Colorado Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino eager to return from Tommy John surgery

Rockies' Adam Ottavino made most of his journey back from Tommy John - The Denver Post

Remember the video Adam Ottavino posted at the Player's Tribune about his Tommy John surgery rehab? He did that because he knew that the rehabilitation process, among other things, would be boring. As Patrick Saunders has it, Ottavino needed to "fill the void." Now, he's back to throwing off of the mound, though softly. The Rockies hope to have their dominant reliever back later this season, and Ottavino likewise hopes to return to action soon.

Jeff Hoffman says the ups and downs are part of the MLB process | Mile High Sports

In his last outing, Jeff Hoffman was roughed up, as he allowed eight hits and four runs. Significantly, the outing isn't damaging Hoffman's confidence in himself. Hoffman had a very slim chance of breaking camp with the Rockies to start the season. That would probably still be true if he had a solid outing. In other words, spring training results don't matter, and they matter even less when they won't alter the player's assignment. Right now, take comfort in Hoffman's confidence, and look forward to seeing how he does the next time out.

Colorado Rockies’ Jon Gray, Chad Bettis represent young, high-potential pitching staff

Drew Creasman provides an overview of the five pitchers who are likely to compose the rotation to start the season: Jorge De La Rosa, Chad Bettis, Tyler Chatwood, Jordan Lyles, and Jon Gray. He notes that when the season starts, the Rockies will have a rotation "with a lot of unknown quantities." Further, he writes, "the cynical way to view this is to say that none of these young men can be counted on." And he concludes that none of the youngsters, the rotation aside from elder De La Rosa, has reached his full potential.

That's true, but—Negative Ned here—them reaching their full potential is also something that can't be counted on. I'll call it a success if they can keep Chris Rusin and Yohan Flande out of the rotation.

Baseball Prospectus | Pebble Hunting: Should Have Taken Trout

The Rockies passed up the opportunity to draft Mike Trout in 2009. Another 22 teams did as well, although the Nationals get a pass because of how highly regarded Stephen Strasburg was at the time. At Baseball Prospectus, Sam Miller does some simple Wins Above Replacement Player math to see how much better a team would have been if they had only drafted Trout.

Alas, the Rockies are one of three teams, the Padres and Marlins being the other two, who would not have reaped a playoff berth due to the presence of Trout and the exclusion of the player they did draft in the first round in 2009, Tyler Matzek. In fact, the 73, 84, 74, and 78 win seasons they would have had since 2012 would also have led to poorer draft position.

In conclusion, the Rockies were smart to pass on Trout, even though that his current fWAR with the Angels would place him behind only Todd Helton and Larry Walker on the all-time Rockies list. Clever move.