After a bright start in 2023, Vodnik led the Rockies relief corps in 2024
Welcome to the 2024 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2024. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.
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No. 12, Victor Vodnik: 0.8 rWAR
Victor Vodnik came to the Colorado Rockies in 2023 with Tanner Gordon in exchange for Pierce Johnson. The 25-year-old right-hander made his MLB debut later that year, and pitched 8 2⁄3 innings over six games from September 9-30. During that time, he amassed an 8.31 ERA and 2.08 WHIP. But as Mario DeGenz wrote last year, Vodnik flashed immense potential — and that was capitalized upon in 2024.
After breaking the Opening Day roster, Vodnik immediately hit the ground running, throwing 12 1⁄3 scoreless innings through his first eight games. On April 20 against the Seattle Mariners, Vodnik allowed three runs on four hits in just one inning of work, but he bounced back after that. He never allowed more than three runs in an appearance throughout the year, and did so on five occasions.
The Rockies found their 2024 gem in Vodnik, and they made sure to squeeze every last ounce out of him.
In 2024, Vodnik led the relief corps appearances, pitching 73 2⁄3 innings over 64 games. During that time, he amassed a 4.28 ERA and 1.480 WHIP. The next-highest usage among relievers was Tyler Kinley, who threw 64 innings over 67 games. Of course, they called up many other youngsters later in the season, which did help lighten the load a smidge, but Vodnik was still used at every opportunity, including nine back-to-back outings.
All the work finally caught up to Vodnik in August, where he found himself on the 15-day IL with right biceps inflammation. He returned on September 10, and allowed six runs on seven hits in his final nine games. It was his worst month of the year, but some of that could be due to late-season fatigue, among other things.
Vodnik had an excellent rookie season. Evan Lang even suggested he has the makings of the next Rockies franchise closer as the 2025 bullpen begins to take shape.
We can only hope that the overuse doesn’t catch up to him in 2025 like it did for the 2023 workhorses.
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