The former no.4 overall pick proves there are no guarantees in the sport of baseball.
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.
★ ★ ★
No. 39, Riley Pint, -0.4 rWAR
I remember the excitement.
When the Rockies selected Riley Pint with the fourth overall pick in the 2016 draft, we all knew there would be some risk involved. After all, just because a player had been featured in a Jeff Passan book didn’t mean there wasn’t some risk on that arm. But the high schooler from the Kansas City area could also throw 102 mph and had promise in his breaking pitches. If he fell to the Rockies, no way they’d pass on him.
True to form, we at Purple Row did our best to cover the pick from every angle. Some idiot even tried a semi-satirical breakdown of the attendees of the draft party. Some of his early outings were rough, but a certain level of growth was to be expected from a high school draftee. Two years after being drafted he still ranked no.3 on the preseason PuRPs list.
Then came the injuries and the wildness and the COVID. Pedigree alone seemed to keep him on the PuRPs list (and in the organization) in 2021, but halfway through the season Pint decided to call it a career rather than wait for his chance to break above A-ball. In hindsight, Pint wasn’t the only 2016 first rounder to disappoint (to date, none have made an All-Star team, but Will Smith has been pretty good for the Dodgers because Dodgers). But the aforementioned excitement made it a little more painful for Rockies fans.
The Rockies left the door open for his return and Pint decided to give it one last shot the following spring. He finally got his walks to a manageable place and striking out 11 hitters per nine innings at Double-A Hartford and continued to shove at Triple-ABQ. Come 2023, when the Rockies needed some brief help in the bullpen, who better than the guy with a 13.3 K/9 rate. So, seven years after all that excitement, he finally got his shot. He faced five batters in his debut, walking three and only recording one out. But he made it, dadgummit. How can you not be romantic about baseball?
The wildness stayed with him for the rest of the year, but his offseason training regimen contributed to the good case for bringing Pint back in 2024. He returned to ABQ and struck out 15 per 9. Who better to give him another shot against than the team that went on to set a major league record for losses in a season?
Well, Pint filled up the statline, but not in a good way for pitchers: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R/ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR. He went right back to Triple-A but received the call back to the Show on August 8, where he managed to throw a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout. Unfortunately, his next two appearances yielded a combined three hits, three walks, and six earned runs. The Rockies optioned him back to the minors and he finished the season with the Isotopes with a 4.12 ERA, 1.627 WHIP, 15.1 K/9, and 8.9 BB/9.
It’s possible that the man who once showed so much promise could right the ship and be a major contributor for the Rockies in the future (he is only 26, after all). But considering the command and control issues that have followed him since he became a pro, Riley Pint may find himself as a solid contributor at that Triple-A level with little chance at seeing meaningful MLB innings. Yes, he made the show, and that is more than a lot of people, drafted or not, can say. But for those of us who remember that day eight years ago, we are likely to be left with the question of what might have been.
★ ★ ★
Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!