The Rockies announced that right-hander Tanner Gordon has been recalled to start tonight’s game, a move necessitated by Chase Dollander landing on the injured list yesterday. In a corresponding move for Gordon, left-hander Scott Alexander has been designated for assignment. The club’s 40-man count drops from 39 to 38.
Alexander, 35, was signed by the Rockies in the offseason. Colorado gave him $2MM on a one-year deal to serve as a veteran arm in a bullpen that was generally lacking in experience. That hasn’t worked out. His 53.4% ground ball rate this year is above league average but below his usual pace. He’s never been a huge strikeout rate guy but his 8.3% clip is low even by his personal standards. That has led to a 6.06 earned run average in 16 1/3 innings.
That performance has bumped him off the roster. Given his numbers and his salary, no club is likely to claim him off waivers. As a veteran, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment while keeping his salary in place. He will likely be on the open market soon, either by being released by the Rockies or by electing free agency.
If that comes to pass, the Rockies would be on the hook for what’s left of his salary. Any other club could sign him at that point and would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Rockies pay.
It’s possible some clubs would be interested in that arrangement, despite this year’s numbers. From 2015 through 2024, Alexander tossed 309 1/3 big league innings with a 3.20 ERA. His 18% strikeout rate was a few ticks shy of par but he got grounders at a massive 67.4% rate. Among pitchers with at least 300 innings pitched in that decade, only Zack Britton kept the ball on the ground at a higher clip.
The numbers in 2025 haven’t been great but it wouldn’t be a surprise if some team thought Alexander could bounce back, especially by getting away from Coors Field. He has a 7.20 ERA at home this year compared to a 4.26 ERA on the road. His 48.7% grounder rate at Coors is far lighter than his 63.2% rate in away games this season.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin, Oncea-Imagn Images
Alexander is the weakest link (along with Kinney) in what has been a surprisingly decent bullpen on an awful team. Good riddance.
Kinley has settled down quite a bit after a horrendous first week. The problem with bullpen numbers is that if you start out bad, you look bad the entire year, even when you pitch better.
He has a 9.35 ERA and 1.62 WHIP over the past 21 days
Jed Hoyer is on line 1…….
he is gonna end up on the dodgers
He might get a cup of cappuccino with the Dodgers, but that’s about it. Kopech is due back any day now, and several other relievers are not far behind.
I can see them doing this. They’re going through pitchers like matches in the wind.
I think that is the thing – if he is in line for a minors deal I can see them adding him to stock considering how many guys they go through, plus he is familiar
The Rockies were hoping for a Jalen Beeks or Nick Mears or Pierce Johnson type guy that they could trade at the deadline and it just never happened. Oh well, not the first thing that hasn’t gone as expected for Colorado this year.
This is actually a promotion. Any team he goes to will be better than the Rockies. Congratulations
You are a genius