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Jake Bird

Rockies Remove Pierce Johnson From Closer Role

By | at June 9, 2023 5:23pm CDT

The Rockies will no longer use right-hander Pierce Johnson as the closer, manager Bud Black told the team’s beat (relayed by Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). Black didn’t declare a definitive replacement but pointed to Justin Lawrence and Jake Bird as candidates to step into the role.

Johnson signed a one-year, $5MM free agent deal with his hometown club last offseason. It was a roll of the dice from the Colorado front office considering he’d been limited by injury to 14 1/3 innings during his final season as a Padre. Johnson has been healthy in 2023 but hasn’t performed at the level the organization had envisioned.

Over 24 innings, the veteran hurler has been tagged for a 7.50 ERA. He hasn’t had any trouble missing bats, as he’s punching out 27.7% of opponents while picking up swinging strikes at a solid 11.9% clip. Yet his control has been far too inconsistent. Johnson has walked over 14% of batters faced. He’s also surrendered plenty of loud contact, and while it’s unlikely that nearly 40% of balls in play will continue to fall for hits, the combination of free passes and barrels has led to disappointing results.

Johnson’s raw save rate (11 of 13) isn’t bad. Each of his blown saves have come in his last two opportunities, though. A three-run ninth inning to turn a 4-3 lead into a 6-4 loss to the Giants yesterday will lead the club in another direction. Johnson could still play an important role in the Colorado bullpen, but it’ll come in middle to late innings work for the moment.

Lawrence and Bird have each performed much better through the season’s first couple months. The former carries a 3.41 ERA across 34 1/3 innings. A lower-slot righty, Lawrence presents a particularly tough look for same-handed hitters. He’s striking out almost 27% of opponents and generating grounders on over half the batted balls he allows. Lawrence has had scattershot control in years past, but this season’s 9.4% walk rate is tolerable.

Bird, 27, leads Colorado relievers with 41 1/3 innings pitched. He’s sitting on a 3.05 ERA and, like Lawrence, is keeping the ball on the ground at a high level. While a modest 9% swinging strike rate might make it hard for him to continue punching out a quarter of opposing hitters, that shouldn’t be an issue so long as he’s picking up grounders at a near-57% clip.

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Colorado Rockies

Daniel Bard To Begin Season On Injured List

By | at March 30, 2023 5:35pm CDT

Rockies right-hander Daniel Bard is going to begin the season on the injured list due to anxiety, reports Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette (Twitter links). Righty Jake Bird has been recalled to take Bard’s place on the active roster. Allentuck adds that outfielder Jurickson Profar is not yet with the team in San Diego, though he can’t be replaced on the active roster.

“It’s a hard thing to admit,” Bard tells Allentuck. “But I’ve been through this before. I have enough going on outside the game to realize what’s important … I’m extremely grateful to be in an organization that understands these things and is accepting.”

Bard, 38 in June, pitched for the Red Sox from 2009 to 2013 but a case of “the yips” caused him to struggle in the latter parts of that span. His walk rate shot up to 15.5% in 2012 and then was even worse the year after. He only made a couple of appearances at the big league level in 2013 before getting sent to the minors, eventually walking a third of opponents down on the farm the rest of the way.

He didn’t pitch in the majors for many years but resurfaced with the Rockies in 2020. He posted a 3.65 ERA in 23 appearances that season, striking out 25.5% of batters faced, walking 9.4% of them and getting grounders at a 48.5% clip. He took a bit of a step back in 2021, with his walk rate jumping to 11.8% and his ERA spiking to 5.21%. But he got back on track tremendously in 2022, with a 1.79 ERA and 10.2% walk rate. He also struck out 28.2% of batters faced, got grounders on 51.7% of balls in play and racked up 34 saves on the year. His name popped up in some trade rumors as he was set to his free agency after last year, but he and the Rockies agreed to a two-year, $19MM extension.

Though the Rockies surely don’t want to be without their closer, Bard’s comments indicate that they’re prioritizing his health now that his anxiety has reoccured. Thomas Harding of MLB.com relays that Bard is still with the team and doing his normal throwing. That means it’s possible he’ll return whenever he feels he has his anxiety managed. MLBTR wishes him the best in that process.

Quickly turning to Profar, he didn’t have much of a spring because he was playing with Team Netherlands during the World Baseball Classic while still unsigned. He eventually signed with the Rockies but was delayed in joining the club in camp due to visa issues. He eventually did report to the team’s facilities in Arizona and is apparently still there, per Harding, continuing to get at-bats in minor league games. Harding adds that the decision on when Profar joins will be done “by feel.” It seems the club will play with a shortened three-man bench until then.

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Rockies Notes: Bryant, Bird, Suter

By | at February 22, 2023 7:07pm CDT

Kris Bryant’s first season in Colorado didn’t go as envisioned, with injuries combining to limit the former MVP to 42 games. Bryant hit well in that limited look, posting a .306/.376/.475 line with a career-low 14.9% strikeout rate, but he spent virtually the entire second half on the injured list due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

Now healthy for Spring Training, Bryant will get a second crack at serving as Colorado’s primary left fielder. Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette writes that the four-time All-Star also remains open to logging some time on the infield if needed. Bryant played exclusively left field or designated hitter during his first season in Denver, though he obviously has plenty of corner infield experience from his time with the Cubs and Giants.

The Rox already have a decent amount of corner infield depth. C.J. Cron and Ryan McMahon are again lined up for work at first and third base, respectively. Michael Toglia and Sean Bouchard are on hand as first base options behind Cron. Offseason acquisition Nolan Jones and second-year player Elehuris Montero are bat-first players but can cover either corner infield slot. Alan Trejo and non-roster invitee Harold Castro are also in the mix as infield defenders with some flexibility to move around the diamond.

In other news out of Colorado:

  • Right-hander Jake Bird recently strained his left oblique, manager Bud Black informed reporters (including Thomas Harding of MLB.com). He’s expected to miss the next four to six weeks. That takes the 27-year-old out of play for the World Baseball Classic — where he’d been slated to represent Israel — and, of more import to Colorado fans, puts his availability for the start of the season in jeopardy. Bird made his major league debut last June and was a fairly frequent bullpen option down the stretch. He got into 38 contests, posting a 4.91 ERA across 47 2/3 innings. Bird’s strikeout and walk profile wasn’t especially impressive but he induced grounders on an excellent 55.7% of batted balls.
  • A pair of veteran bullpen pickups marked some of the biggest moves in a quiet Colorado offseason. Righty Pierce Johnson signed a one-year free agent deal, while the Rox claimed veteran southpaw Brent Suter off waivers from Milwaukee. Black told reporters he’d been among those pushing general manager Bill Schmidt to put in a claim once Milwaukee put Suter on waivers back in November (link via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). With the Harvard product eligible for arbitration for a final time, the Brewers waived Suter after determining they weren’t going to tender him a contract. Colorado was happy to keep Suter around for his last arbitration season, with the sides agreeing to a $3MM salary within two weeks of the waiver claim. The 33-year-old posted a 3.78 ERA over 66 2/3 innings of long relief last season. He doesn’t throw hard or pick up many whiffs, but he consistently keeps the ball on the ground and fills the strike zone. The latter trait seems especially appealing to Colorado brass, as Black told reporters the club is emphasizing better strike-throwing at the back end of games. Rockies relievers walked 9.9% of opponents last season, the fifth-highest rate in the league.
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Colorado Rockies Notes

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

By | at February 9, 2023 7:30pm CDT

The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

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Arizona Diamondbacks Athletics Atlanta Braves Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Guardians Colorado Rockies Detroit Tigers Houston Astros Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers Miami Marlins Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins New York Mets New York Yankees Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants Seattle Mariners St. Louis Cardinals Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers Toronto Blue Jays Washington Nationals

Rockies Select Jake Bird, Designate Julian Fernandez

By | at June 11, 2022 7:56pm CDT

The Rockies announced a trio of roster moves before the second game of their doubleheader with the Padres today, including the news that right-hander Julian Fernandez has been designated for assignment.  Right-hander Jake Bird had his contract selected from Triple-A to fill the 40-man roster spot, while infielder Elehuris Montero was also optioned to the minors to create space for Bird on the active roster.

With this slate of transactions, the Rox get a fresh arm added to their bullpen for the second game, and Bird is now on the verge of his MLB debut.  Colorado selected Bird in the fifth round of the 2018 draft, and the UCLA product has a 2.77 ERA, 8.5% walk rate, and 32.1% strikeout rate over 26 innings for Triple-A Albuquerque this season.  That strikeout rate is notably higher than his totals in any of his previous three pro seasons, which could relate to Bird’s transition to a full-time relief role — he started a handful of games in both 2019 and 2021.

Fernandez has had a much rougher year with the Isotopes, posting a 9.47 ERA and allowing eight home runs over only 19 innings.  The hard-throwing righty is known for his ability to hit the triple-digit threshold with his fastball, but Fernandez just had to get re-accustomed to pitching after missing all the 2018-20 seasons — the first two years due to Tommy John surgery and rehab, and then the canceled 2020 minor league season.  In 2021, Fernandez finally made it back and threw 42 2/3 minor league innings, plus he made his Major League debut with six games for the Rockies.

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