The Rockies have agreed with right-hander Jake Woodford on a minor league deal, according to a report from Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The deal presumably includes an invite to big league Spring Training, as Harding says he’ll be able to compete for a spot in the rotation or bullpen when camp opens next month.
Woodford, 28, was a first-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2015. The right-hander worked his way up the minor league ladder with the club to make his big league debut during the shortened 2020 season. That debut wasn’t much to write home about, as he posted a lackluster 5.57 ERA in 21 innings of work. Woodford continued to pitch for St. Louis in an up-and-down role over the next few seasons, and actually enjoyed generally solid results in 2021 and ’22 with a 3.26 ERA (121 ERA+) and a 3.93 FIP in a combined 116 innings of work spread between nine starts and 42 relief appearances. Even during those years, however, his 15.4% strikeout rate was well below-average and a clear cause for concern.
Woodford’s lack of strikeouts came back to bite him during the 2023 season, when he pitched to a 6.23 ERA over 47 2/3 innings of work with the Cardinals. He not only continued to struggle with striking opponents out (13.1%) but also began having problems with his control to the point where his walk rate (9.1%) started to approach his strikeout rate. That’s nearly always a recipe for disaster, and while Woodford’s 51.2% groundball rate was solid, opposing hitters were crushing the ball when they did manage to elevate as evidenced by an 11.3% barrel rate. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Woodford’s brutal results led the Cardinals to non-tender him that November.
Ahead of the 2024 season, Woodford signed with the White Sox on a minor league deal. He ultimately was added to the roster in late May to replace injured right-hander Mike Clevinger and made two starts for Chicago. Neither of those starts went well, and he wound up surrendering ten runs on 15 hits (two homers) and five walks while striking out seven in 8 1/3 innings of work for the White Sox before he was designated for assignment in early June. He elected free agency and was signed to a minor league deal by the Pirates shortly thereafter.
Pittsburgh selected him to the roster shortly after the trade deadline last July, but his tenure with the Pirates only went slightly better than his time on the south side of Chicago had. In all, Woodford made seven appearances for the club: five starts and two relief outings. He surrendered an ugly 7.09 ERA during that time, and while a 4.07 FIP suggests that the righty may have been the victim of bad luck during his stint with the Pirates, his strikeout woes continued as he punched out just 15.7% of opponents during his time with the club.
Woodford was eventually outrighted off the Pirates’ roster near the end of last season and headed back into minor league free agency once the regular season came to a close. Now, the right-hander will get his latest opportunity with the Rockies. Colorado has famously struggled to field an effective pitching staff over the years due in large part to the difficulties associated with pitching at elevation. That’s led the Rockies to prioritize adding groundballers to their pitching staff, so it’s hardly a surprise that they would have interest in adding Woodford given that his career groundball rate at the big league level is a robust 45.1%.
Of course, Woodford’s lackluster results weren’t enough to earn him a major league deal, and he’ll need to earn a roster spot during Spring Training or wait for an opportunity to present itself later in the year as a non-roster depth option. As things stand, the Rockies appear to be more or less set in the rotation with Germán Márquez, Kyle Freeland, Austin Gomber, Ryan Feltner, and Antonio Senzatela all seemingly ticketed for the Opening Day roster. There’s a bit more room for flexibility in the bullpen, however, and it’s not impossible to imagine Woodford beating a player like Angel Chivilli or Tanner Gordon out for a roster spot with a strong showing in Spring Training.
This the guy that got flexed on lol
By ‘flexin’ Nick Castellanos
Oh to be a Rockies fan. (:
1st hand account, it sucks and will not get better until someone else owns the team. Another 100 loss season awaits.
After seeing this guy get absolutely rocked last year, I have to wonder how the Rockies of all teams pick him up
As an unfortunate Rockies fan, we need any help/arm we can get.
As a pirate fan you will regret this way of thinking you yourself would probably be a better option hel give ya a good innning maybe 2 then get blasted & in mile high elevation his problems only gonna worsen….
It’s the same song every year man. Every once in a blue moon you’ll have a Kyle Freeland or Ubaldo jiminez type year. Both were top ten Cy young voting but it’s hard to watch pitching as a Rockies fan. Now our batters aren’t even bombing anymore. The owner is the main problem.
Chivilli was actually very good for the Rockies pen. I would imagine he has a spot virtually locked down. As much as anyone in that pen anyway. And Tanner Gordon is a starter, so beating him out for a spot in the pen is not going to be that hard.
Was decent for Indianapolis (Pittsburghs AAA affiliate) last year.
Doesn’t move the needle. There’s still 20 or more free agents better than the guys on their roster. Maybe they’re being clever and waiting for the prices to come down a little. Um, go Rockies?
Monfort said there would be no big spending this year. And trust me we believe that. SELL THE TEAM
Probably true. Everyone always knocks Rockies hitters for the “Coors effect” but they never give the same consideration to Rockies pitchers. If they did, the Rockies would have probably already had 3 Cy Young winners. Marvin Freeman in 1994, Ubaldo Jimenez in 2010, and Kyle Freeland in 2018. And a possible fourth in Jeff Francis in 2007.