The Colorado Rockies have the second worst record in baseball entering play on Thursday. The team has long been out of contention in the NL West and the National League Wild Card race. Nonetheless, the Rockies were fairly quiet at the MLB trade deadline, opting to hold onto third baseman Ryan McMahon and eschewing the haul of prospects he could have brought the organization.
The Rockies' rotation is at, or near, the bottom of the league in just about every pitching stat. And now Colorado has lost a former All-Star pitcher who had just returned to the team.
The Rockies will shut down starting pitcher German Marquez due to a “stress reaction in his right elbow,” per MLB.com’s Manny Randhawa on X. The 29-year-old veteran managed to avoid structural damage and Rockies’ manager Bud Black believes he’ll be able to begin throwing in about two months. Now he’ll have the entire offseason to get back to full health.
Marquez was the Rockies’ Opening Day starter in 2023 but his season only lasted 20 innings over four starts as the nine-year veteran needed season-ending Tommy John surgery in May. Marquez signed a two-year, $20 million extension with Colorado at the end of the 2023 season and continued rehabbing from surgery.
Rockies’ German Marquez shut down midseason again due to elbow injury
Marquez worked his way back from the injury and was finally ready to take the mound for the first time in 14 months when he made his 2024 debut for the Rockies on July 14. He went four innings and allowed five hits and three earned runs while walking four batters and striking out three in a no-decision against the New York Mets.
However, that start would prove to be Marquez’s only appearance this season as the new injury to his elbow will keep him sidelined for the remainder of the year. Fortunately, the initial understanding of Marquez’s injury indicates he’ll be ready to take the mound at the start of the 2025 season.
It’s very unlikely that a return in 2024 would even be possible given the pitcher’s timeline to begin throwing again. Regardless, the Rockies have no reason to rush Marquez back this year as the team is playing out a lost season.
Colorado is 31 games under .500 entering play on Thursday. They’re 24 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West and only the tragically awful Chicago White Sox, who are 61 games below .500, have been worse in 2024.
Marquez has been a plus starter for the Rockies since breaking in during the 2017 season when he finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting. He won the Silver Slugger the following year in 2018 and made his only career All-Star game in 2021. That season Marquez pitched to a 12-11 record with a 4.40 ERA, 1.272 WHIP and 8.8 K/9. He has 17.5 career WAR in 174 starts, all for the Rockies.
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