September 16: The Rockies have made it official, with Senzatela reinstated and right-hander Jake Bird optioned as the corresponding move.
September 14: The Rockies are planning to activate right-hander Antonio Senzatela from the 60-day IL for his season debut on Monday against the Diamondbacks, as noted by Manny Randhawa of MLB.com. The Rockies’ 40-man roster currently stands at 39, meaning a corresponding 40-man move will only be necessary to activate Senzatela if the vacancy is filled before his return.
The 29-year-old righty is poised to suit up for his eighth season in the big leagues, all of which have been spent in the Rockies organization. Senzatela was limited to just two starts in 2023 due to an elbow sprain before ultimately undergoing Tommy John surgery last July. Prior to that, the righty had emerged as one of the club’s better pitchers since a breakout 2020 season where he posted a 3.44 ERA in 12 starts. In 59 starts from 2020 to 2022, Senzatela pitched to a solid 4.38 ERA that’s actually 10% better than league average by ERA+, a stat that adjusts for park factors to account for the inflated offensive environment at Coors Field.
What’s more, the righty actually sported an even stronger 3.96 FIP over that same time frame. While he struck out just 14.4% of batters faced over those three seasons, Senzatela’s ability to limit walks to a clip of just 5.3% and keep the ball on the ground (50.6% grounder rate) to limit home runs allowed him to post solid peripherals that gave the Rockies enough confidence to extend him following the 2021 season on a five-year deal worth $50.5MM that includes a club option for the 2027 season. Unfortunately, the contract hasn’t exactly gone well to this point as Senzatela’s 2022 season was cut short by an ACL tear, and his last two campaigns have been more or less wiped out by Tommy John surgery and the subsequent rehab process.
Despite the right-hander now being set to make less than 25 starts over the first three years of the contract, however, it’s not hard to imagine him being a valuable piece for the Rockies headed into 2025. After all, Senzatela’s grounder-heavy game plays quite well at elevation and it’s not hard to imagine a rotation that pairs him with some combination of German Marquez, Cal Quantrill, Kyle Freeland, Ryan Feltner, and Austin Gomber finding some level of success, at least by the standards of a Rockies franchise that has struggled to find consistent pitching results even in its most competitive years. With a rare rotation surplus in Colorado and other young arms like prospect Carson Palmquist currently at the Triple-A level, it’s even possible to imagine the Rockies having enough arms available for their 2025 rotation that they could listen to trade offers involving a pitcher like Quantrill or Gomber, as they reportedly did prior to this summer’s trade deadline.
As the Rockies head towards the finish line of what could be their second consecutive 100-loss campaign, dealing an arm from the rotation could allow them to address other areas of the roster and supplement the club’s core pieces like Ryan McMahon, Brenton Doyle, and Ezequiel Tovar on the positional side. For now, though, Senzatela and the Rockies figure to focus on getting the right-hander some starts at the big league level down the stretch as he looks to shake off the rust and head into his first healthy offseason since he signed the aforementioned extension.
Senzational news. Always been one of my favorites.
Hah good pun i wouldn’t have thought senzatela and sensational
We will see if his elbow is still senzative before the season runs out.
Just in time for the playoff ru..uh… Nevermind.
That’s a good one. Stand up at Chuckie cheese is your calling
@jramey1
At least I’ll have a job in the future.
I know this sounds far fetched and general terms but I think Colorado will be vastly improved next season… As long as they stay to the current course and not get faltering free agents. The pitching staff, especially the pen, has a couple young rookies who look very good. I’m betting the offense puts it together too.
The key thing to improve the team is making more contact on offense. Coors Field is a great advantage to your offense if you put the ball in play. But if you strikeout, it’s no different than any other field.
Yeah limit strikeouts on offense and pitchers need to limit walks.
All 3 of you are correct. Been a Rockies fan since the beginning. Playing at altitude then sea level then back to altitude HAS is one of the most difficult things to do in all sports. Winning here consistently in baseball has never happened. 95-97 are the only 3 consecutive winnings seasons.
EY was an unsung catapult to those 90s Rox offense. When he got on base, the opposing pitchers had to throw fastballs to the meat of the lineup. Also, his speed cause opposing team errors.
Also, Gallaraga then Helton, Walker and Castillo and even Neifi when he was a Rox were good defenders. Good defense is critical to help the beleaguered pitching staff.