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: Jorge De La Rosa
Stats: 26 G, 149 IP, 9-7, 4.17 ERA, 1.356 WHIP, 4.19 FIP, 112 ERA+, 8.1 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 1.7 WAR
Big Moment: May 16, the Colorado Rockies are in Los Angeles playing the Dodgers. De La Rosa gets the ball for his fifth start of the season taking on soon-to-be Cy Young runner-up Zack Greinke. In the game, Carlos Gonzalez, Daniel Descalso and Nolan Arenado hit long balls propelling the Rockies offense to seven runs. That was more than enough for JDLR who pitched a gem. He went 7.1 innings allowing only two hits while striking out three and inducing two double plays.
Season Recap: The left-hander became the Rockies franchise wins leader in 2015 and he had another very good year. “De La” is arguably the best pitcher in franchise history and it’s a shame how little respect he garners. His 78-52 record and 4.20 ERA over his more than 1,000 innings in a Rockies uniform is spectacular. In 2015, all he did was bolster his high caliber resume.
De La Rosa started the year in Triple-A because of a spring training injury sidelined him. He made two starts for the Isotopes before joining the Rockies on April 20th. After a few games which got him conditioned his fifth start (mentioned above) really set the tone for the rest of his season.
In his age 34 season, he not only cemented his legacy but he had a great individual season with near personal bests in every single pitching category. From mid-May on he was all the Rockies could’ve hoped for and he was one of the only bright spots in a dark season. Define an ace as you will, but De La Rosa was just that for the Rockies.
What’s Ahead: Our Marco Mamolen recently wrote a way too early projection of the Rockies 2016 rotation where he tagged De La Rosa as one of the three “locks” for the 2016 rotation. The only way the Rockies top pitcher doesn’t start on opening day is if he gets injured or traded. The second scenario probably won’t happen before opening day but he could be traded before the deadline with only one year left on his contract.
