Right-hander Jeff Criswell is set to undergo Tommy John surgery, per an announcement from the Rockies. Criswell will miss the entire 2025 season, and the timing of the injury puts at least the beginning of his 2026 season in doubt as well.
Criswell, 26 next week, made his big league debut with the Rockies just last season. A second-round pick by the Athletics in the 2020 draft, Criswell was traded to the Rockies in December 2022 in a deal that brought reliever Chad Smith to Oakland. At the time, Criswell was a starting pitcher, but the right-hander struggled badly in his first season with the Rockies at the Triple-A level and was torched to the tune of a 7.51 ERA in 121 innings of work. That led the Rockies to move him to the bullpen for 2024, and the results were mixed but largely trended positive.
Criswell’s top level production numbers at Triple-A last year remained unimpressive, even after his move to the bullpen. He surrendered an ugly 6.24 ERA in 57 2/3 innings of work with the club’s Albuquerque affiliate, but a look under the hood reveals a fantastic 30% strikeout rate against a middling but not unmanageable 10.1% walk rate. That largely translated over to his 19 2/3 innings of work in the majors, only with much better results. At the big league level last year, Criswell punched out 31% of opponents while walking 10.3%, leaving him with a sterling 2.75 ERA across 13 appearances.
The right-hander’s biggest bugaboo last year, both in the majors and minors, was the home run ball. Criswell allowed more than two home runs per nine innings in the minor leagues last year, and even in Colorado he surrendered four homers in his aforementioned 19 2/3 frames of work. That 23.5% home run to fly ball ratio is perhaps unsustainable and could lead to positive regression in the future, but a hefty 12% barrel rate leaves plenty of room for concern that Criswell’s more homer-happy nature could be a matter of performance rather than purely luck-based.
Even with those question marks, Criswell appeared likely to be strongly in consideration for a bullpen job with the Rockies this year, particularly after their decision to place right-hander Justin Lawrence on waivers yesterday. Those plans are scuttled now, however, and Criswell will instead return to action at some point in the 2026 campaign and look to pick up where he left off in 2024. In the meantime, the club will have to turn to other options in the bullpen such as Angel Chivilli, Luis Peralta, and Jake Bird.
Go Blue!
I am not glad he was hurt by any means, but for the Rockies if it had to be someone, Criswell was probably the best case scenario. He was likely going to be the long man/mop up guy kind of like Peter Lambert in 2024. If he was not injured, he likely would have been the first guy on the chopping block during the season. At least this way he guarantees himself a full year’s pay and service time.
is this Yankee GM Brian Cashmans fault too?
No, it’s Ross Atkins’ fault.
It begins.
He should have predicted this. I guess for Criswell it’s Plan 9.
He balled it up in Albuquerque too much
Arenado, Donovan and Feede to Colorado for Yanquiel Fernandez and a A ball pitcher makes sense. Nolan retires a Rockie and Feede slots in to Criswell role.
I can’t believe Tim Dierkes hasn’t blocked your IP address yet. Here’s hoping he does. Your act is old.
Speaking of blocking……
Get a life loser.
You’re just dumb, son.
Except every proposal has been run through BTV before I post it and they make sense. You’re just hating.
And you’re just a loser.
Bill Schmidt gets his number blocked of he suggests that trade.
The Rockies don’t want Arenado back and Arenado doesn’t want to come back. Not every player is destined for a happy reunion.
Interesting to see this post the day after the Justin Lawrence post that implied giving Criswell or Chivilli a shot in the pen was part of the rationale. Criswell hasn’t thrown all spring so presumably the Rockies knew something was up with his arm even if they didn’t know he needed Tommy John yet. Makes me think they likely just want Lawrence gone regardless of who takes the spot
The predictive correlation between rapid role transitions (starter to reliever), coupled with a statistically significant disparity between peripheral pitching metrics and ERA, as a leading indicator of increased ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) stress and subsequent surgical intervention.