The transition from starter to reliever was shaky to start, but he figured it out by the end
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. 14, Jeff Criswell: 0.6 rWAR
On December 6, 2022, the Colorado Rockies made a trade with the Oakland Athletics (back when they were still in Oakland) receiving 2020 second-round pick Jeff Criswell in exchange for reliever Chad Smith.
Through his first three seasons in the A’s system, Criswell had mainly worked as a starter to less than stellar results. Still, 2022 was a stronger year as he turned in a 4.08 ERA in 24 appearances, including 21 starts, in 118 1⁄3 innings over three levels. The Rockies certainly hoped that the growth of Criswell would build their starting pitching depth.
2023 was certainly a difficult year for Criswell in the unfriendly pitching confines of Triple-A Albuquerque. He made 26 starts in 2023 over 29 appearances, posting an unsightly 7.51 ERA in 121 innings of work. He recorded 135 strikeouts against 71 walks with a 1.744 WHIP and allowed 32 home runs.
Heading into 2024, Criswell was moved to the bullpen where he continued to struggle for most of the minor league season. Working mainly one or two innings per outing, Criswell limped to a 6.75 ERA in 52 innings through 31 games by August 2. The strikeout numbers were there (75) and he allowed 28 walks, but opponents were batting .304/.379/.567 against him in the Pacific Coast League.
However, like most things with relievers, you have to look deeper to find the trends of success. From June 19 to August 18, Criswell threw 22 2⁄3 innings over 15 appearances, posting a 4.37 ERA with 38 strikeouts against seven walks and just two home runs allowed. Starting on Aug. 7, the 25-year-old spun 5 2⁄3 innings of one-run ball over four appearances, walking none and striking out eight in the process.
In the middle of reshaping their bullpen with youngsters, the Rockies decided to go with the hot hand and called up Criswell for his major league debut.
In his first two appearances, coming at Nationals Park and Yankee Stadium respectively, Criswell parlayed his recent success into 2 1⁄3 scoreless innings. His third outing was less memorable as he gave up three straight home runs to the slugging Yankees trio of Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton.
Through his next 16 1⁄3 innings of 10 games, Criswell gave up just three earned runs while recording 24 strikeouts against nine walks, including an outing in which he struck out six batters in 2 2⁄3 innings of relief on September 15.
Criswell’s success as a reliever came from his ability to effectively mix his pitches together. He mainly used his fastball which can reach the mid-90s, pairing it almost evenly with an effective slider that can reach 87.8 mph. That primary two-pitch mix was supplemented by the occasional changeup, curveball, and sinker, stemming from his history as a starting pitcher.
He certainly needs to constantly keep his command in check to limit walks, but being able to strike out batters at a high clip negates some of those worries going forward and he fits into the new-look Rockies bullpen quite well.
As the Rockies look to build their bullpen with a corp of young power arms, Criswell may have just cemented a spot for himself in 2025 after that strong debut in 2024. He could certainly find himself pitching later in games, but his skill set can also prove quite useful in the middle innings, especially when struggles with the starting staff pop up.
If he can continue his growth as a reliever among the other rookies, the Rockies’ bullpen will be one of their greatest strengths in 2025.
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