New Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt didn’t waste any time making two significant moves.
On Tuesday, the Rockies locked up groundball-inducing starter Antonio Senzatela to a five-year, $50.5 million contract extension, and re-signed slugging first baseman C.J. Cron to a two-year, $14.5 million deal.
Schmidt, who’d been the Rockies’ interim GM since early May, replacing Jeff Bridich, was named the permanent GM on Saturday.
Senzatela, the 26-year-old right-hander, will earn $7.25 million in both 2022 and ’23 and then make $12 million from 2024-26. There is a club option in 2027 for $14 million.
Colorado’s starting rotation, despite an inconsistent final two months of the season, was the club’s main strength, and Senzatela was the rotation’s most consistent starter down the stretch. In eight of his final 10 outings, he posted a quality start, going 2-2 with a 3.90 ERA. That, despite a terrible outing in his final start on Saturday at Arizona. The Diamondbacks lit Senzatela up for six runs on six hits in just two-thirds of an inning.
The right-hander, who went 4-10 with a 4.42 ERA, is an anomaly in this day of fireball strikeout pitchers. His 6.0 strikeouts per nine innings ranked as one of the lowest in the majors and paled in comparison to teammate German Marquez’s 8.8 strikeout rate that ranked 16th.
Senzatela, however, ranked second in the National League with 19 groundball double plays, third with a 1.84 walks-per-nine-innings, and fifth with a 51.8 ground ball percentage. Though Senzatela’s 4.65 ERA at Coors Field is not that pretty, he’s 24-14 at the hitter-friendly ballpark, a .667 home winning percentage that ranks as the second-highest by a Rockies starter in franchise history. He trails only lefty Jorge De La Rosa, who was 53-20 at home (.726).
Over the past two seasons, Senzatela improved his slider, curve, and changeup, adding them to his consistent fastball. All of those pitches were on display in Colorado’s 3-2, 10-inning victory at Atlanta on Sept. 16. He held the Braves to two runs across six innings. Of his 88 pitches, 67 were for strikes.
“He had a good fastball tonight — a guy that has great conviction in his fastball, which I love,” manager Bud Black said. “He mixed in some changeups — not many curveballs, but a few. His slider was solid. He pitched very well and made some big pitches when he needed to.”
Cron, 31, rebounding from last year’s season-ending knee surgery when he played just nine games with Detroit, slashed .281/.375/.530 with 28 home runs. Although Cron led the Rockies in both homers and RBIs (92), his home/road splits were dramatic. He hit .326/.412/.661 with 19 homers at Coors Field vs. .235/.337/.397 with nine homers on the road.
“He’ll be the first to tell you that they’re pretty drastic, and he would like to improve on those,” Black said last week. “And that’s something we’ve talked about a lot.”
Added Cron: “For whatever reason, the splits are what they are. If we knew (why), the splits wouldn’t be so drastic. I feel comfortable here, at home, but I feel comfortable on the road, too. Maybe it’s just the swings of the season, the ups and downs, and maybe that kicks into this.”
Cron has a reputation for being a streaky hitter, but when he gets hot, he does a lot of damage. He was the National League Player of the month for August, hitting .387 with 11 homers and a 1.291 OPS. Cron’s three grand slams this season were the most in franchise history.
One of the things the Rockies liked most about Cron’s season was his overall .375 on-base percentage, due in part to his greatly improved walk rate. Prior to the season, Cron drew walks at a 5.5% clip, but his walk rate increased to 11% this season.
The Rockies, who finished the season with a 74-87 record, still have a lot of work to do. Schmidt said the team plans to add a bullpen arm or two and would like to add another power hitter.
The Rockies have also said they are interested in re-signing right-hander Jon Gray, but Gray finished the season in an eight-start slump and it will be interesting to see if Senzatela’s new contract precludes the Rockies from reaching a new contract with Gray.
