Rockies Bullpen Stands Out Amid Disappointing Season

Excavating work has to be done to find something going well for the 6-28 Colorado Rockies.

Shockingly, the bullpen is providing solid play for the cellar-dweller in the National League.

Per Covers.com , the Rockies bullpen is tied with the Atlanta Braves for 13th in Major League Baseball with a 3.88 ERA.

They rank 16th with a 1.44 WHIP.

After a rough beginning to the season, the unit has played some of its best baseball lately.

Rockies Bullpen Pitching Effectively The Rockies offense has been a non-factor all season.

Usually, the game is already out of hand by the time they get to the later innings.

But the bullpen is still producing and doing its part.

A welcome change after a 2024 campaign in which the much-maligned unit finished a distant last in MLB with a 5.41 ERA.

The Rockies pen has been especially effective at limiting the long ball.

The bullpen is tied for fifth in MLB with just 13 home runs allowed.

The Rockies bullpen had gone a franchise-record 79 innings without allowing a home run before San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman hit a grand slam against top reliever Jake Bird in a 6-3 Giants win on Saturday.

It was yet another moment this season where the Rockies appeared snake-bitten.

Starting pitcher Bradley Blalock was excellent, allowing just three runs on two hits over 5 1/3 innings pitched.

The last two runs were charged to Blalock after the Chapman homer against Bird.

Blalock was pulled after allowing two walks with a groundout sandwiched in between to begin the sixth.

Bird entered the game with a 0.95 ERA and has been lights out for Colorado this season.

But in a season that continues to find new ways to go wrong, he allowed a walk to load the bases before Chapman hit a grand slam 402 feet to center field at the Giants notorious pitching park to give San Francisco a 6-3 lead.

Oh my, #SFGiants Matt Chapman with a grand slam.

#Rockies bullpen had not allowed a home run over its last 18 games (79 innings), entering today.

It was the longest streak in franchise history.

Greg Bird had been fantastic (past tense).

Giants lead 6-3 after 6.

Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) May 3, 2025 Rockies Bullpen Bucking Franchise History In the history of the Rockies, the bullpen has always been the bugaboo.

Even in the teams best seasons, there was a fair share of Coors Field classics.

The bullpens were solid on those teams, but when Coors Field had its effect, the offense was good enough to win 10-7.

Since 2019, the Rockies bullpen has finished with an ERA of at least 4.85.

In each of those seasons, they have finished in the bottom five of MLB.

There is a lot of baseball to be played.

But it would be truly poetic if the worst season in franchise history coincided with the bullpens best.

It would be the perfect microcosm for a team that, in its rebuild, has routinely failed to put all three phases together.

The rotation started the season great, but had no run support, and the bullpen started slow.

Now the rotation has been more uneven, and the bullpen has been mostly lights out.

But the offense has still largely struggled.

It remains to be seen if the offense will be able to put a sustained stretch together.

In the meantime, the Rockies bullpen is doing its part.

They are playing well with largely homegrown players after little front-office action by the Rockies in the offseason.

Bird Leads Group of Veteran Rockies Relievers In his fourth season with the club, Bird has been an excellent option for Colorado out of the bullpen.

After an injury-riddled 2024 in which he was held to just 35 games, he has been great.

Bird is a rubber arm option when healthy and at his best.

Manager Bud Black can continually rely on Bird for more than one inning.

Out of his 14 outings this season, nine have gone over one inning.

Before the Chapman homer, the first relinquished by Bird this season, he had not allowed an earned run since April 13 against the San Diego Padres, when he allowed one earned run over 1 1/3 innings.

The bullpens major struggles last season were due in large part to the inability to get strikeouts, along with far too many free passes issued.

While Birds 14.8% BB rate is in the bottom ten percent of MLB (per Statcast ), he is in the top seven percent with a 33% K rate.

He is well on pace to blow by his career-high 77 strikeouts over 89 1/3 IP in 2023.

The Rockies bet on Bird bouncing back after a down 2024, and he has proven them right so far.

Offseason Additions Working Out for Colorado Two of the Rockies offseason additions have also panned out nicely to this point.

Right-hander Jimmy Herget was a non-roster invitee after a 2024 season with the Braves in which he played only eight games.

In 13 games this season, Herget has posted a 2.08 ERA with a K/BB ratio of 10 to 8.

Herget will have to decrease the walks, but has allowed earned runs in only three outings this season.

Lefty Scott Alexander, who was signed late in the offseason, has allowed runs in just three of his 12 outings.

He is tied with Bird for the team lead with three holds.

Herget and Alexander have not been as effective as Bird when it comes to getting strikeouts and limiting walks.

But both have been consistent options for Colorado.

Zach Agnos Stellar Early in His Rockies Career Zach Agnos has been a great story for the Rockies this season.

Drafted in the 10th round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of East Carolina University, Agnos made his MLB debut earlier this season.

Agnos debuted on April 20 against the Washington Nationals and recorded his first career hold in a 3-1 Rockies win.

He has posted six scoreless outings with a stellar zero walks allowed.

Despite having only one strikeout so far, Agnos has effectively gotten batters out and kept them off the bases.

Agnos has also gotten closing opportunities for Colorado.

In the Rockies only back-to-back wins this season, he recorded his first two career saves with only one hit allowed against the Braves and Giants.

#Rockies Zach Agnos is the first reliever under the age of 25 with two saves in his first six games in the Majors since Jesus Luzardo for the Athletics in 2019.

Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons) May 2, 2025 Rockies Bullpen Building Solid Foundation RHP Juan Mejia, a rookie from the Dominican Republic, has also been solid for Colorado.

Over four outings, Mejia has allowed only one run with five strikeouts to zero walks.

RHP Angel Chivilli has been a flamethrower out of the bullpen.

Per Statcast , his 96.7 MPH fastball velocity is in the 86th percentile while his 63.5% groundball rate is in the 97th percentile.

He, like several other Rockies, has struggled to rack up the strikeouts and limit the walks, but the promise is there.

RHP Seth Halvorsen, who entered the season as the Rockies closer, has been lights out besides an outing in which he allowed six runs over 1/3 of an inning in a 17-2 loss against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 9.

Per Statcast , Halvorsen is in the top 20 percent league-wide in several categories, including his 99.7 mph fastball velocity (99th percentile), 60% groundball rate (94th percentile), and 30% hard-hit rate (92nd percentile).

Continuing the common theme in the bullpen, Halvorsen has struggled to limit walks and strike hitters out.

But he has still been largely effective and continued his momentum from last season.

Fellow promising reliever Victor Vodnik, who averages 98.2 mph on his fastball, went on the 15-day IL on April 20 with right shoulder inflammation.

After a strong 2024, Vodnik has been inconsistent this season.

But he resumed throwing six days ago and should return to the Rockies soon, looking to get back on track.

Is Strong Play By Rockies Bullpen Sustainable? If Bird can prove that he can stay healthy for a full season, he could be in line for a career year.

But if Bird does stay hot, will he remain on the rebuilding Rockies past the trade deadline? Herget and Alexander are also veterans to watch as potential trade candidates if they continue their solid play.

Starting with Vodnik last season, the Rockies have built a strong foundation of young relievers.

Halvorsen and Vodnik lead that group, looking to build on their strong finishes from last season.

Chivilli has shown great promise and has the tools to be a successful reliever.

Mejia will be intriguing to watch as the season continues after a strong early showing.

The Rockies bullpen will be tested during the summer months at Coors.

There will likely be a drop-off post-deadline if Colorado trades their top assets.

It would also be in line with the Rockies season for the bullpen to regress to the mean if/when the offense gets back on track.

However, there is a group of young, homegrown relievers on the Rockies that are emerging, something that has not happened often in franchise history.

In one of the worst seasons in an extended rebuild, the Rockies bullpen has been a sight for sore eyes.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission..

This article has been shared from the original article on yardbarker, here is the link to the original article:

https://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/rockies_bullpen_stands_out_amid_disappointing_season/s1_17200_42155850