Colorado Rockies still have pitching questions after José Ureña signing

The Colorado Rockies put at least one piece of their 2023 rotation puzzle in place on Friday with the signing of José Ureña, but there are still plenty of other questions surrounding the puzzle of who will take the mound in Denver next season.

José Ureña signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Rockies, but the franchise has more pitching questions to answer

After being designated by assignment by the Milwaukee Brewers in May, the Colorado Rockies picked Ureña up and began the process of lengthening the 31-year-old back to a starter after the Brewers had used him solely as a reliever in his four 2022 appearances prior to the DFA. The plan worked for Colorado, especially late in the season as Ureña logged five or more innings and surrendered two or fewer runs in six of his final seven starts.

However, when Ureña struggled toward the end of the campaign, he struggled mightily, including Texas tagging him for nine earned runs in 1.1 innings on August 24 and six earned runs in 5.1 innings on September 4 in Cincinnati (the only time during the stretch mentioned above where he gave up two or more runs).

Ureña brings a high ground ball rate to the Rockies (50.5 overall last season, including 49.7 with Colorado). With league average at 44.9, Urena’s penchant for ground balls plays well at Coors Field and follows a pattern of what the franchise wants to see from their pitchers.

He figures to slot into the middle or back end of the rotation, with Kyle Freeland and German Marquez serving in the top two spots as the Rockies rotation currently stands. From there, however, the starting pitching setup in Denver for 2023 gets very murky, and that’s coming off a season where Rockies starters posted a 5.22 ERA, the second-highest in MLB, only ahead of the Washington Nationals (5.97 ERA).

Austin Gomber, who flipped between the rotation and bullpen last season, figures to be in the mix, but he struggled to an overall 5.56 ERA in 2022. Antonio Senzatela will be back once he returns from an ACL tear suffered last August, with estimates having the right-hander back in May. However, Senzatela logged a 5.07 ERA in 19 starts before his injury, not much better than Ryan Feltner’s 5.83 ERA, who had 12 of his 19 starts on the season in August and September.

There are other options for Colorado as well. Chad Kuhl could be brought back by the Rockies, but, as discussed here, his first season in Denver ended with a thud, with a 9.00 ERA over his final 10 starts. Peter Lambert threw some in the Arizona Fall League after battling forearm issues that kept him out of action in 2022. He expects to compete for a spot in spring training.

The problem, however, is that none of those options seem to be ones that can be consistent for the Rockies, meaning Colorado very well could look for veteran options this offseason from outside the organization.

Colorado is taking a chance that Ureña can provide meaningful innings for them in 2023. The question, however, is who else will not only eat up innings, but do it in an efficient way.