Ranking the Rockies: No. 32 Ken Roberts, we hardly knew ye

The 2015 season saw the Colorado Rockies run 30 different pitchers to the mound. Some broke camp with the team, some came up because of injuries, some made highly touted debuts and some came up to replace those not performing. In this final category we find Ken Roberts, a lefty reliever called up at the beginning of May to replace Jorge Rondon, who himself had a poor performance in his one inning for the team.

Ken Roberts was drafted by the Rockies in the 25th round of the 2010 MLB Draft, and after five years in the minors, he finally made his big league debut on May 3, 2015 against the Padres. He appeared in nine games, pitching nine and a third innings and recording an ERA of 5.79 before he was outrighted off the Major League roster and claimed by the Phillies. I can't say I blame you if you don't remember Roberts; he wasn't around long and, well, he didn't have much of an impact on the Rockies' season. He finished his time in Colorado with exactly zero wins above replacement.

Roberts never pitched with a lead for the Rockies, either. Eight of his nine appearances came with the team down two runs or more. His ninth appearance came in a tie game against the Padres in mid-August, which was also his final appearance before being outrighted. He faced two batters, and recorded one out on a fielder's choice after allowing a single to Will Venable.

He was quickly pulled in favor of Rafael Betancourt, who immediately gave up a double to Matt Kemp, bringing home the go ahead run from the fielder's choice, charged to Roberts. As it were, Roberts ended up being on the hook for the loss that day -- his first career Major League decision. It had also been his first appearance with the Rockies in almost three months after being sent to Albuquerque in early June after his first stint in Denver.

Roberts was sent back to Triple-A Albuquerque three days after the loss, where he pitched for ten days before being designated for assignment and subsequently claimed by Philadelphia, ending his time with the Rockies.

I've been struggling with what to say about Roberts, as there is only so much you can say about nine innings of work, much of which came in various mop-up roles. Roberts didn't make his big league debut until he was 27 years old, so his nearly 14 IP (he ended up throwing four innings with the Phillies later this summer) are somewhat of a success story considering not many players his age, taken that late in the draft will receive a call to the Majors.

He may have spent five years with the Rockies' organization, but Ken Roberts, we hardly knew ye.