The right-hander finally pitched a full MLB season
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. 9, Ryan Feltner: 1.1 rWAR
Ryan Feltner has always showed flashes of what he could do at the MLB level, but 2024 was the year that he was finally able to put everything together.
In his age-28 season, the right-hander made a career-high 30 starts and pitched 162 1⁄3 innings. He also posted a career-best 4.49 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. Coming off a 2023 season that saw him sidelined with a skull fracture and ruptured ear drum after taking a scary comebacker off the face, it was good to see Feltner hit his stride this year.
“It was definitely a weird year last year with my injury and the years before being optioned and stuff like that,” Feltner said, “but it feels good to be on the same team for the whole year and be pretty consistent in the starts that I’ve made. I’m definitely proud of that.”
Feltner had some tough outings early in the year, but settled down in the second half. He posted a 5.36 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in the first half, and a 3.00 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in the second. And the night-and-day difference is something he was proud to see come together.
“I think taking strides in many different areas [was the biggest highlight for me this year],” he said. “It’s just cool to look back at the beginning of the year and see how I was pitching then versus now and to see the growth within the year. Normally, you see that year to year, but it’s been cool to see the beginning until now.”
He did some tinkering throughout the year, and it showed. His two best months were July and September. In July, he posted a 2.51 ERA in five starts (28 2⁄3 IP); in September, he earned a 1.78 ERA in five starts (30 1⁄3 IP).
“Everything’s just gotten a little bit sharper this year,” Feltner said. “ I think at the beginning, my game plan wasn’t maximized. I think I was kind of just attacking the zone mindlessly. But with the help of [Jacob] Stallings, he’s been instrumental in helping me actually learn how to pitch — just going to the sides of the plate and when to do it and what type of hitter situations, and being able to read all those different things, I think, has been the biggest growth area for me this year.”
Feltner credited Stallings with helping him both on and off the field.
“As long as we’re on the bench together, we’ll talk about ‘where do you think this pitch plays the best to this type of hitter?’” Feltner continued. “And just an accumulation of the conversations that we’ve had on and off the field has definitely helped me understand my stuff and how to attack hitters a little bit better.”
But the biggest takeaway for Feltner in 2024? Availability.
“I think just being able to make most of my starts is something that gets overlooked,” he said. “Like, performance is great, and I’ve had times where I’ve performed really well, but I’m proud that I’m on pace for 30 starts. And I think there’s something to be said for that, too.”
Of course, a nearly-season-ending injury on 2023 could’ve derailed Feltner’s 2024 season, or even his career. But he believes the fact that he came back at the end helped propel him into the offseason.
“It helped me a ton,” he said. “I think if I didn’t have those two outings, this year would’ve been a little bit of a question mark in everybody’s mind if I could do it again. But to come back and come back stronger, I think it definitely propelled me with some momentum into the offseason.”
Heading into 2025, Feltner should be another anchor of the Colorado Rockies’ rotation. He became arbitration-eligible this year and was tendered a $2.55 million contract, according to Spotrac. And if nothing else, he can continue creating beautiful abstract art as a way to keep himself centered in what’s sure do be another doozy of a season for the Rockies.