Top 50 Colorado Rockies
Denver had been established long before as a major city worthy of being the center of Rocky Mountain area for some time in every major category, sports of course included. As such it was a long-desired place for MLB expansion and in 1993 it finally happened bringing Denver to the “4” club, in that they house a franchise from all major North American sports leagues.With its thin air, Colorado became the home of inflated offense, but exciting baseball. This has since been corrected through the use of humidors however the ’90s saw players routinely have higher averages at Coors Field than they would anywhere else.
Despite the talented hitters that have graced the Colorado Rockies over the years, they have not been able to say the same in terms of Pitchers and they have only been in the playoffs three times. One of those playoffs, was a World Series loss in 2007.
This list is up to the end of the 2023 Season.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
The career of Venezuelan Pitcher, Jhoulys Chacin has been riddled with inconsistency but he was with Colorado long enough in his first run (124 Games from 2009 to 2014) and had enough decent starts to earn this rank. Chacin would actually twice finish in the top ten in bWAR for Pitchers, including a 5th place finish in 2013. Chacin returned in 2021, but in the role of Releif Pitcher.
Steve Reed may have what would be called journeyman career in baseball, but he is arguably the most successful Middle Relief Pitcher in the history of the Colorado Rockies. Reed would lead the National League in Games Pitched in 1994 and over his career he would appear in 461 Games for Colorado. He was chosen in the Expansion Draft and arguably Colorado has been trying to duplicate his type since.
Eric Young was an original member of the Colorado Rockies and to this day is still the team’s all-time leader in Stolen Bases. Young would lead the National League in Triples in 1995 and Stolen Bases in 1996 and was an Al- Star and Silver Slugger in the latter year. Overall, he had 180 SB with 626 Hits and a .296 Batting Average.
A former Minor League Player of the Year, Jeff Francis earned his way into to Rockies rotation and would have a three year run where he would post solid Win/Loss records of (14-12, 13-11 and 17-9). That latter year he would finish 9th in Cy Young voting and the Southpaw would also make history that year as the first Canadian to win a game in the post season and pitch in the World Series. Injuries would pile up and he would miss the 2009 season ad he would no longer be the player he once was. He would leave Colorado…
Drafted 3rd overall in 2013, Jon Gray made his Major League debut for the Colorado Rockies in 2015. The following season, he was a fixture in the Rockies’ starting rotation.
Ryan McMahon is as of this writing still with the Colorado Rockies, which is the only team he has ever played for at the Major League level. A Second Round Pick in 2013, McMahon debuted for Colorado in 2017. Bouncing back and forth from the parent club and Triple A in 2017 and 2018, McMahon became the Rockies’ starting Second Baseman in 2019, belting 24 Home Runs with 83 RBI and a .779 OPS. After 2020, McMahon was moved to Third Base in 2021, and he responded by leading the National League in Defensive bWAR (2.6) and offensively had 23 Home…
A decent Shortstop, Clint Barmes is more of a trivia question in Rockies lore as he was the starter in that position prior to Troy Tulowitzki. Barmes still had four seasons where he had more than 100 Hits, one of which saw him smack 23 Home Runs, the most of his career. Defensively, he would have a 3.2 bWAR in 2006, which was good enough for second in the National League that year. Barmes played for Colorado in 665 Games over eight years.
Dexter Fowler would win the World Series in 2016 with the Chicago Cubs and did so in a starring role. That star first began to shine in Colorado.
CLASSIC TOUR AT YANKEE STADIUM
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Classic Tour at Yankee Stadium HERE!
TOURS: TRUIST PARK
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Tours: Truist Park HERE!
PETCO PARK TOURS
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Petco Park Tours HERE!
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS VS. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Apr 19, 2024
Buy your Tickets to see San Francisco Giants vs. Arizona Diamondbacks HERE!
After a cup of coffee with the St. Louis Cardinals, the Colorado Rockies chose Adam Ottavino off of waivers, and he would eventually become one of the better Relief Pitchers in franchise history.Ottavino spent his first three years with Colorado in their bullpen, proving his worth to the point where there was talk of moving him to the team's closer. He was poised to take that stop in 2015, but Tommy John Surgery took him out of the game for most of 2015, and he returned in a set-up capacity, while having sub-3 ERA years in 2016 and 2018. Ottavino…
The career of Jason Jennings was not a long one, but it start off spectacularly with a Rookie of the Year in 2002 with a 16 and 8 record. Jennings never had another winning record after that, though in 2006 he did finish 8th in 2006 for bWAR for Pitchers. Jennings still finished his Rockies career with a winning record (58-56) and had 622 Strikeouts.
Pedro Astacio was known a lot for his bloated Earned Run Average and tendency to give up Home Runs (he led the National League in that department twice with the Rockies) but he did rack up a lot of wins and strikeouts. Astacio was in the top ten is K’s with Colorado and actually had a season where he had a bWAR of 6.0.
Curt Leskanic was a workhorse Middle Relief Pitcher for the Colorado Rockies in the 90’s and would appear in over 60 Games four times in Colorado. The first time he did that (1995) he would lead the National League in that statistic. He would be in position often to close games for Colorado and would net 20 Saves over his career for the Rockies.
Joining the Rockies in 2012, Tyler Chatwood had his best season in 2016 where he went 12 and 9 with 117 Strikeouts. This had to be especially sweet as Chatwood missed most of 2014 and all of 2015 recovering from Tommy John surgery. The hurler played with Colorado until the end of 2017, after he went to the Chicago Cubs as a Free Agent. With the Rockies, he showed a record of 34-35 with 364 Strikeouts.
With the exception of two of his MLB seasons (2007 & 2008 with Cincinnati), Matt Belisle had a decent career as a Middle Reliever, the best of which were in Colorado. Belisle would leas the National League in Games Played in 2012 and had a 10-4 record the year before. The year before that he had a 2.93 ERA and a 1.087 WHIP, which were the best of his career. Belisle overall apperaed in 392 Games for Colorado with an impressive 3.97 SO/BB.
An All Star in 2009, Brad Hawpe provided good offense for the Colorado Rockies. Hawpe had four straight seasons where he blasted over 20 Home Runs in a season, three of which also saw him with a Slugging Percentage over .500. If it seems like Hawpe is ranked low, he was horrible defensively who had a -9.8 Defensive bWAR with the Rockies, which certainly impacted his rank.
Jeff Cirillo was only a member of the Colorado Rockies for two seasons, but it was an impactful one. Cirillo was an All-Star in 2000, a year he accumulated 195 Hits with a Slash Line of .326/.392/.477. His second and final year in Colorado was almost as good with 165 Hits and a .313/.364/.477 Slash Line. That year, he had 17 Home Runs, the best of his career.
With Colorado for six years, in his first run with the team, Chris Iannetta often struggled to obtain (or keep) the starting Catcher’s job but he was decent defensively and had a bit of power with two seasons of 15 Home Runs or more. He also had a respectable On Base Percentage, often averaging 100 Points more than his Batting Average.Iannetta would have a second stint with the franchise in a back-up role, which was a testament to his ability to handle Pitchers and his still comparable defensive ability. His numbers with the Rockies saw him eke out 435 Hits and…
A converted Shortstop from Venezuela, Rafael Betancourt had a long road to the Majors, a path that would end with the Colorado Rockies. Used predominantly as a setup man for most of his career, including his first three seasons with Colorado, Betancourt received the opportunity to become the team’s closer in 2012. That year, he would accrue 31 Saves, the most of his career. Overall, Betancourt pitched in 309 Games, had 58 Saves with an excellent SO/BB of 5.63.
Ranked a little lower than you would initially think mainly because of his lack of defensive contributions and overall bWAR, Garrett Atkins was with the Colorado Rockies for all but his final season in the Majors. Atkins would have three straight seasons with 20 or more Home Runs, two of which also saw him tally 100 RBIs. He also hit for a decent average, twice going batting over .300. He would actually receive a few MVP votes in 2006. Again, if only he could play defense more consistently!