Ranking The Rockies: 12 Chris Rusin

We at BSN Denver are running a series where we rank how valuable each of the Colorado Rockies’ 51 players was to the team in 2015. Value was calculated by statistics, viewing, and how memorable each player’s contributions were. The rankings will be from last to first, you may view the full rankings (here)

Player: Chris Rusin

Stats: 24 G, 131.2 IP, 6-10, 5.33 ERA, 1.603 WHIP, 4.71 FIP, 88 ERA+, 5.9 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.9 WAR

Big Moment: Aug 16, the Colorado Rockies are at home with the Padres visiting Denver. Rusin takes the hill for a Sunday afternoon contest with Ian Kennedy opposite him. Helped by a Carlos Gonzalez solo shot and bases clearing Michael McKenry double Rusin pitches a masterpiece. Throwing the full nine the left-hander only allowed six base runners. He struck out four in 106 pitches, good enough for an 80 Game Score and a complete game shutout. The 28,927 fans that showed up that Sunday afternoon witnessed one of only a handful of complete game shutouts that have ever been pitched at Coors Field.

Season Recap: The 29-year old starter was selected off of waivers from the Chicago Cubs at the very end of the 2014 season. Rusin started the year in Triple-A with the Isotopes throwing 34.1 innings before getting called up in mid-May. He got the call because he was steady in Albuquerque and some injuries wore on the Rockies rotation. His play in the minors was a sign of what was to come as the former fourth-round pick was a very decent peice for the Rockies in 2015. Rusin was able to pitch 130 plus innings while staying durable for a team that did not often give him enough support. He added above replacement level depth and he even showed a little bit of upside at times.

What’s Ahead: Our Marco Mamolen wrote a way too early projection of the Rockies 2016 rotation where he handicapped Rusin’s likelihood at a rotation spot next year. It’s very likely that Rusin will be on the roster come Spring Training, but he will most definitely be fighting for a roster spot come April first. This is because several Rockies pitchers who became injured last season are expected back for 2016. This leaves many questions around Rusin and one option could be using him in the bullpen, but he hasn’t shown any success in that role in prior years. An important note is that Rusin is out of option years so if the Rockies were to hold on to him through spring then decide that he would not make the opening day roster, he would have to pass through waivers.