Welcome to the 2020 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2020. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.
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No. 19, Jesus Tinoco: 0.1 rWAR
No. 18, AJ Ramos: 0.1 rWAR
Right-handed relievers Jesus Tinoco and AJ Ramos were both late-season additions that didn’t hurt the Rockies. They didn’t necessarily help, but they didn’t hurt.
Jesus Tinoco, 25, was brought over in the Troy Tulowitzki trade in 2015. He made his MLB debut in 2019 and made 24 appearances for the Rockies. He posted a 4.75 ERA and 1.61 WHIP over 36 innings.
Tinoco started 2020 as part of the Rockies player pool, but was traded to the Miami Marlins on August 14 for RHP Chad Smith before he made an appearance. While in Miami, he made three appearances — allowing three walks and striking out three over five innings. He was then designated for assignment by the Fish on August 30, claimed off waivers by the Rockies on September 3, and made his MLB return on September 17. He made three appearances for the Rockies, allowing just one earned run on three hits alongside four walks and three strikeouts over 3 2⁄3 innings. He posted a 2.45 ERA and 1.91 WHIP for the Rockies (1.04 ERA and 1.15 WHIP overall in 2020).
AJ Ramos, 34, was signed as a free agent by the Rockies on September 5 and was a positive spot for the Rockies at the end of the season. He hadn’t pitched in a major league game since May 2018 with the Mets, where he was pitching through a shoulder injury and ultimately underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum. Ramos elected free agency at the end of 2018 and eventually signed with the Dodgers in July 2020. He was released on August 28 and signed with the Cubs, but was released on September 3.
Like Tinoco, Ramos made three appearances for the Rockies in September. He pitched 2 2⁄3 innings, allowing one earned run (a solo home run to Diamondbacks rookie Pavin Smith on September 25) while walking three and striking out just one. Overall, Ramos posted a 3.38 ERA and 2.63 WHIP as a Rockie in 2020.
Tinoco still has a few years of team control before he is arbitration eligible in 2024 and has only one option left, while Ramos is now a free agent. The Rockies have plenty of right-handed relievers, but we’ll see what the future holds for these two.