Colorado Rockies building a postseason bullpen

The Colorado Rockies have reached a deal to bring back left-handed relief pitcher Jake McGee, according to multiple reports. McGee spent most of the 2017 season as the Rockies primary set up man and put together one of the best seasons a Rockies reliever has shown in some time.

Pitching 57.1 innings, he posted a 3.61 ERA and recorded three saves. Not the best season of his career by those numbers, but McGee separated himself as an invaluable member of the much-improved Rockies bullpen but his success pitching in clutch situations, measured by the Win Probability Added stat, suggests he had the second-best season of his illustrious career. The 31-year old quickly became a security blanket for Bud Black and with the team desperately needing not only late-inning relievers but also lefties, Jake was a perfect fit.

His familiarity with the team and Coors Field along with the confidence he gained from such a stellar campaign or all likely big factors in his decision to return.

McGee has at times been one of the best relievers in baseball and was widely thought of in such terms during his tenure in Tampa Bay. When he joined the BSN Rockies Podcast last May, he talked to us about his early career, conversion to the bullpen, his relationship with Black, how his health impacted a rough 2016 campaign and while these types of things can always be a bit ambiguous, McGee seemed like a guy who was very happy where he is.

His presence on the roster gives the Rockies both a dynamic late-inning arm and a power left-hander in one player. Like the acquisition from a day ago, Bryan Shaw, McGee is not ideally suited to step immediately into the closer role, though he is a little more promising in that regard.

If the Rockies are done adding in the bullpen, it would be easy to argue they’ve done an adequate job and the ‘pen could be solid in 2017. If, however, Colorado has one more big name reliever in mind that they can go get, they might well have taken a matter of a few days to turn their biggest area of need into one of phenomenal strength.