Monday Rockpile: Germán Márquez triumphs after Tommy John recovery

Colorado Rockies news and links for Monday, July 15th, 2024

It had only been 445 days since he last took the mound in a big league game, but who’s counting?

Germán Márquez certainly was when he finally walked out of the Colorado Rockies dugout in the bottom of the first on a warm and somewhat cloudy afternoon at Citi Field in Queens.

Márquez had not walked up the steps of the Rockies’ dugout to start a game since April 26th, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. Just 3 ²⁄₃ innings after that, the Rockies’ ace found his season over before it truly began.

Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images

Most big league pitchers are no stranger to missing time—even significant amounts of it—but not Germán Márquez. The Venezuelan ace had started at least 28 games in each season of his career with the exceptions of his 2016 debut and the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign.

However, this time was different.

Within the next week, it came out that Márquez would require Tommy John surgery, ending his season before the first month of play was even complete.

“I kind of thought this was coming,” an emotional Marquez told the Denver Post. “I’ll get through this, but it’s tough.”

“It’s tough to say anything,” longtime teammate Antonio Senzatela said. “I’ve been with him so many years, and I feel really bad. I get back and I get this news, so I feel really bad. But we know how tough Germán is. I know he’s strong mentally, so he’ll be back as soon as possible.”

With the Rockies clubhouse behind him, Márquez had a successful surgery with the aim of returning at some point during the 2024 season—which would have been his final year under contract with the Rockies after he signed an extension back in 2019.

The Rockies front office then showed Márquez that it wasn’t just his teammates supporting him. In September of last year, the organization announced a two-year, $20 million extension that overwrote a 2024 team option that would keep their ace in purple through the end of the 2025 season and guarantee him $10 million in each of the next two seasons.

The extension was a show of faith for a player who had done so much for the Rockies since arriving via trade from the Tampa Bay Rays prior to the 2016 season. Márquez’s future with the organization was still largely in question when he had surgery despite him being one of the longest tenured pitchers in team history and making his way up the leader boards.

Márquez arrived at spring training in Arizona this year in high spirits despite the setback.

“I have a brand new arm,” Marquez said. “I’m ready for 10 more years.”

“My arm has never felt this good,” he continued. “My elbow feels good and my shoulder is stronger from all the rehab work.”

However, Márquez still had a long way to go in his rehab. On May 10th, he pitched 1 ²⁄₃ innings with the Arizona Complex League, but he wasn’t quite ready. It would be over a month before his next in-game appearance.

The recovering ace started ramping up his activity in mid-June. He re-joined the ACL Rockies on June 12th and pitched another 1 ²⁄₃ innings and struck out four batters.

Márquez spent the next month traveling throughout the Rockies’ farm system, starting with the Low-A Fresno Grizzlies and High-A Spokane Indians.

His four-seam fastball looked lively and his breaking pitches were effective. More importantly, he was happy and having fun.

“I felt good,” Marquez told the Spokane Spokesman-Review after his rehab start with the Indians. “It was fun. There was no pain, which is what we want. I executed my pitches and had fun.”

Márquez made three more rehab starts—one with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes and two with the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats—before it was announced that he would make the final start of the first half. He was activated from the 60-day IL to face off against the New York Mets on the road.

Despite the stakes being quite low—the final game of the first half in a long-lost season—it was clear this game was important for Germán Márquez. He was already sweating. He took multiple deep breaths as he stood on the mound to face his first big league batter in over a year. Then he entered his windup and threw his first pitch.

“It was like my debut, no doubt,” Márquez said about being nervous. “After I threw my first pitch, the nerves went away.”

Márquez induced a groundout from the first batter he faced before striking out three in a row to finish the first and start the second inning. Those three strikeouts were important because they granted Márquez an honor he would have likely achieved in 2023 before being cut down by injury.

Germán Márquez’s 986th career strikeout granted him the sole distinction of owning the most career strikeouts in franchise history, surpassing former Rockies stalwart Jorge De La Rosa.

“It’s an honor to break that record. Plus, [De La Rosa] is my friend,” Márquez said. “I have to keep going.”

Márquez hit a wall in his fourth inning of work due to rust. He gave up three hits—including a home run—and three walks to put the Mets ahead with his outing over. Thankfully, his teammates were able to lift him up so that he would not be credited with a loss.

Márquez still has road to travel in his recovery. The Rockies’ ace will sit at the tail end of the rotation once the season resumes following the All-Star break.

“He is not there yet. But he will get there,” said manager Bud Black. “He felt good coming out of [the game]. He seems healthy and he is in good spirits.”

The hopeful return to form that made Márquez an All-Star in 2021 will need to come with time. However, Rockies fans can at least smile knowing their ace is back and will give them something to look forward to in a season marred by losses.

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