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Ranking The Rockies: 37 Wilin Rosario

October 23, 2015

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: Wilin Rosario

Stats: 87 G, 242 PA, .268 AVG, .295 OBP, .416 SLG, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 73 wRC+, -2.6 UZR (1B), -0.9 WAR

Big Moment: April 8th, the third game of the year. A Corey Dickerson home run in the seventh tied it, then a monster home run from Carlos Gonzalez took the lead for the Rockies in the eighth inning. But Rockies closer LaTroy Hawkins blew the save and forced a tie game into extras. In the top of the 10th Wilin Rosario pinch hit, and this happened.

The Rockies won 5-4, and started the season 3-0.

Season Recap: The addition of Nick Hundley forced the poor defensive catcher Rosario to first base. There he’d platoon with Justin Morneau, and get pinch hit opportunities. However, it became apparent quickly that Rosario did not have the chops for first base. It would have been fine to sacrifice defense for offense if Rosario was producing offensively like he did in 2013, but he could not do that, let alone produce at a league average, or even a replacement level rate. His past two seasons have been extremely disappointing, he even had to spend about 40 games in Triple-A this year. His bat is way too good for Triple-A, but his defense at every position is not major league caliber.

What’s Ahead: In my opinion the question with Rosario is, will the Rockies be able to trade him. I do believe he has played his last game in a Rockies uniform, but I do not know whether they will cut ties with him, or try to find a trade partner. In the unlikely case that he is back, he will be arbitration eligible, which means he will not be that affordable considering his lack of production. If he is back he will platoon at first base, and potentially catch now that Michael McKenry is a free agent and Tom Murphy is still a little bit away from being MLB ready. There was also talk of sticking him in a corner outfield spot last offseason, so look out for that.