Rockies to Sign Michael Lorenzen: What to Make of Move

The Rockies signed pitcher Michael Lorenzen to a one-year deal on January 7, making Lorenzen the first player signed to an MLB deal this winter by Colorado. The right-hander is coming off a down year, one where he posted an ERA close to 5.00 for the Royals after a strong, yet brief run with the team a year earlier.

A Look at Lorenzen

Right-handed pitcher Michael Lorenzen has been a journeyman of sorts. Lorenzen pitched for four different teams (Tigers, Phillies, Rangers, Royals) since the start of the 2023 season.

Lorenzen, originally acquired by Kansas City in the summer of 2024 for Walt Pennington, re-signed with the Royals in early January 2025. He pitched very well for the Royals down the stretch in 2024, as Lorenzen posted a 1.57 ERA across 28.2 IP. However, it wasn’t a clean stretch, as he walked 12 in that span.

This past year, though, saw Lorenzen have to skate through trouble. He pitched well in April & July but had an ERA north of 5.00 in both May and June. Lorenzen gave up 12 home runs during those two months, almost half of what he surrendered (25) during the entire campaign.

His .339 opponents’ wOBA ranked 102nd among the 126 starting pitchers who threw at least 100 innings last season. On top of that, his 1.6 HR/9 ranked among the bottom-30 of the league among starters.

Lorenzen has never been a plus groundball pitcher. Over the last four seasons, the only year in which he ranked above the league median in that category was 2022 with the Angels. However, he did generate a fair amount of them.

The veteran right-hander has two fastballs aside from a cutter: a four-seamer and a sinker that averaged 93 MPH last season. Neither are plus pitchers. And in fact, Lorenzen’s sinker did get hit around last season; seven home runs were hit off it in 2025.

What may be Lorenzen’s best pitch is a changeup that hovers around the 83 MPH range, about 10 MPH slower than his fastballs. It’s been his best swing-and-miss pitch over the last three seasons. This past year, opposing batters hit .178 off it, along with a Whiff% of over 40%.