Ranking The Rockies: 19 Christian Bergman

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: Christian Bergman

Stats: 30 G, 68.1 IP, 3-1, 4.74 ERA, 1.420 WHIP, 4.23 FIP, 99 ERA+, 4.87 K/9, 1.98 BB/9, 0.3 WAR

Big Moment: Sep 19, the Colorado Rockies are at home facing division foe, the San Deigo Padres. The Rockies starter Yohan Flande was only able to give them 2.2 innings before Walt Weiss decided he’d give the ball off to the long reliever Bergman. Ahead 5-1, he inherits two runners with two outs but he gets out of the third inning. The 27-year old right-hander then pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning, and a 1-2-3 fifth inning (with the help of two double plays). In the sixth he gave up a solo home run, but he struck out everyone else. His final line was 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 2 GIDP. Bergman was the pitcher of record getting the win on the Rockies 10-2 victory.

Season Recap: Bergman was a starter in 2014, getting 10 starts at the big league level. He started four games this year too, but he was used mainly as a long reliever. Coming into the season he was going to compete for that role with Tyler Anderson, but Anderson got hurt and the role was Bergman’s. He did a solid job in the role too, it’s a hard one to play because Bergman has to be constantly ready to come into the ballgame. He did that adequately and he was also able to provide some versatility pitching in late-game situations. The 24th round pick from 2010 improved as a pitcher in 2015 by inducing more groundballs and using his changeup more. His higher usage of his changeup made his fastball a better pitch, couple that with his improved curveball and there is the explanation for why his ERA dropped.

What’s Ahead: Bergman is a cheap option for the Rockies to bring back because he is still in pre-arbitration. Their bullpen seemingly has every role open so it will be up to the six-foot-one right-hander to have a good offseason and spring training if he wants to get a better role.