{"id":119279,"date":"2026-04-17T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=119279"},"modified":"2026-04-17T10:59:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:59:12","slug":"rockies-bullpen-delivering-on-offseason-promise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/04\/17\/rockies-bullpen-delivering-on-offseason-promise\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockies’ Bullpen Delivering on Offseason Promise"},"content":{"rendered":"

On paper, this Colorado Rockies’ bullpen was arguably the best<\/a> in franchise history. So far this season, they have delivered on that promise. That is not a high bar to clear, as the Rockies’ bullpen has routinely finished near the bottom of the league due to half their games being played at Coors Field every season. But whenever the Rockies have made the postseason, their bullpen has finished more towards the middle of the pack. Not saying this Rockies club is anywhere near postseason contention. But for a franchise that has experienced numerous heartbreaking defeats due to the bullpen throughout its history, the performance so far this year has been very refreshing.<\/p>\n

Stellar Long Relief<\/h2>\n

The Rockies’ front office and coaching staff emphasized this offseason that there was going to be a new way of doing things in Colorado. Finally making outside hires<\/a> in the President of Baseball Operations, Paul DePodesta, and general manager Josh Byrnes have paid dividends in the offseason and the regular season. Often on Major League Baseball teams, the long reliever feels like a throwaway piece, to put it bluntly. It’s a low-leverage former starting pitcher that can eat up innings when your starting pitcher only lasts two innings in a 6-0 rout.<\/p>\n

The Rockies were instead innovative in their approach; yes, the “Rockies” are being innovative. 2026 is weird. Right-hander Chase Dollander<\/a> showed flashes of his promise<\/a> as a starting pitcher this spring, but there was still enough inconsistency to make him a perfect candidate for long relief. He was joined by fellow RHP Antonio Senzatela<\/a>, who had the worst season of his career<\/a> last season in the Rockies’ rotation. To be fair, until seeing their performances this season, they seemed like the prototypical long relief candidates every team utilizes.<\/p>\n

But Senzatela came out of the gates firing<\/a> and has been a completely different pitcher. Get your bets in now on Senzatela as comeback player of the year in baseball because holy cow! Senzatela was arguably a couple of bad outings out of the gate away from being designated for assignment. Instead, Senzatela went to work this offseason on his pitch mix, and the results have been exemplary. Last season, he utilized his cutter and sinker just 2% and 1% of the time, respectively. This year, he is using his cutter and sinker 27% and 12% of the time. The velocity on his sinker is up from 91.2 mph to 95.9 mph. Additionally, he lowered his four-seam fastball usage from 57% to 40%.<\/p>\n

The New Senza<\/h2>\n

Per Statcast<\/a>, Senzatela was in the bottom one percent league-wide with a -41 pitching run value and -25 fastball run value. Following his offseason adjustments? He’s in the top three percent league-wide<\/a> with a seven pitching run value and six fastball run value! Talk about being innovative and proactive. His xERA is 1.33 (98th percentile), .143 xBA (97th percentile), and 34.9% K rate (93rd percentile). Until this season, Senzatela has been a pitch-to-contact pitcher, adept at forcing groundouts. His K rate had never been above 18.1%, which was in his rookie season. He hasn’t had a K rate above 15.7% since 2021. Last year, his K rate was a career-low 11.8%!<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old veteran has completely reinvented himself, and it’s paying off in a major way. Oh, he’s also still great at forcing groundouts. His 56% GB rate is in the 86th percentile league-wide. Quite frankly, Senzatela wasn’t even in the equation when talking about the potential of this Rockies bullpen. It was more a question of how long he’d stick around in the bullpen on the last leg of his career. Last year was that bad. This year, he’s leading the Rockies’ bullpen, and the longest-tenured Rockie alongside teammate LHP Kyle Freeland<\/a> has been the story of the season so far for Colorado. But that’s far from the whole story when it comes to this Rockies’ bullpen.<\/p>\n

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Another Day, Different Dollander<\/h2>\n

It got loud for Dollander<\/a> during his rookie season last year. The Rockies’ ninth-round pick in 2023 out of the University of Tennessee had a 9.98 ERA at Coors Field and experienced multiple demotions to Triple-A Albuquerque. The questions about Dollander being able to succeed at Coors Field were being asked. It was no doubt frustrating and a long season for the young pitcher. But like Senzatela, he has turned a new leaf out of the Rockies’ bullpen to begin 2026.<\/p>\n

His debut was less than ideal. In mop-up duty against the Toronto Blue Jays on March 30, Dollander allowed four runs on three home runs over four innings in a 14-5 Rockies’ win. Like last season, the strikeout stuff was very exciting as Dollander notched five Ks. But it came with the inconsistency too, the homers allowed and the two BBs. Once the calendar turned to April, Dollander hit a different gear.<\/p>\n

Houston, You Got a Problem<\/h3>\n

Covering 15 innings across four outings, Dollander has allowed just three earned runs on 10 hits. With a whopping 18 Ks to just four BBs. The best outing came against the Houston Astros on Thursday, April 16. When Dollander helped the Rockies salvage a seven-game road trip with an all-time relief performance for the Rockies. Pitching 5 1\/3 shutout innings with nine Ks and just one hit allowed. It had been a while since the Rockies saw a performance like that out of the bullpen. You have to go back to their inaugural season in 1993 when reliever Bruce Ruffin<\/a> pitched four shutout innings with nine Ks and zero BBs in a 9-4 Rockies win over the Astros.<\/p>\n

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Take a bow, Chase!<\/p>\n

9\u20e3 strikeouts (a career high) pic.twitter.com\/wpcCKGarGs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 17, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n