Recently reinstated Rockies starter done for season

Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez landed on the 15-day injured list last month due to elbow inflammation. Manager Bud Black tells Manny Randhawa of MLB.com that Márquez won’t return to the mound this year. As Randhawa relayed on X, the righty’s ulnar collateral ligament is fine, but he has a stress reaction in his elbow and won’t be able to throw for six to eight weeks. Since just over seven weeks remain in the regular season, he won’t be returning this year.

2024 will ultimately go down as a mostly lost season for the righty. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May of last year and was able to come off the injured list in July. He made just one start, allowing three earned runs in four innings, before going back on the IL.

Thursday’s news is somewhat positive: the righty’s UCL is unaffected, and he can have a normal offseason in preparation for 2025. But it’s also less than ideal for him to go into next year with just four innings thrown this year. Ideally, he would have had the last couple of months of the schedule to compile a decent workload to build off next year, but that won’t be possible now.

To put it mildly, the Colorado rotation has been an issue this year. The club’s starters have a collective 5.45 earned run average, the worst in the majors. That’s not necessarily a surprise, between the usual challenges of pitching at Coors Field and the injury issues the club has had. In addition to Márquez, Antonio Senzatela has missed the entire season thus far due to his own Tommy John surgery recovery. He’s slated to start a rehab assignment Thursday. Kyle Freeland missed a few months due to an elbow strain and has only made 12 starts this year.

With Márquez unable to return this year, the group is unlikely to get back on track anytime soon. Just Thursday, another domino fell as Ryan Feltner was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain, though it’s not yet known exactly how much time the club expects him to miss.

It’s theoretically possible to imagine the group being in better shape next year with full and healthy seasons from Márquez, Senzatela and Freeland. The Rockies signed all three pitchers to extensions as they envisioned that trio as their rotation core. Márquez was in the final season of his deal last year when he went under the knife, but he and the club subsequently reunited on a second extension that goes through 2025.

The extended absence from Márquez complicates things somewhat. He only tossed 20 innings last year, meaning he’ll be going into 2025 with just 24 innings thrown in the previous two seasons. That could lead to tricky questions about handling his workload next year. He did toss 975 1/3 innings from 2017 to 2022 with a 4.38 ERA, tossing between 162 and 196 innings in each full season of that stretch, as well as 81 2/3 frames in the shortened 2020 campaign, but it’s fair to wonder if his elbow will allow him to simply jump back to that level.

There are other questions to be answered as well. As mentioned, Senzatela will be rehabbing and could get some major league starts before the season ends. Freeland has been off the IL for about six weeks now and seems healthy apart from a blister he’s been dealing with lately, but he could finish with an ERA above 5.00 for the second straight season. Though, to be fair, his .348 BABIP and 62.4% strand rate might be clouding things this year. His 4.13 FIP and 4.24 SIERA suggest a sunnier outlook.

Cal Quantrill figures to be in the mix since he has one more arbitration season left and wasn’t traded before the deadline. He has a 4.56 ERA over his 23 starts this year. Feltner is having a decent season and will be part of the calculus as well, as long as this shoulder injury doesn’t linger into next year. His 5.00 ERA doesn’t look great, but his .321 BABIP and 62.9% strand rate are unlucky. His 20.1% strikeout rate is a bit low, but his 7.3% walk and 45.4% ground ball rates are solid, so he has a 4.30 FIP and 4.26 SIERA. Austin Gomber, like Quantrill, can be retained for one more arbitration season and is having a decent campaign with a 4.66 ERA in 21 starts.

Though this year has been rough, the club arguably has six decent starters for its 2025 rotation: Márquez, Senzatela, Freeland, Quantrill, Gomber and Feltner. However, baseball rarely allows clubs to follow a script, and the picture will undoubtedly change between now and then. The latest on Márquez already puts a bit of a wrench in their plans, though ideally, things will progress well after his upcoming shutdown period.