Ranking The Rockies: 15 John Axford

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: John Axford

Stats: 60 G, 55.2 IP, 4-5, 4.20 ERA, 1.581 WHIP, 3.57 FIP, 111 ERA+, 1o K/9, 5.2 BB/9, 0.6 WAR

Big Moment: Aug 8, the Colorado Rockies are in the nation’s capital facing the Nationals. Axford came on to finish the 7th after Yohan Flande outpitched Max Scherzer. With the go-ahead runner, Anthony Rendon in scoring position Ryan Zimmerman hits a single and Rendon was rounding third trying to score. But, Carlos Gonzalez cut him down at the plate keeping the game tied. Axford struck out the next batter to end the inning and he continued to pitch into the eighth where he was able to retire the Nationals with relative ease. Between his innings the Rockies took a six four lead and Tommy Kahnle was able to close out the game while Axford got the win.

Season Recap: The 32-year old right-hander was signed in the offseason to a minor league deal, but after proving he was of value to the club in Spring Training he made the roster. After some turmoil and injuries, the former National Leauge Saves leader was back in his familiar role of closing out games. Axford spent a majority of the season in this role, and sans a few weeks of struggling here and there was a very good addition to the Rockies bullpen.

What’s Ahead: The Rockies and Axford couldn’t come to an agreement on terms for 2016 and the veteran reliever is a free agent. His nomadic journey will continue as he will join his sixth team in three years this coming season.