There was once a time in baseball when the reliever was an unknown quantity. It was expected that the starting pitcher would pitch the entire game come hell or high water, with the occasional reliever coming in if absolutely necessary. As time went on the reliever became more prevalent evolving into the advent of the closer role and single-inning appearances. It’s a role with a relatively low headcount in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and yet has become one of the most impactful roles in the modern game of baseball. Often placed in the highest leverage situations in a game, a bullpen is crucial to teams wanting to compete and contend for a championship title.

It’s also a glaring weakness for teams when the bullpen, or parts of it, aren’t very good. This season has proven that fact plenty of times, especially when it comes to the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies have set plenty of unfortunate records this season and the most recent addition was when they blew a lead in the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins at Coors Field. The loss marked the fourth time this season that the Rockies had lost a game in which they led by four or more runs entering the ninth inning or later. It’s a modern-era record as it is more losses of that variety than any team in history in a single season.

The struggles of the Rockies bullpen have been well documented in their history. Since their inception in 1993, the Rockies have had the highest ERA in baseball at 4.86 and the second most losses at 806. Their 534 blown saves are the most in baseball and they have the third-fewest saves behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays, both of whom joined the league in 1998. A common thread for the Rockies has been too many walks and home runs and not enough strikeouts.

Now, there have been plenty of success stories and quality relievers that have made their way through Denver. The success of the Rockies in 1995, 2007, 2009, 2017 and 2018 where they reached the playoffs was anchored by a solid bullpen.

Over the past few seasons, the Rockies have had one of the worst pens in all of baseball. The struggles of altitude along with a mixture of overwork and lack of talent have exacerbated their problems leaving the team with a need to address it going forward. Luckily for them, there are plenty of in-house options that could help in the coming seasons.

A main component for the bullpen that they appear to be going for with their new crop of arms is a high octane, high strikeout potential.

Victor Vodnik, Angel Chivilli, Luis Peralta, Seth Halverson, Jeff Criswell and Jaden Hill present a slew of bullpen arms capable of hitting mid to upper 90s on their fastballs. Several of them are capable of hitting 100 fairly regularly. A hearty fastball that can ride to the top of the zone and induce more swings and misses is a trait that fits in the modern mold of baseball.

However, the concern with these arms will be an ability to not only throw a fastball but being able to control and command it. Walks are the kryptonite of the Rockies pitching staff and the bullpen cannot afford to give away free passes. Not only that, but hitting spots is of the utmost important to be effective as well as prevent batters from getting hit.

For years the Rockies tried to put an emphasis on sinker/slider combos to be effective at Coors Field but as of late they have tried to move on from that and just let pitchers be themselves while utilizing the top of the zone more. Each of the young rookie arms coming up in the system have that ability to throw gas but then can compliment with wicked sliders, changeups, and other offspeed/breaking ball pitches. That alone can make the bullpen a new advantage moving forward.

There is no doubt that the Rockies are trying to build their bullpen back up, and the influx of new arms as of late is a promising sign of that progression. Having confidence in a number of pitchers late in the game is going to do wonders for the Rockies in terms of helping them win games. The Rockies have the highest ERA in the ninth inning of anyone in baseball and that is because of a lack of shutdown ability late in games. The high-wire trapeze acts fans have been subject too over the last few years isn’t conducive to becoming a better team.

There is a lot to like about the prospective bullpen arms coming up for the Rockies. The first wave is heralding a power movement in the pen that will be built on putting out fires and closing the door because that’s what the best bullpens in the game can do.