Rockies season review 2014: Ryan Wheeler made some cameos, then got designated for assignment

You know how the old saying goes: if you have two Wheelers, you have no Wheelers.

That was certainly the case in 2014 for the Rockies, who employed a pair of Wheelers at the highest minor league level of the organization but didn't get much offensive production out of either one. But at least in the case of Ryan Wheeler, he had a couple of cups of coffee in the big leagues.

Wheeler (Ryan, not Tim) hung around Denver long enough to compile 64 plate appearances, finishing with a .232/.281/.375 line and four extra-base hits. He provided one fairly memorable moment, clobbering a grand slam on June 26 in a game the Rockies eventually lost to the Brewers, 7-4. But that was one of only two games in which Wheeler had more than one hit. Truth be told, his time with the Rockies this season was awful, partially because of his poor play (Wheeler was worth three runs below average on defense in addition to his uninspiring offensive production), but mostly because he was filling in for Nolan Arenado, whose injury and ensuing disabled list stint coincided with the team's annual downward spiral.

Wheeler was eventually designated for assignment on July 31 claimed off of waivers by the Angels two days later. The 26-year-old infielder went on to post a .326/.373/.402 line in 102 plate appearances for Triple-A Salt Lake.

2014 Grade: D

Wheeler was bad on defense not much better on offense in his brief big league cameos. In two years with the Rockies, Wheeler finished a .227/.264/.330 hitter with two home runs in 106 plate appearances. He was never really supposed to be anything but emergency depth, so it's fairly safe to say the Rockies got about what they expected out of the Torrance, Calif. native.