When Colorado was officially eliminated from the playoffs on September 12, it seemed as if this October would bring no joy to most Rockies enthusiasts in search of the next Tony Wolters’ game-winning hit.
Despite the happiness to most in the fan base Wednesday evening after the Washington Nationals completed an unlikely come-from-behind win in extra-innings to end the Los Angeles Dodgers’ campaign for three-consecutive National League pennants and their first World Series since 1988, there are still some stories relating to previously purple players worth watching this postseason.
Former Coors Field commoners such as the Milwaukee Brewers’ Drew Pomeranz and Jordan Lyles and Atlanta’s Rafael Ortega (a two-game career with the Rockies in 2012) – not to mention Colorado native Mark Melancon of Golden, have all been eliminated from contention.
Half of the playoff squads – such as the Wild Card Oakland Athletics, Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays, and Dodgers – featured nary a hint of a bygone denizen of 20th and Blake.
Oakland rostered a player whose rights were controlled by Colorado for all of about five minutes. During the 2014 Rule 5 Draft, the Rockies selected Mark Canha from the Marlins and quickly shipped him to the Athletics for reliever and Albuquerque native Austin House, who was last seen throwing a pitch for his hometown Isotopes in 2018.
The Rays’ Eric Sogard did spend parts of two seasons with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in 2017-18, and reliever Oliver Drake probably should have suited up in the purple pinstripes as he was passed around to seven different teams during the final five months of the 2018 season.
Of the four teams still in contention for the Commissioner’s Trophy, the New York Yankees most notably feature three former Colorado Rockies on their active roster: D.J. LeMahieu, Adam Ottavino and Tommy Kahnle.
Viewed by most as a player aided by his home ballpark, LeMahieu elevated his status in the pressure cooker of New York City to become an American League MVP-candidate, reaching career-highs in home runs (27) and runs batted in (102). The recipient of a two-year, $24MM contract this past offseason was the lifeblood of a 103-win club, leading the team in WAR (6.0, as per Baseball Reference), games played and total plate appearances, often playing a different position in the infield every other day.
Ottavino was no slouch either for the original pinstripers, making his three-year, $27MM contract look like a quality investment through year one. At 2.2 wins-above-replacement in 2019, the New York native had a 1.90 ERA, but saw the rest of his numbers slightly impacted by the potency of the AL’s designated hitters; a 4.30 xFIP suggests he was quite lucky this season.
Kahnle, the only Rule 5 draft pick in Rockies franchise history to ever make a 25-man roster, was dealt to the Chicago White Sox for Yency Almonte after two seasons in Colorado. Pitching to a 3.67 earned run average in the Bronx during the regular season, Kahnle has already logged 2.1 innings pitched over each of the three games during the Yankees’ sweep of the Twins.
In the NL, only two of Dick Monfort’s soldiers still remain: St. Louis Cardinals’ outfielder Dexter Fowler and Washington Nationals’ outfielder Gerardo Parra.
Parra was swept up by D.C. after getting released by the San Francisco Giants in early May and continued to play slightly above replacement baseball, providing late-inning sparks off the bench to spur several rallies, including three that dealt a critical blow to the Rockies in late July.
Fowler, owner of a 2016 World Series ring with the Chicago Cubs, rebounded for 1.7 WAR after an awful -1.4 WAR last season and helped his club secure the NL Central on the final day of the season. His walk to leadoff Game 5 against Atlanta started the 10-run inning for the Cardinals, a rally the likes of which have never been seen before in over 100 years of playoff action.
Regardless of which former Rockies player or which storyline you root for this postseason, one thing is certain for all Colorado fans: the blue and white champagne showers of the Los Angeles Dodgers will no longer haunt you this October.
