Ranking The Rockies: 21 Christian Friedrich

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 Friedrich

Stats: 68 G, 58.1 IP, 0-4, 5.25 ERA, 1.714 WHIP, 4.04 FIP, 89 ERA+, 6.94 K/9, 3.86 BB/9, 9 Holds, 0.2 WAR

Big Moment: July 11, the Rockies are at home with the Atlanta Braves visiting. The game is tied 2-2 heading into the eighth, Walt Weiss keeps the ball in veteran Rafael Betancourt‘s hand. He had just gotten his club out of a seventh-inning jam created by Rex Brothers. But, in this inning Betancourt himself creates a jam. With left-handed batter, Kelly Johnson coming up and two runners on with one out Friedrich takes over and forces a groundball. But the Rockies are unable to get an out. Leaving the bases loaded for Andrelton Simmons. Friedrich gets a shallow fly ball, leaving the runners stationary and giving the Rockies two outs. The lefty is then able to strike out Ryan Lavarnway. Friedrich was able to get the Rockies out of a major jam and set them up for a 3-2 walk-off win.

Season Recap: The former Colorado first rounder finally started to see some sustained success this year. In his now permanent bullpen role, he has started to find some comfort. In fact, you could make the case that the 28-year old was the best reliever on the club in 2015. His much improved, slow breaking, nasty curveball was used more, and more effectively. His platoon splits along with his curveball/slider pitch mix makes him an ideal left-handed specialist. Though Friedrich allowed righties to OPS more than .300 points higher than lefties, he showed he was able to get outs facing right-handed batters at times. That is a huge reason why he was used in so many games this season.

What’s Ahead: Between him and Boone Logan, one will be a left-handed specialist and the other will be a backend guy in 2016. Really, one of the only relievers that is almost a lock for the team is Friedrich. He could either be a long reliever or a seventh/eighth inning guy for the 2016 Rockies. The lefty is very versatile, and if he makes another jump like the one he made in 2015, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him be one of the main setup men.