The Rockies are in settlement with Michael Lorenzen on a one-year, $8MM contract, studies Jeff Passan of ESPN. The deal features a $9MM membership choice for the 2027 season.
It’s the primary MLB signing of the winter for Colorado, that means it’s Paul DePodesta’s first notable pickup as their head of baseball operations. (The Purple Sox are actually the one workforce that hasn’t signed an enormous league free agent deal this offseason.) It’s more likely to be the primary of some pitching provides for the rebuilding membership. Normal supervisor Josh Byrnes stated this week that they had been hoping to usher in two skilled starters.
The Rockies very hardly ever add to their rotation by way of free company. That is the primary time they’ve added a free agent starter on a $5MM+ assure because the Kyle Kendrick signing in 2015. Coors Area clearly isn’t a most popular vacation spot for many pitchers. That they’re driving a seven-year streak of ending fourth or fifth within the NL West doesn’t assist issues.
One factor they’ll actually provide is alternative. Lorenzen could be a sixth starter or swing arm for lots of groups. He’ll get a assured rotation spot in Colorado, the place he lands behind Kyle Freeland as their most established arms. The 34-year-old righty has spent the previous season and a half with the Royals. He labored behind Kansas Metropolis’s rotation for many of that point, together with 26 begins in 27 appearances final 12 months. Lorenzen pitched to a 4.64 earned run common over 141 2/3 innings.
A multi-inning reliever early in his profession with the Reds, Lorenzen prioritized a rotation alternative upon attending to free company after the 2021 season. He has bounced round on a handful of one-year offers which have typically given him a back-end beginning job. That is the fifth consecutive offseason by which he commanded precisely one 12 months on an MLB contract. The offers have all assured between $4.5MM and $8.5MM and have include 5 totally different groups: the Angels, Tigers, Rangers, and Royals. He has additionally been traded twice and is now on his seventh workforce general.
Lorenzen has surpassed 130 innings in every of the previous three seasons. He has required an injured checklist stint in 4 consecutive years, however a 2022 shoulder pressure led to his solely prolonged absence. His latest IL stints have been for minor points: groin, hamstring, neck and indirect strains — none of which price him greater than a month.
The 6’3″ righty works with one of many deepest arsenals of any pitcher in MLB. Statcast’s pitch monitoring metrics identification seven distinct pitches, none of which he makes use of greater than 1 / 4 of the time. His four-seam fastball checks in round 94 MPH. He additionally throws a sinker, changeup, and 4 breaking pitches (slider, curveball, cutter, sweeper). Nothing stands out as plus in isolation, however he carves out respectable outcomes by mixing and matching. Lorenzen has a 4.10 ERA with a modest 19.3% strikeout fee in opposition to a median 8.7% stroll proportion over the previous 4 seasons.
Extra to come back.
