The Rockies didn’t have to count on Shane Carle in 2017

Welcome to the 2017 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at the in-season contributions of every player to don the purple this past season. The goal wasn’t and isn’t to quibble with order. Instead, it’s to get a snapshot of a player along with a look forward. For that reason, we simply sorted by Baseball-Reference’s Wins Above Replacement (rWAR) and will start at the bottom and end up at the top.

No. 26, Shane Carle (0 rWAR)

Shane Carle’s role with the Colorado Rockies this year was indicative of the the team’s success. Carle pitched in three games across three different stints with the big-league team. In all three outings, Carle entered a game that was a Rockies blowout loss and finished the contest. Never once did the Rockies have to count on Carle or a player of similar caliber to make a start.

Since 2010 the Rockies’ woes could be summed up by the number of pitching starts given to players simply because they could give you 100 pitches. Pitchers like Yohan Flande, Jeff Manship, Christian Bergman, and Jair Jurrjens all made starts for woeful Rockies teams that had no other choice.

This past season could have followed a similar script, with three of the Rockies’ four presumed starting pitchers going into spring training making simultaneous trips to the DL early in the season. Thankfully, instead of having to count on the fringy Carle to fill in, the Rockies had a surplus of legitimate pitching prospects at the ready to step in. Due to that expected depth, the Rockies even transitioned Carle from the rotation to the bullpen for Triple-A Albuqueque.

2018 Outlook

Carle’s future probably looks a lot like the past. Whether it’s for the Rockies or eventually another team, he’ll probably be Triple-A depth that can be called upon when necessary. There is always a slight chance that in year two of being converted to the bullpen that Carle breaks out at age 27, but that seems unlikely.