The Rockies announced that left-hander Ryan Rolison has been outrighted off their major league roster, indicating he passed through waivers unclaimed. He will stick in the organization without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.
Rolison, now 26, was the club’s first-round pick in the 2018 draft, getting selected 22nd overall. But he hasn’t been able to deliver much on that promise so far, mostly due to injuries. The minor leagues were wiped out by the pandemic in 2020 and Rolison was then limited to just 16 starts in 2021, missing over two months due to an appendectomy. Nonetheless, the Rockies added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2021 to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.
In 2022, the Rockies placed Rolison on the 60-day injured list in April due to a shoulder strain and he missed that entire season, eventually undergoing surgery in June. Since he was on the major league injured list, he collected a full year of service time despite not making his major league debut. He wasn’t fully healthy at the start of the 2023 campaign and was on the 60-day injured list to begin the campaign, but was reinstated and optioned at the end of May. But shoulder issues quickly resurfaced and he was placed on the 60-day IL again in July, not returning to action in the second half. There’s no IL in the offseason, so Rolison was on the verge of needing to be added back to the roster, but the club has outrighted him instead.
The current state of his shoulder isn’t known but he only made four appearances in the minors this year, tossing just 11 innings. The combination of the pandemic year, the appendectomy and the shoulder issues has resulted in Rolison throwing just 82 2/3 over the past four years combined. Despite his pedigree as a former first-rounder, it’s not surprising that none of the 30 clubs is currently willing to give him a roster spot, given all the ongoing uncertainty around his health.
If he can get past the shoulder issues in the future, he should be able to earn his way back into the plans in Colorado. The Rockies have very little certainty on their pitching staff right now and could easily fit him back onto the roster if he shows any hope of getting back on track.
The Rockies are currently slated to start the offseason with a 40-man roster count of 35, though future transactions could obviously alter that.
He is a walking injury. No point in investing good money after bad. Good luck in your future endeavors.
And yet another 1st rnd bust for rox
And to think they drafted this kid over Shane McClanahan.
They also drafted Aaron Schunk over Michael Harris.
And Bill Schmidt is supposed to be this “great draft mind”
Harris was pick #98. I think EVERYONE picked someone over him at least twice. Can’t really blame the Rockies for that one.
They have 35 on the 40 man roster technically, but there are 4 others that are on the 60 day IL that will need to be activated after the WS. So they really have 39 spots occupied.
Oh yeah. Three free agents, Flexen, Suter, and Anderson will be removed before the Rule 5 deadline. So will likely protect 4 players then. Assuming they don’t make any other changes. I suspect Amador, Fernandez, Tanner Gordon, and maybe Jeff Criswell will get added.
Hey, you guys wanna hear a story about Ryan Rolison!?
I am referring, of course, to the time in Kindergarten when he gave his sandwich to a classmate who forgot to bring his lunch to school that day and that classmate then grew up to become Joe B1den. What did you think I was referring to Harry?