The Colorado Rockies have signed undrafted pitcher Blake Goldsberry. The right-handed pitcher is the third undrafted free agent Colorado has signed after Luke Leisenring and Tanner Propst. Rockies beat writer Thomas Harding announced the signing late Wednesday evening.
Undrafted right Goldsberry, #Rockies agree to terms https://t.co/7uVLklZfQO https://t.co/7uVLklZfQO pic.twitter.com/WI2VkuB6sC
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) July 2, 2020
Rockies Sign Blake Goldsberry
Baseball-Reference lists Goldsberry as a 6’4″, 220-pound right-handed pitcher originally from Littleton, Colorado. He played his high school baseball at Cherry Creek (CO) high where he went 8-1 with a 2.33 ERA as a senior. He attended the University of Kansas from 2016 to now after going undrafted out of high school.
Kansas mostly used Goldsberry as a reliever. He did start in two games in five seasons but almost all of his 81 appearances began in the bullpen. His career 5.74 ERA in 127 innings is not good but it is skewed thanks to a dreadful 11.94 ERA as a 19-year-old. That figure is inflated thanks to a rate of 2.9 home runs per nine innings. That is more than three times the next-highest rate.
2020 started as Goldsberry’s strongest collegiate campaign. He had a 0.00 ERA and eight strikeouts to one walk in 10 innings of work before the pandemic shut the season down. He was close to his career-best in strikeout rate and cut down on walks. Goldsberry was almost two years older than the average hitter but the improvement is still encouraging. His fastball is his best weapon, sitting between 90 and 95 mph but he also has a good changeup and an improving slider.
What This Means for the Future
Goldsberry is similar to several average college arms they have drafted in recent years. He has a starters frame but his relief-only usage could push him back into the bullpen. There will be no minor league baseball in 2020 so we do not know what Colorado’s plans are for its minor leaguers. There could be some sort of extended spring training for those not part of the 60-man roster used in the majors this year. Hopefully, we will know more in the next few weeks as baseball returns.
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