Rockies Move Antonio Senzatela To Bullpen

The Rockies are moving righty Antonio Senzatela to the bullpen, general manager Bill Schmidt tells reporters (including Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post). Colorado will activate Germán Márquez from the 15-day injured list to start Friday against the Cubs. To make room, Senzatela loses his rotation spot for the final month of a dismal season.

Senzatela has taken the ball 24 times. He has averaged fewer than five innings per start and been tattooed for a 7.15 earned run average. Senzatela has completed six innings just three times and has only two quality starts. His ERA is nearly a full run higher than Jack Kochanowicz’s 6.19 mark (entering play tonight), the second worst for a pitcher with 100+ innings. His 11.3% strikeout rate is also worst among that group of 106 hurlers. Senzatela hasn’t pitched well at any point of games, but he’s been particularly poor out of the gate. His first inning ERA is a staggering 11.51, with opponents hitting .443 against him.

Schmidt was blunt in his summary of Senzatela’s season. “The bottom line is that he was not helping the club. He was hurting the club, especially early in the game,” the GM said. “Same thing with (Austin Gomber). They were putting the team in a hole early, and they were putting our young relievers in a hole, too.”

Colorado released Gomber last week. The southpaw was an impending free agent whom the Rox weren’t going to re-sign coming off a 7.49 ERA showing. Releasing Senzatela would’ve required eating a lot of dead money. He’s signed for another season at $12MM. There’s also a $14MM club option (no buyout) for 2027 that stands virtually no chance of being picked up. Colorado could consider pulling the plug over the offseason but evidently want to first see if he can find some success in relief. Pitching coach Darryl Scott tells Saunders that the Rox aren’t ruling out the possibility of Senzatela returning to the rotation to begin the ’26 season.

Márquez returns after a month-long absence due to biceps tendinitis. He’ll hopefully take five turns through the rotation to close the year. Márquez is an impending free agent who’ll be a rebound target for other clubs this offseason. He has struggled to a 5.67 ERA across 20 starts but has a 95 MPH fastball and still misses bats with his knuckle-curve.

Colorado called up McCade Brown to replace Gomber. He’s their third rookie in the rotation, joining Chase Dollander and Tanner Gordon. Márquez and Kyle Freeland round out the group. None of Colorado’s starters have had sustained success this year. Gordon projects as a depth arm, while Brown might end up in relief. There’s little reason for the Rox to continue trotting Senzatela out as a starter at the expense of reps for their younger arms, though.