Colorado Rockies news and links for Friday, January 9, 2025
With the Rockies coming to terms with Austin Gomber and Ryan Feltner on Thursday, with one-year deals for $6.35 million and 2.275 million, respectively, they not only avoided arbitration, but also provided an interesting snapshot of what might be the starting rotation in 2025.
All signs point to a rotation consisting of Germán Márquez, Kyle Freeland, Ryan Feltner, Austin Gomber and Antonio Senzatela. Of course, Márquez and Senzatela are gigantic question marks coming off of Tommy John surgery and various injuries that have limited each pitcher to five starts in the past two seasons while combining for $44.55 million of the Rockies payroll. Both will turn 30 in 2025 with Márquez heading into free agency at the end of the season and Senzatela playing in the third season of his five-year, $50.5 year deal.
Injuries, the success of recoveries, breakout Spring Training performances, resurgences and/or MLB debuts of exciting prospects will certainly throw the perennial curveball into the starting core, making it impossible to predict which five will start the season in the rotation.
Unable to predict the future, let’s assume Márquez and Senzatela make it through Spring Training and are looking good to start the season. If this is the starting five, there are some interesting observations that are worth being excited about.
First, the quintet of Márquez, Senzatela, Freeland, Feltner and Gomber have already been the backbone of the starting rotation since 2021. Even though Márquez and Senzatela have missed the vast majority of the last two seasons, Freeland has dealt with a few injuries, and Feltner didn’t make his MLB debut until September of 2021 and missed most of 2023 with a skull fracture from a line drive, the five pitchers have started 380 of the Rockies 648 games in the last four seasons. That’s 58.6%.
With only two Feltner starts, the five made 106 starts in 2021 (65.4%) when the Rockies went 74-87. In 2022, this crew started 117 of the Rockies games (72.2%) with Feltner and Senzatela tied for the fewest at 19. The Rockies went 68-94 that season. While those are some low bars, they certainly look better than the 103 and 101 losses of the last two seasons.
It’s no surprise that having Márquez and Senzatela would make the Rockies better, but having that consistency of a starting rotation that’s been on the team together for the last four seasons also can’t hurt. Cal Quantrill proved to be a great addition last season as he posted a 1.6 WAR in 29 starts with an 8-11 record and 4.98 ERA, but the other veteran additions to the rotation the last few years haven’t been as fruitful (see Dakota Hudson, Chase Anderson, Chris Flexin and Chad Kuhl). None of those experiments lasted longer than one season.
Second, Márquez, Senzatela, Freeland, Feltner and Gomber will all be between the ages of 29 and 32 in the 2025 season, despite having different amounts of MLB experience under their belts. Márquez leads the way with nine MLB seasons, Freeland and Senzatela follow at eight each, Gomber has six, and Feltner has played in four. When it comes to starting 25 or more games in a season, Márquez again leads the way with five years, Freeland has four, Senzatela has three, Gomber has two and Feltner has one.
Considering it takes mental fortitude and resilience to pitch for the Rockies, which could often mean having no support from your offense or seeing a great game blown by the bullpen, and the skills and preparation to go back and forth from pitching at altitude, having an older rotation that’s been through it has to be a good thing.
Finally, in 2024, Gomber and Feltner started the most games for the Rockies (30) and had the best ERAs of regular starters at 4.75 and 4.49, respectively. Their salaries also combined to cost less than $4 million. In 2025, even with their recent raises, Gomber and Feltner’s contracts total $8.625 million, which is $1.375 million less than Márquez’s, $3.375 million less than Senzatela’s and about half of Freeland’s $16 million. If Feltner can follow up his first full season with another impressive showing, and if Gomber can keep up his gradual improvement, they could once again be the best Rockies pitchers, providing serious bang for the buck.
Nothing is certain, but if Márquez, Senzatela, Freeland, Feltner and Gomber begin the season as the starters for the Rockies, it could provide the necessary boost to help the Rockies slowly start to right the ship. Pitchers and catchers are expected to report to Spring Training around Feb. 10, almost a month from today. How the five perform in Scottsdale will begin to reveal an idea of how 2025 might unfold.
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Colorado Rockies 2025 arbitration tracker | Purple Row
Before Thursday’s deadline, the Rockies signed all of their arbitration-eligible players, including Austin Gomber, Ryan Feltner, Sam Hilliard, Lucan Gilbreath and Justin Lawrence.
With trusty journal by his side, Dollander paving MLB path | MLB.com
This is a great article from Thomas Harding on how Rockies 2023 first-round pick Chase Dollander benefited from being around Antonio Senzatela and Germán Márquez last season and by keeping a journal tracking his performances in 2024. Especially noting what went “well”, what could be “better” and “how” to achieve that improvement, Dollander is hoping to crack into Major League Baseball and the Rockies rotation in 2025.
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