Curtiss is gone, while Davis’ role with the Rockies seems unclear
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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Nos. 32 & 31, Noah Davis & John Curtiss, -0.2 rWAR
Baseball is a very hard game. It’s hard to get to MLB, and even harder to stay there. Very few are guaranteed a roster spot, and some that have been there before may find it hard to return.
It’s this situation that players like John Curtiss and Noah Davis find themselves in.
Curtiss, signed in January to a Minor League deal, only appeared in three games for Colorado last season. He allowed six hits and four runs in those outings totaling 2 1⁄3 innings, and while it was a very small sample size, the Rockies didn’t seem terribly impressed by his repertoire.
Curtiss was therefore designated for assignment in early August and elected free agency in late September. With respect to the journeyman right-hander, it appears he may well be fighting for his MLB career, as he’s been unable to land a foothold with a team through his seven seasons of work.
At one point very effective with the Rays back in 2020 and 2021, the 31-year-old has regressed and will now attempt to take his talents to another franchise in attempts to right the ship and return to being a plus addition to a major league bullpen.
Noah Davis is much more complex, at least in regards to his status with the Rockies.
Once considered an exciting prospect for Colorado, Davis has struggled mightily since making his MLB debut in 2022. He was originally considered a future rotation piece, but has now seemingly fully transitioned to a long relief role, making zero starts last season and being utilized exclusively out of the ‘pen in his nine games.
He was hit hard in those games, allowing an opponent batting average of .352 and holding a WHIP just below 2, which left him with an ERA of 5.75.
Davis spent a good chunk of the season in Triple-A Albuquerque, but the hard-hitting Pacific Coast League offered no respite. Davis encountered resistance there as well, and actually posted a slightly ERA of 5.77 during his time in the minors.
Unlike Curtiss, Davis will be back with the Rockies next season. So what’s next? Well, it seems that the team has decided to move forward with him as a long relief arm rather than a starter, and they could use all the bullpen help they can get. At 27 years of age, there’s still time for Davis to turn things around and become an effective piece of the pitching puzzle, but it seems a massive overhaul would be necessary to do so.
Luckily, he seems incredibly versatile and adaptable. He threw seven different pitches last season (including a screwball!), and while they were hit hard, it at least points to his ability to change things up. Maybe he can work with newly-promoted bullpen coach Dustin Garneau to develop a new weapon to get opposing hitters out.
In the meantime, we’ll have to see what work he does in the offseason. It could make or break his long-term future with the Rockies.
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