The Rockies are in agreement with right-hander Valente Bellozo on a minor league deal, reports Francys Romero. The Wasserman client will presumably get a look in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Bellozo has spent the past two seasons with the Marlins. The Fish acquired him from the Astros in an early-season swap for infielder Jacob Amaya in 2024. Bellozo earned a big league look a few months later and made 13 starts as a rookie. He turned in a 3.67 earned run average despite a 15% strikeout rate and significant home run issues. He made five starts early last season before moving to the bullpen, where he usually worked multiple innings in low-leverage spots.
The 26-year-old Bellozo managed decent results up through the All-Star Break. His peripherals caught up with him in the second half, as he allowed a 6.46 ERA on 10 home runs over his final 30 2/3 innings. He finished the year with 4.65 earned runs per nine over 81 1/3 frames. He struck out 15.5% of opponents against a 6.6% walk rate.
Bellozo has plus control but sits around 90 MPH with his four-seamer. He leaned more frequently on a mid-80s cutter while mixing in a sweeper and changeup. He’s a fly-ball pitcher with below-average stuff. That’s a difficult approach to make work at Coors Field, but there’s plenty of opportunity to pitch his way back to the majors. He could even claim an Opening Day rotation spot with a strong camp.
Kyle Freeland, Michael Lorenzen and Chase Dollander are the only three pitchers who seem assured of season-opening rotation spots. Ryan Feltner, Gabriel Hughes, Tanner Gordon, McCade Brown and recent trade pickup Pierson Ohl are on the 40-man roster and would have two rotation spots up for grabs among them. Bellozo could work into that mix or join Antonio Senzatela in long relief if he wins a job.
Thats an opera singer’s name if I ever heard one…
Mexican not Italian though.
Mexicans are allowed to sing opera now…I read it on the internet!
More trash
Better than most of the guys collecting NRI’s right now. He was a rock solid back of the rotation starter for Miami a couple years ago.
Are the Rockies really going to pay Senzatela $12 million to work in middle relief? I would think that they would at least give him another shot at the rotation in spring training
They’d probably prefer not to pay him at all and I wouldn’t be surprised if they cut him. It’s a new world and new approach in Denver.
Yeah, it’s refreshing. They aren’t attaching themselves to the dregs of the roster that remain. He’s had one of the worst stretches you can imagine.
They don’t have a lot to work with obviously but they seem to be more active and making smarter waiver claims. I hope Dollander works out. I felt so bad for him last year. Came from being an elite arm in college to getting obliterated in that park.
I keep hoping they try to use his contract in a bad contract swap for a hitter. My first thought was Nick Castellanos, but I;m sure there are others out there. Christian Walker is another.
Prototypical Rockies reliever here
I did not know that he was from the Astros.