Thomas Harding broke the Rockies piercing silence this offseason with his report that the Rockies signed free agent pitcher Daniel Hudson and catcher Jacob Stallings to one year deals. According to Harding, Hudson will be under team control next season, while Stallings has a mutual option for 2025. Both contracts have incentives that can nearly double the value of the deal.
To make room on the 40-man roster, Alan Trejo and Brian Serven were DFA’d with Trejo clearing waivers and being outrighted to AAA while the Cubs surprisingly snagged up Serven.
The Rockies have a few needs they wanted to address this offseason, and they addressed two of them in one day, backup catcher and rotation depth.
Dakota Hudson
Dakota Hudson was linked to the Rockies as a potential trade piece in the Never Will We Forget Nolan Arenado trade. At the time, we gained Gomber and Montero, but still got our man 4 years later. Some are wondering if we have officially won the trade!
What does Hudson bring to Colorado?
Hudson has had a somewhat tumultuous career after putting together an electric rookie campaign. At the end of 2020, he got Tommy John surgery, missed most of 2021, and has been trying to rediscover himself ever since the elbow surgery.
Even with some setbacks, Hudson has a career 3.84 ERA in 470.2 innings is pretty great, though his 4.55 ERA since returning from Tommy John provides more context. Still, Hudson is a legit MLB pitcher even if he’s not what he was pre-TJ.
The former first round pick is a ground ball inducer. Of pitchers with 200 batted ball events, Hudson’s average launch angle of 4.6 degrees ranked as the 11th lowest mark in the league and among pitchers with 80 or more innings, Hudson’s 51.5% ground ball rate ranked 15th.
Much credit is due to Hudson’s slider which he improved last season by trading some velocity for more spin and break, causing the pitch’s productivity to improve. It’s now an above average pitch that gives Hudson a chance to thrive in Colorado.
Otherwise, there are a few detractors from the likelihood of success. Hudson’s fastball velocity has not returned to the upper 90s form he saw his rookie season. In fact, Hudson is now usually just sitting 90-93 with both of his unspectacular fastballs. They don’t miss bats much at all which is a big reason he struck out a meager 12.7% of hitters last season.
You’d think with a strikeout rate so low that Hudson wouldn’t walk many batters but, while his walk rate is fine, a 9.6% rate last season is a tick too high for a pitcher with his skillset.
Overall, Hudson looks like a capable fifth starter, especially in a Rockies rotation that couldn’t get mud to stick last year but if he’s going to find true success, Hudson needs a little more velocity and or command.
What are the effects?
Noah Davis and Karl Kauffmann come to mind. Davis struggled to command with precision last year, a big reason he gave up 6 home runs and 43 total hits in just 30 innings of work. Still, there’s bat missing promise as he struck out a respectable 17.8% of hitters. It was starting to feel like Noah was in line to be the 5th starter but looks like he will have to battle Hudson and a few others at camp to earn that spot.
Karl Kauffmann can’t be overlooked either. Karl was straight up not having a good time in the majors last year. In his 3 starts, Karl posted an 11.37 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched. On the relief side, he showed signs of being able to get big league hitters out in 8 appearances, posting a 6.45 ERA across 22.1 innings. His future may be as a middle reliever but he has the mental fortitude to be a starter if need be should he rediscover the stuff that had him carving up Double-A in 2022.
Rule 5 selection Anthony Molina will get an opportunity to make the rotation though he’s more likely destined for a long relief role to better stash him away. Jeff Criswell and Tanner Gordon are also in the mix but their chance to crack the big league rotation looks like it’ll hinge on injuries. It will be interesting to see how these 4, plus Hudson and Blach, compete at camp with some roster spots and that fifth spot in the rotation up for grabs.
Jacob Stallings
The Rockies did not resign Austin Wynns, to much of the fanbase’s surprise, and did not get a reunion with Tom Murphy. Instead, Jacob Stallings was added late in the offseason while Brian Serven was DFA’d.
Stallings came up with Pittsburgh and was one of the team’s main catchers–along with Elias Diaz–while Rockies advisor Clint Hurdle managed the Pirates. He spent 2022 and 2023 with the Miami Marlins after they acquired him via trade. His tenure with Miami went south as he failed to perform to his normal levels.
What does Jacob Stallings bring to Colorado?
Stallings has a great reputation behind the dish. In fact, he holds the MLB record for most consecutive starts at catcher without a passed ball, setting it at 228 back in 2022. Stallings also won a Gold Glove in 2021.
Undeniably, Stallings used to be one of the game’s best defensive catchers but after joining Miami, framing metrics started viewing Stallings much less favorably. It’s hard to make sense of how a catcher can go from a well-above average framer to below-average just by changing teams but there has to be coaching impacts.
Otherwise, Stallings’s arm actually gets better velo readings now than it did in 2021 when he was at his overall peak, averaging 82.2 mph this year, up from 81.3 in 2021. Additionally, Stallings saw the fastest average exchange rate (glove to hand) in his career with a roughly average .68 seconds.
It’s safe to say Stallings will still be a very good defensive catcher and he gets some of the ravest reviews from pitchers as a game-caller. Adding his expertise to the clubhouse should help the pitching staff and potentially Drew Romo in his development in Spring Training.
With the bat, Stallings has seen his productivity drop off a cliff. Between 2020 and 2021, Stallings emerged as an above-average bat at the position with a .703 OPS and 11 home runs across 154 games. Unfortunately, with Miami, Stallings saw his OPS crater to .576.
Some of this may have to do with the ballpark; Pittsburgh’s PNC Park is more hitter-friendly while Miami’s LoanDepot Park is on the pitcher-friendly side of things.
This decline is especially peculiar when you glance at a handful of meaningful peripheral stats. With Miami, Stallings actually saw his average exit velocity, chase rate, and swing and miss rate all improve when looking at his 2023 metrics versus 2021.
However, it appears an increase in ground balls and slightly reduced barrel frequency may have been the underlying cause for less production. As it is, Stallings never screamed impact at the plate so more ground balls can make a big impact.
Still, the purpose of pointing out things like his exit velocities, chase rate, and swing and miss rate are to show that the actual baseball skills are still there. Should the Rockies–with some help from Coors Field–get Stallings back on track with the bat, he could become a starting caliber catcher again.
Unfortunately, we usually see hitters struggle with the transition to and from Coors Field, especially when they first join the Rockies, leading to more ground balls than they’re used to in their careers which may work against Stallings.
What are the effects?
Based on the depth chart and from front office comments, we knew the Rockies wanted a backup catcher. As a result, there is some displacement to the organization’s catching depth that sought MLB playing time this year, though none of the in-house options exactly demand a role.
Drew Romo rightfully has everyone’s attention, though it should be understood he could use a few months in Triple-A. Guys like Willie MacIver, Daniel Cope, and Braxton Fulford all look like potential backup catchers but, with the exception of Fulford, nobody has been knocking on the door quite yet. Fulford started the season in High-A, so his path to the big league’s, like Romo, will require a bit more seasoning.
At the end of the day, catcher is a delicate position and veterans are constantly getting jobs for a reason–they can keep a pitching staff on the rails. Until you have a can’t miss talent ready to go, veterans are the best route to go, especially for a team with an inherent pitching disadvantage at Coors Field.
Stallings isn’t some kind of shiny new appliance that the Rockies will be attached to. He’s a reliable and functional stopgap and his presence should not be viewed as a grand obstacle to Drew Romo once the recently 22-year-old catcher shows the organization there’s nothing more the minor leagues can offer.
Overall
These signings don’t move the needle much, but we knew the Rockies wouldn’t be shoveling cash out in free agency or moving mountains to boost their club via trade.
The vision is still on the organization’s top prospects making an impact but these players provide stability at key spots; you don’t want an inexperienced catcher not ready to handle an MLB pitching staff in need of a boost and you don’t want to run through over a dozen starting pitchers either.
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