with the Marlins on a minor league pact after that. He got the ball nine times with their top affiliate in Jacksonville, putting up a 4.75 ERA across 47 1/3 frames. Miami never gave him a big league look, and he returned to free agency at season’s end. He’ll join Blach in serving as rotation or long relief depth with Colorado.
Wow!
Ty Blach is still in the league?
I remember when most SF fans thought Kyle Crick, Ty Blach, Clayton Blackburn, and Chris Stratton would be the next Lincecum, Cain, Zito, and Bumgarner.
Shows how volatile pitching prospects can be
With all these moves, maybe we could make a run at 4th place!