Rockies Rumors

NL Notes: Rockies, Matz, Winker, Brewers, Ziegler

By Mark Polishuk | July 24, 2023 at 10:37pm CDT

The Rockies’ injury-plagued season has extended into the club’s farm system, as MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (via Twitter) reports that pitching prospects Gabriel Hughes, Jackson Cox, and Jordy Vargas will all undergo Tommy John surgeries this week. Dr. Keith Meister will perform all of the procedures, as well as the previously reported TJ surgery for veteran righy-hander Antonio Senzatela.

It’s a brutal setback for the three youngsters, all ranked by MLB Pipeline among the Rockies’ top 12 overall prospects, and Pipeline lists the trios as three of Colorado’s top four pitching prospects. Hughes was the 10th overall pick of the 2022 draft, Cox was a second-round pick in that same draft, and the 19-year-old Vargas was an international signing in 2021. Hughes was the furthest along of the trio since he made his Double-A debut this season, but now all three pitchers have been dealt a big setback in their young careers. Given the usual recovery timeline for Tommy John procedures, there’s a chance any of Hughes, Cox, or Vargas might be able to return late in the 2024 campaign, but it is likelier that the right-handers will all be sidelined until 2025.

Braves Acquire Pierce Johnson

By Darragh McDonald | July 24, 2023 at 12:00pm CDT

The Braves announced that they have acquired right-hander Pierce Johnson from the Rockies, sending pitching prospects Victor Vodnik and Tanner Gordon the other way. Left-hander Lucas Luetge was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Johnson.

Johnson, 32, signed a one-year, $5MM deal with the Rockies in the offseason. He was coming off a strong three-year stretch with the Padres wherein he made 102 appearances with a 3.39 earned run average and 32.2% strikeout rate. His 11.3% walk rate was on the high side but it was a good performance overall.

When Daniel Bard opened this year on the injured list, that opened the door for Johnson to take the closer’s role in Denver. Unfortunately, he didn’t have ideal results in that role. He had an ERA of 7.50 in early June when the club removed him from the closer position. He’s fared much better since that time, posting a 3.60 ERA in 15 innings, striking out 36.2% of opponents.

Johnson’s ERA for the year is still high at 6.00 and he’s still issuing walks at a high rate. But he’s had improved results recently and has been able to work around those free passes in the past. Pitching for the Rockies might have played a role in his results as well, as his 16.7% rate of fly balls turning into home runs is far higher than any previous season in his career. Perhaps he’ll be able to put his rough patch from earlier this year behind him, something that the decision makers in Atlanta clearly believe is possible.

Atlanta doesn’t explicitly need bullpen upgrades, as their relievers have a collective 3.50 ERA that’s second only to the Yankees among big league clubs. But with a lead of 11.5 games in the National League East, they’re as close to a lock for the postseason as any club in the majors, making it sensible to seek any and all upgrades for the playoffs.

The right-hander signed with the Padres after a stint in Japan with the Hanshin Tigers. Players coming from overseas leagues generally get language in their contracts that allows them to circumvent the normal service time rules. That’s why Johnson was able to become a free agent this past offseason despite having between three and four years of service time. He’ll finish this year with between four and five years of service but will be ticketed for free agency again at season’s end.

The Rockies have generally been one of the most reluctant clubs when it comes to trading away established big league players at the deadline. In recent years, they’ve given extensions to players like Bard and C.J. Cron at times when outside observers expected them to be dealt. Neither Trevor Story nor Jon Gray were moved as impending free agents, leaving the club to settle for a compensatory draft pick after Story rejected a qualifying offer and signed with the Red Sox, while Gray’s departure left them completely empty-handed.

That seems to have been a symptom of the organization having a belief that their true talent has been stronger than the results, but their 39-60 record has them in last place in the National League this year. With the club now poised to finish below .500 for a fifth straight season, it seems they are opening up to do a bit more selling this time around, with manager Bud Black recently hinting as much. That means Johnson could be the first of many similar moves for the club, who could potentially move players like Cron, Randal Grichuk, Jurickson Profar, Brad Hand and others.

For now, they’ve already added a couple of young arms to their system. Vodnik, 23, was selected by Atlanta in the 14th round of the 2018 draft. He split last year between Double-A and Triple-A, posting a combined 2.34 ERA in 34 2/3 relief innings. He struck out 31.5% of batters but walked 12.8%. He’s been back in Double-A this year with a 3.10 ERA, 32.6% strikeout rate and 14.5% walk rate through 40 2/3 innings. He’s currently listed as Atlanta’s #17 prospect at Baseball America.

Gordon, 25, was a sixth-round pick in 2019. He’s been working as a starter in the minors, posting a 4.64 ERA last year, mostly in Double-A. He has a 5.86 ERA this year between Double-A and Triple-A, though a 51.9% strand rate is probably inflating that. He’s struck out 20.5% of opponents while walking just 6.8% and has a 4.25 FIP. Both of these young pitchers will be eligible for selection in the upcoming Rule 5 draft if not added to Colorado’s 40-man roster.

In addition to parting with those prospects, the club is bumping Luetge from the roster. This is the second time he’s been designated for assignment this year, but the first one resulted in the southpaw accepting an outright assignment and getting his contract selected again. He had an awful 10.24 ERA prior to his first DFA but threw two scoreless innings since getting added back to the roster. Nonetheless, he now finds himself in DFA limbo yet again.

Atlanta will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. Since he has more than three years of service time, he could reject another outright assignment and elect free agency. But since he has less than five years of service time, doing so would mean forfeiting what remains of his $1.5MM salary for this year. It’s possible that the same sequence of events happens as after his last DFA, with Luetge clearing waivers and accepting an outright to Triple-A. But perhaps someone takes a chance on his past results, as he had an ERA under 2.75 in each of the two previous seasons with the Yankees.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter links) reported the details before the official announcement.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rockies Moving Connor Seabold To Bullpen

By Anthony Franco | July 20, 2023 at 9:07pm CDT

The Rockies are kicking right-hander Connor Seabold to the bullpen, reports Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Colorado plans to recall righty Peter Lambert from Triple-A Albuquerque to start tomorrow’s game in Miami instead.

Acquired from the Red Sox over the offseason, Seabold has started 13 of 20 outings during his first year in Colorado. His 72 2/3 innings are easily a career high and he’s third on the team in starts behind Austin Gomber and the currently-injured Kyle Freeland. The Rockies have plenty of pitching uncertainty, so they’ve been able to afford the 27-year-old his first extended look in a big league rotation.

To date, Seabold hasn’t taken advantage of the opportunity. He carries a 7.63 ERA as starter. Seabold is throwing a fair number of strikes but has gotten hit hard. He’s striking hitters out at a meager 15.1% clip and has surrendered 16 homers in 59 rotation innings (2.44 HR/9).

Seabold had a solid three-start run in early June, but his results since then have been alarming. He’s allowed six-plus runs in three of his last five outings. He failed to get past the fifth inning in any of them. The Yankees tagged him for six runs on as many hits in 2 1/3 innings in a 6-3 New York victory on Saturday, spurring the role change.

Lambert, a former second-round pick, started 19 games as a rookie four seasons ago. Injuries (most notably July 2020 Tommy John surgery) essentially ruined his next three campaigns. He’s worked in long relief for Colorado this season, tossing 34 1/3 frames over 16 outings. Lambert has only a 6.29 ERA of his own, though he’s at least striking hitters out at a decent 23.5% clip. Colorado optioned him early in the month to stretch back out as a starter in Albuquerque.

The 26-year-old has thrown 56 innings between the MLB and Triple-A levels this season. Saunders writes that the Rox are planning to keep him in the 100-120 range for the year. He should have a few chances to try to stake an early claim to a spot in a wide open Colorado rotation for 2024.

Gomber and Freeland (assuming he comes back as expected from a dislocation and small tear in his non-throwing shoulder) are the only two pitchers who seem to have holds on ’24 starting spots. Germán Márquez and Antonio Senzatela both underwent Tommy John surgeries this year. Márquez will be a free agent once Colorado buys out a $16MM option for next season; Senzatela is under contract but might not pitch at all next year. Of the other Rockies’ starters, only Ryan Feltner has an ERA below 6.00; he’s allowing 5.86 earned runs per nine over eight outings.

Rockies Designate Fernando Abad For Assignment

By Steve Adams and Darragh McDonald | July 19, 2023 at 12:20pm CDT

The Rockies announced Wednesday that they’ve designated left-handed reliever Fernando Abad for assignment. His roster spot will go to fellow southpaw Brent Suter, who has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list after missing nearly a month due to an oblique strain.

Abad, 37, signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in the winter and has since bounced on and off their roster this year. He was selected in mid-May and was designated for assignment less than a week later. After being released, he re-signed another minors deal and got his roster spot back at the start of this month. Between those two stints, he’s tossed 6 1/3 innings with a 4.26 earned run average. That might seem passable at first glance but he’s struck out just 6.3% of hitters while stranding an unsustainable 98.2% of runners.

That’s a very small sample size and Abad and spent a larger amount of time in Triple-A this year, posting a 1.40 ERA in 25 2/3 innings there. His numbers there are also being helped by a 100% strand rate but his 30.8% strikeout rate at that level is much more impressive.

The veteran has a lengthy track record that consists of 406 major league appearances dating back to 2010. He had a strong stretch from 2013 to 2017, registering a 3.13 ERA over 275 appearances in that time. But he’s been more of an emergency option since then, tossing just 37 total innings since the end of 2017 with a combined 4.86 ERA.

The Rockies will now have a week to trade Abad or pass him through waivers. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. It’s possible that Abad is released and returns to the club on a new minor league deal, the same sequence of events that took place a couple of months ago, though that’s not guaranteed in any way.

As for Suter, he was having a strong season before suffering that oblique strain. He has a 2.81 ERA on the year, keeping the ball on the ground at a 41.7% clip. As an impending free agent on a non-contending club, Suter figures to draw trade interest in the coming weeks, especially if he returns that same level of effectiveness. The Rockies are usually reticent to part with logical trade candidates but manager Bud Black recently indicated that could be different this year.

A Likely Trade Chip In The Rockies’ Outfield

By Steve Adams | July 18, 2023 at 8:52pm CDT

As recently as a few months ago, the Rockies’ 2022 swap of Raimel Tapia for Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk looked like a no-win trade for both parties. Tapia lasted one season in Toronto before being non-tendered and signing a minor league deal with the Red Sox. Grichuk’s offense didn’t tick up in his first year at Coors Field, as many had expected it to. He posted his typical sub-.300 OBP and surprisingly had his lowest power showing (by measure of ISO) since his rookie campaign. He was essentially a replacement-level player in 2022.

The 2023 season has brought about better results, however. Grichuk still isn’t hitting for the same level of power he did during his Toronto days (five homers, .172 ISO in 225 plate appearances), but he’s walking at a career-best 7.6% clip and currently has a 20.9% strikeout rate that ties his career-low mark.

Grichuk has undoubtedly had some good fortune on balls in play — his .368 BABIP is 70 points north of his career-high — but his .300/.364/.473 batting line is impressive all the same. The 31-year-old’s 90.6 mph average exit velocity and 45.2% hard-hit rate are both well above-average and only narrowly short of his career-best levels. His 24.2% line-drive rate is a personal best by a wide margin.

Things have gone particularly well for the veteran outfielder as of late. After a brief but dismal slump in the first couple weeks of June, Grichuk has bounced back with a .322/.375/.610 slash over his past 64 trips to the plate. Today’s front offices generally aren’t going to overreact to a short hot streak, but Grichuk’s recent uptick in production is particularly notable given that he’s slugged four of his five home runs in that stretch. After posting just a 33.6% fly-ball rate through mid-June, he’s had a 44% fly-ball rate during this heater.

While he’s having an undeniably productive season at the plate, Grichuk’s game has ostensibly taken a step back in other areas. Defensive Runs Saved (-8) and Outs Above Average (-6) agree that this is among the worst defensive seasons of his career — if not the worst.

As a rookie, Grichuk ranked in the 91st percentile of big leaguers in terms of average sprint speed, per Statcast. It’s only natural for a player to slow down as he ages, but Grichuk had well above-average speed as recently as 2021 (76th percentile) and 2022 (68th percentile). He’s down to the 46th percentile of MLB players in 2023 — the first below-average season of his career. His arm strength remains above average, but Statcast now places him in just the fourth percentile of MLB outfielders in terms of his outfield jumps.

Taken in totality, it’s a somewhat limited skill set. Grichuk can play all three outfield spots but has generally rated best in right field. He’s hitting well against righties in 2023 (.295/.357/.439) and tattooing lefties (.313/.380/.537), but his career body of work is below-average when he’s not holding the platoon advantage.

Grichuk is a solid enough role player who’s been thrust into an everyday role with the Rockies. The results in ’23 have been decent enough, but combined with his 2022 season he still looks better deployed in a more limited capacity.

That’s likely how many contenders will view him. Grichuk is a career .264/.311/.498 hitter against southpaws who’s made gains in terms of his overall plate discipline this season, albeit at the expense of some power. His defensive ratings are down, but that’s partially due to being played in center field, where he’s no longer a good fit, and in left field, where he hadn’t logged an innings since 2018 (when he played six frames there).

A contending team could install Grichuk as a part-time DH and right fielder whose primary role is to step into the lineup and help against southpaws. He can cover center field in a pinch and has enough bat that he’s not a total liability when needed to play against righties.

There are plenty of clubs in need of just this type of skill set. The Giants, Guardians, Twins and Brewers are all playoff hopefuls whose team-wide production against left-handed pitching ranks in the bottom seven of MLB clubs (by measure of wRC+). The D-backs, who have an all-left-handed outfield, are only slightly better, at 21st.

In seasons past, it might’ve been fair to wonder whether the Rockies would move Grichuk at all. Frankly, based on their history of hanging onto impending free agents, it still is. However, Rockies manager Bud Black said on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM just today that he believes his team’s front office will be “more active” than in seasons past at this year’s trade deadline.

Grichuk is a natural candidate to be moved. He’s a free agent at season’s end who’s earning $9.333MM this season. The Blue Jays are on the hook for $4.333MM of that sum as part of the trade that brought him to Denver in the first place, however, meaning an acquiring team would only be responsible for $2.02MM of the $5MM the Rockies are paying him (as of tomorrow). Colorado, of course, could pay down some of that money to increase his appeal.

Grichuk isn’t going to be a contender’s marquee addition, but he can can deepen a team’s bench and — based on Black’s comments today — seems like a player with a good chance to change teams in the next 14 days.

Black: Rockies Could Be “More Active” On Summer Trade Market

By Steve Adams | July 18, 2023 at 12:56pm CDT

At 36-58, the Rockies sit at the bottom of the National League and have MLB’s third-worst record overall, leading only the A’s and Royals. While Colorado has developed a reputation for hanging onto potential trade candidates at the deadline instead of moving them at peak value, manager Bud Black said in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM today that the Rox will likely be more active in 2023 (audio link).

“I think there’s probably more potential this year,” Black told Power Alley hosts Jim Duquette and Mike Ferrin. “…This year is the year where, possibly, you could see more movement out of us. With the players that we have, and what we have going on in the second half of this year, and going into next year and the years beyond, it could make more sense to be a little bit more active.”

Unfortunately for the Rockies, a number of their would-be trade chips are on the injured list — many with serious injuries. German Marquez won’t pitch again this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He has a club option for next season, but that’ll likely be declined, as his recovery will span into next summer. Righty Antonio Senzatela is also set for Tommy John surgery, and lefty Kyle Freeland is on the IL with a subluxation in his non-throwing shoulder. Lefty reliever Brent Suter is a rental in the midst of a strong season, but he’s been out since late June with an oblique strain.

Others on the roster are sensible trade candidates from a contractual standpoint but aren’t performing well enough to maximize their value. Reliever Pierce Johnson is on a one-year, $5MM deal and is a natural candidate to change teams, but he’s also toting a grim 6.14 ERA and 13.2% walk rate. Daniel Bard, whom the Rockies extended in lieu of a trade last summer, has spent time on the injured list with anxiety issues. He’s seen a three mile per hour drop in velocity and has nearly as many walks as strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings. C.J. Cron and Jurickson Profar are both free agents at season’s end, but both have played below replacement level in 2023.

The Rox do have a handful of interesting names to peddle. Veterans Randal Grichuk and Brad Hand are both impending free agents at season’s end and could draw interest. Hand was enjoying a strong rebound season before being tagged for seven runs across three recent appearances, sending his ERA ballooning up to 4.99. He’s still an affordable lefty with a 26.1% strikeout rate. If the Rockies aren’t afraid of dealing controllable relievers — particularly a pair who are of the late-blooming variety — both Justin Lawrence and Jake Bird should generate interest.

Catcher Elias Diaz, a first-time All-Star in 2023, is perhaps the team’s most appealing trade candidate, as I explored at greater length last week. Diaz is signed affordably through next season, and it’s unlikely Colorado will be in contention by the time his three-year, $14.5MM deal expires at the end of the 2024 campaign. There’s been no indication the Rockies would entertain offers on third baseman Ryan McMahon — at least not yet — but he’s signed through the 2027 season and is again playing superlative hot corner defense with solid offensive contributions as well (albeit in spite of a career-worst 31% strikeout rate that is an obvious red flag).

There’s sure to be some degree of frustration among Rockies fans to hear these types of comments in 2023 — when the Rockies have their worst roster in years — rather than in recent non-contending seasons. The Rockies, for instance, declined to trade either Trevor Story or Jon Gray when both were in their final seasons of club control. They received a compensatory draft pick when Story declined a qualifying offer but chose not to even make a QO to Gray, losing him with no compensation. GM Bill Schmidt recently suggested to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post that he simply didn’t receive “legitimate” offers.

It was a similar story last summer with Bard, who was in the middle of a dominant season and viewed as one of the top trade candidates on the market. Rather than trade the 37-year-old flamethrower a couple months ahead of him reaching the open market, Colorado inked him to a two-year, $19MM extension that has quickly gone south. The Rockies also held onto Cron at the ’21 deadline and later extended him on a two-year deal that looked good this time last summer. Again, however, they hung onto Cron and, as with Bard, have seen his trade value plummet.

Time will tell how aggressive the Rockies will be and how much interest the healthy players on their roster will draw. But it’s abundantly clear the team is in need of some changes. Colorado is 19th in the Majors with 411 runs scored and 24th with 89 total home runs. The Rockies rank 13th in MLB with a .253 batting average but are 22nd with a .313 OBP and 18th with a .403 slugging percentage.

The pitching has been even worse. Injuries have surely contributed, but the Rockies’ staff looked highly questionable even coming into the season. To this point, Colorado starters have baseball’s worst combined ERA (6.44), and their bullpen ranks 27th with a 4.81 mark. Colorado pitchers have MLB’s worst strikeout rate (18.3%) and fifth-highest walk rate (9.7%). Their 1.51 HR/9 mark is the worst in baseball as well.

Rockies Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Chase Dollander

By Steve Adams | July 17, 2023 at 1:32pm CDT

The Rockies have agreed to terms with right-hander Chase Dollander, the No. 9 overall pick in this year’s draft, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports. The University of Tennessee right-hander will receive his full slot value of $5,716,900.

A breakout season in 2022 positioned Dollander as one of the top arms in this year’s draft class. Dollander’s sophomore season with the Vols was sensational, as the 6’2″ righty pitched 79 innings of 2.39 ERA ball with a 35.3% strikeout rate against a 4.2% walk rate. However, Dollander’s junior season in 2023 was shakier. In 89 frames, he posted a 4.75 ERA with a diminished (though still strong) 31.3% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate that nearly doubled his rate from the prior season. Dollander also plunked eight hitters after hitting just two the year prior.

Despite the uneven performance, Dollander still rated as one of the top arms in this year’s class. Baseball America rated him as the draft’s No. 6 overall prospect — the No. 2 pitching prospect behind LSU ace and eventual No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes. FanGraphs ranked him eighth in the class, while MLB.com ranked Dollander as the class’ No. 9 overall prospect and Keith Law placed him No. 15 at The Athletic.

Scouting reports on Dollander will universally praise a mid-90s fastball that topped out around 99 mph at his most dominant in 2022, but Law and others note when breaking down his 2023 season that the shape of the right-hander’s slider changed for the worse in ’23. Dollander’s command also wasn’t nearly as sharp, and he’ll need further develop his curveball and/or changeup in pro ball to give him a third consistent offering.

Dollander adds some substantial upside to a Rockies system that is generally devoid of top-end pitching prospects. He’s not as polished or MLB-ready as Skenes, who went with the top pick, but he entered the 2023 season widely regarded as the top college arm in this year’s class and should immediately become the system’s top pitching prospect.

NL West Notes: Grichuk, Yankees, Campusano, Morejon, Gonzalez, Rodgers, Kinley

By Mark Polishuk and Nick Deeds | July 16, 2023 at 7:27pm CDT

As the Yankees look for outfield help, Randal Grichuk is a “name that has come up” in the team’s explorations, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Now in his second season with the Rockies, Grichuk missed most of April recovering from offseason sports hernia surgery, but has since hit .300/.364/.473 (112 wRC+) over 225 plate appearances. Grichuk is a free agent after the season and would be a pure rental for New York, and he is owed roughly $3.89MM for the remainder of the 2023 campaign. The exact of who owes Grichuk that money isn’t exactly known, as the Blue Jays were paying $4.333MM of the total $9.333MM owed to Grichuk this year, so the Rockies’ 2023 financial obligation (and thus the obligation for any trade suitor) may technically be done, depending on how Grichuk’s salary was divvied up.

Regardless, Grichuk would still count as a relatively inexpensive acquisition for the Yankees. Grichuk can play at least passable defense at all three outfield positions, making him a usefully flexible option for New York both before and after Aaron Judge returns from the injured list. While his splits indicate a lot more success at Coors Field than at away ballparks this season, Grichuk does at least have a solid track record of success at Yankee Stadium, with a .279/.333/.532 slash line and seven home runs over 120 career PA in the Bronx. The struggling Rockies are reportedly open to moving pending free agents like Grichuk, though there’s a slight question mark about his health, as Grichuk has missed Colorado’s last couple of games due to groin tightness.

Here’s more from around the NL West…

Padres catcher Luis Campusano has missed most of the 2023 campaign after undergoing thumb surgery in early May, leaving the club to rely on the struggling Austin Nola and in-season signing Gary Sanchez behind the plate. Fortunately, Campusano appears to be nearing a return as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune write that the backstop is in “the final stages” of his Triple-A rehab assignment, and is expected to rejoin the club during their current road trip (which runs through July 23). According to Acee, Campusano’s return will result in a timeshare with Sanchez, though the playing time specifics are expected to be “merit-based.” Sanchez has hit .197/.279/.426 (94 wRC+) in 136 plate appearances with the Padres while Campusano posted a .238/.227/.429 (70 wRC+) slash line prior to his trip to the IL, albeit in just 22 trips to the plate.
Sticking with the Padres, the club announced today that left-hander Adrian Morejon was placed on the 15-day injured list due to right knee inflammation. It’s been a difficult road for Morejon, who has pitched just 47 2/3 innings since the start of the 2021 campaign due to a Tommy John surgery, and then an elbow sprain that sent him to the 60-day IL at the start of this season. Morejon will be replaced on the active roster by right-hander Matt Waldron, who sports a 3.86 ERA in 4 2/3 innings of work with the Padres this season.
Luis Gonzalez underwent back surgery in March, but Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) today that the outfielder is set to begin a rehab assignment. It will take a while for Gonzalez to ramp up after the long layoff, but his recovery should line up with the August timeline recently mentioned by Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. Gonzalez was a solid contributor to the 2022 club, hitting .254/.323/.360 over 350 PA in his rookie season.
Bookending the post with some more Rockies news, Brendan Rodgers and Tyler Kinley will start rehab assignments with the Rockies’ high-A affiliate on Monday, according to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Neither player has seen any action this season, as Rodgers underwent shoulder surgery during Spring Training and Kinley is recovering from an elbow surgery a little over a year ago.

Antonio Senzatela To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By Anthony Franco | July 14, 2023 at 5:41pm CDT

Rockies starter Antonio Senzatela will undergo Tommy John surgery, manager Bud Black told reporters (including Patrick Lyons of DNVR Sports). The righty is already on the 60-day injured list. He recently suffered a setback during his attempt to rehab from an elbow sprain that sent him to the IL two months ago.

It’s another dismal development for a Colorado pitching staff that has had a disastrous year. Opening Day starter Germán Márquez underwent a Tommy John procedure of his own in May. Kyle Freeland had been healthy and effective for much of the first half, but he suffered an injury to his non-throwing shoulder during his final start before the All-Star Break.

A healthy Senzatela would quite likely be Colorado’s #3 starter behind Márquez and Freeland. The Rox are now without all three members of that group. Márquez’s time in the organization could be nearing its end completely. Colorado is sure to buy out a club option valued at $16MM, although it wouldn’t be a surprise if they tried to bring him back on a cheaper multi-year deal after that.

Senzatela will be on the roster next season, but he’s now slated to miss most or all of the year. The typical rehab for a Tommy John surgery ranges from 14-16 months. It’s possible he makes it back toward the tail end of the 2024 campaign if his recovery goes well.

The Venezuelan-born righty had been a decent innings eater for Colorado early in his career. He’s started 20+ games on three separate occasions and took the ball all 12 times through the rotation during the shortened 2020 schedule. Between 2020-21, he pitched to a 4.11 ERA through 230 innings. That’s solid production for a pitcher spending half his games in the league’s most hitter-friendly environment.

Near the end of the ’21 campaign, Colorado signed Senzatela to a five-year extension that guaranteed him $50.5MM. The contract bought out his final two arbitration seasons, three would-be free agent years, and contained a club option for a fourth free agent campaign (2027).

The first three years of that deal will now be defined by injury. Senzatela’s 2022 was cut short when he tore the ACL in his left knee last August. The rehab from the subsequent surgery carried into May. He made it back from the knee issue but started only two games before the elbow injury.

Senzatela will be paid $12MM annually for the next three seasons. Colorado’s ’27 option is valued at $14MM and does not come with a buyout. Senzatela could have tacked on another $1MM to his 2024-27 salaries had he been healthy enough to toss 200+ innings in either of the past two seasons, though that hasn’t come to be.

The Rox are now going to be even harder pressed in attacking their pitching staff next winter. They’re currently relying on a patchwork group comprising Austin Gomber, Connor Seabold and Chase Anderson. The club just added veteran righty Chris Flexen on a non-roster pact, while the likes of Noah Davis and Peter Lambert are possible depth options.

Only Gomber, who has righted the ship after a horrid first month, looks likely to be in next year’s season-opening rotation. Freeland should be the staff ace, but Colorado could have to acquire three or four starting pitching options over the coming months. General manager Bill Schmidt acknowledged earlier this week the team would prioritize young pitching in potential deadline trades, though none of the veterans whom Colorado appears to be shopping is likely to return a prospect of especially high regard.

Rockies Place Kyle Freeland On Injured List

By Anthony Franco | July 14, 2023 at 4:16pm CDT

The Rockies placed starter Kyle Freeland on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 11, with a subluxation in his non-throwing shoulder. Colorado also selected the contract of reliever Tommy Doyle, as reported this afternoon, and recalled Michael Toglia. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Doyle, lefty Ryan Rolison landed on the 60-day IL.

Freeland suffered the injury during his final start before the All-Star Break. He disclosed the shoulder and suffered a slight tear in the labrum, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Fortunately, Freeland won’t require surgery and is expected to pitch again at some point in 2023.

The 30-year-old southpaw has been Colorado’s most reliable pitcher this season. Over 19 starts, he’s worked 103 innings of 4.72 ERA ball. He’s striking out fewer than 15% of opponents but has kept his walk rate to a quality 7.7% clip. Freeland and Austin Gomber are the only Colorado starters to work over 60 innings; the former is the only pitcher on the team to keep an ERA below 5.00 while working more than 20 frames.

Rolison, a former first round pick, could have had an opportunity to carve out a spot with that pitching staff in flux. The 26-year-old southpaw has unfortunately had serious injury concerns over the past two seasons. He missed all of last year, undergoing a season-ending shoulder procedure in June. Rolison returned from the IL at the end of May but quickly experienced renewed shoulder discomfort.

There’s now a serious question if Rolison will be able to return this season. The IL placement will prevent him from making his MLB debut until mid-September at the earliest. The only silver lining is that he’ll collect MLB service and be paid at the prorated $720K big league minimum rate for time he spends rehabbing from here forward.

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