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Rockies Designate Chi Chi Gonzalez For Assignment

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The Rockies announced a few roster moves today, recalling right-handed pitchers Justin Lawrence and Antonio Santos, while optioning infielder Rio Ruiz and designating right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez for assignment.

The Rockies non-tendered Gonzalez in the offseason and then re-signed him on a minor league deal just over a week later. He had his contract at the end of spring training and stayed a part of the staff until the last day of the season. In 24 games this season, 18 of them starts, he has logged 101 2/3 innings with an ERA of 6.46. That may be somewhat inflated by Gonzalez playing his home games in the most hitter-friendly park in the league, but his underlying metrics aren’t much better. His 12.5% strikeout rate is just barely half of the MLB average, which is 23.2%. His 6.3% walk rate is pretty solid though, considering the league average of 8.7%.

Based on that middling production and the fact that he had already been non-tendered by the club once, they were probably heading down the same path this winter. For the club, they decided to just move on now and use the last day of the season to give another look to some younger arms. Lawrence, 26, and Santos, 24, have each logged their fair share of miles shuttling between MLB and Triple-A this season, each one having been optioned six times. Lawrence has a bloated 8.64 ERA over 16 2/3 MLB innings this season, but a much more palatable 4.73 ERA in 32 1/3 Triple-A innings. Santos is somehow the reverse, with an MLB ERA of 4.76 in 11 1.3 innings but a Triple-A ERA of 7.94 in 45 1/3 innings.

Rockies Place Jon Gray On Injured List, Select Julian Fernandez

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The Rockies announced Wednesday that they’ve placed right-hander Jon Gray on the 10-day injured list due to tightness in his right forearm. Colorado also selected the contract of right-hander Julian Fernandez and recalled righties Antonio Santos and Justin Lawrence from Triple-A Albuquerque as rosters expand to 28 players.

Forearm tightness is ominous for any pitcher and is particularly alarming given the manner in which Gray’s performance has dropped in recent weeks. A bright spot in the Rockies’ rotation for much of the season, Gray has compiled just 22 innings in his past five appearances and been rocked for a 6.55 earned run average in that time. There’s been no drop in his velocity, but the results alone are enough for concern when combined with an injury.

Gray is a free agent at season’s end, which prompted broad-reaching expectations that the Rockies would move him at the trade deadline. That didn’t happen, however, and the Rockies have voiced hope that they can keep Gray beyond the current season. The interest is mutual, as Gray has said he enjoys playing in Denver and would welcome a contract extension. The Rockies are currently expected to issue Gray a qualifying offer, which would be for one year in the $18-19MM range, but any arm injury of note could impact both the potential for a QO and the potential for a long-term deal.

Fernandez, 25, will be making his Major League debut when he first pitches in a game. The righty was originally signed by the Rockies out of the Dominican Republic and has had a rather unusual journey to the big leagues. The Rockies lost Fernandez to the division-rival Giants in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft, but he suffered a ligament injury in his pitching elbow that spring and required Tommy John surgery. The Giants carried him all through that 2018 season but removed him from the roster in November 2018 — at which point the Marlins claimed Fernandez. He spent much of the 2019 season continuing his rehab before suffering a setback that shut him down. Miami returned him to the Rockies in October 2019, nearly two years after he’d been selected in the Rule 5 Draft.

Because of those injuries and the lack of a minor league season in 2020, the 2021 campaign marks the first time since 2017 that Fernandez has pitched in an actual game. Finally healthy, the right-hander had a nice showing in Double-A before an even more impressive run in a hitter-friendly Triple-A setting. He’s pitched to a combined 2.53 ERA in 42 2/3 innings this season, including a sterling 0.64 mark in Triple-A, where he’s fanned a third of his opponents against just a 7.4 percent walk rate.

Rockies Place Mychal Givens On 10-Day Injured List

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The Rockies placed right-hander Mychal Givens on the 10-day injured list due to a strain in his left lower back, the team announced.  Right-hander Justin Lawrence was called up from Triple-A to take Givens’ spot on the active roster.

Givens has a 2.78 ERA/3.98 SIERA over 22 2/3 innings for Colorado this season, with an above-average 26.6% strikeout rate but an 11.7% walk rate that sits only in the 19th percentile of all pitchers.  In short, it isn’t much different from Givens’ usual performance over his seven MLB seasons, as he has missed his share of bats while running into control issues through 368 career innings for the Orioles and Rockies.

One notable difference is that Givens is making his changeup a far bigger part of his arsenal this season — after a 69.6%/9.8% split between his fastball and change prior to 2021, Givens has thrown his heater only 45.2% of the time this season, and increased his changeup usage to 39.9%.  While Givens hasn’t gotten great results from his changeup specifically, his four-seamer has become a more effective pitch, after it had been getting hit increasingly harder over the last few years.

Baltimore sent Givens to Colorado in a deadline deal last August, and the righty again seemed like an obvious trade candidate on a Rockies team that will almost surely be selling by July 30.  Givens is scheduled for free agency after the season, and on a salary of slightly more than $4MM, he’d be an inexpensive add for a team in need of bullpen help.  (Givens would only have about $1.38MM remaining in owed salary if dealt on July 30.)  However, an injury could certainly throw a wrench into those plans, especially considering the vague nature of some back injuries.

Rockies’ Justin Lawrence Suspended For PED Use

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Rockies’ reliever Justin Lawrence has been suspended without pay for 80 games, MLB announced today. He tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, a performance-enhancing substance.

Lawrence, 25, was selected to the Rockies’ 40-man roster last offseason, although he has yet to make his MLB debut. After breaking out with a strong season in High-A and in the Arizona Fall League in 2018, Lawrence regressed last season. In 37 innings between Triple-A Albuquerque and Double-A Hartford, he managed just an 8.76 ERA with 29 walks and 32 strikeouts. In their postseason write-up of the Rockies’ farm system, Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen called Lawrence “an upper-90’s siderarmer with very poor pitch execution.”

Players Added To The 40-Man Roster

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Tonight marks the deadline for players to be added to their respective organizations’ 40-man rosters. Over the nine hours, there’ll be a flurry of moves, ranging from minor trades (like the one the Indians and Rays made yesterday), waiver claims and players being designated for assignment or outrighted. Each will be made to clear room for players who need protection from this year’s Rule 5 Draft. As a reminder, players who signed at 18 years of age or younger and have five professional seasons are eligible, as are players who signed at 19 or older and have four professional seasons under their belts.

Here’s a rundown of players who’ve been added to their respective 40-man rosters (which will be updated throughout the day)…

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