Best duos in Colorado Rockies history
In Major League Baseball, it takes more than one skilled player to field a championship contender. It takes talent all over the field at a variety of positions, both in terms of pitchers and hitters. While having a star pitcher and a star hitter at the same time is no guarantee of success, it does put your team in a position to have the type of season that fans will talk about for generations.
While it's not quite the same as the NBA, where one standout duo can take a team from the cellar to playoff contention, it's not uncommon for an outstanding season from a pitcher and position player duo to add 20 wins or more, according to Baseball Reference's wins above replacement player metric. The number is designed to illustrate the difference between a star player and the type of player that would be considered "replacement level"—that is, one who could be easily signed as a midseason free agent or called up from the minor leagues.
The following is a list of the top pitcher/position player duos in Colorado Rockies history. Using wins above replacement, Stacker compiled a list of the seasons in franchise history that had a pitcher and hitter with the most combined value. Note that, for the purpose of capturing and examining the game's "modern era", only seasons after 1969 were used for this list.
#10. 2013 Colorado Rockies
- Carlos Gonzalez: 5.1 WAR (#28 position player in 2013)
- Jhoulys Chacin: 5.8 WAR (#9 pitcher in 2013)
- Total: 10.9 WAR
#9. 2019 Colorado Rockies
- Nolan Arenado: 7.3 WAR (#7 position player in 2019)
- Jon Gray: 3.6 WAR (#24 pitcher in 2019)
- Total: 10.9 WAR
#8. 1999 Colorado Rockies
- Larry Walker: 5.1 WAR (#31 position player in 1999)
- Pedro Astacio: 5.9 WAR (#8 pitcher in 1999)
- Total: 11 WAR
#7. 1996 Colorado Rockies
- Ellis Burks: 7.9 WAR (#6 position player in 1996)
- Armando Reynoso: 3.4 WAR (#37 pitcher in 1996)
- Total: 11.3 WAR
#6. 2000 Colorado Rockies
- Todd Helton: 8.9 WAR (#2 position player in 2000)
- Brian Bohanon: 3.1 WAR (#43 pitcher in 2000)
- Total: 12 WAR
#5. 2009 Colorado Rockies
- Troy Tulowitzki: 6.5 WAR (#13 position player in 2009)
- Ubaldo Jimenez: 5.5 WAR (#14 pitcher in 2009)
- Total: 12 WAR
#4. 1997 Colorado Rockies
- Larry Walker: 9.8 WAR (#1 position player in 1997)
- Roger Bailey: 3.7 WAR (#35 pitcher in 1997)
- Total: 13.5 WAR
#3. 2004 Colorado Rockies
- Todd Helton: 8.3 WAR (#7 position player in 2004)
- Joe Kennedy: 5.6 WAR (#9 pitcher in 2004)
- Total: 13.9 WAR
#2. 2018 Colorado Rockies
- Nolan Arenado: 6.4 WAR (#12 position player in 2018)
- Kyle Freeland: 7.7 WAR (#4 pitcher in 2018)
- Total: 14.1 WAR
#1. 2010 Colorado Rockies
- Troy Tulowitzki: 6.7 WAR (#10 position player in 2010)
- Ubaldo Jimenez: 7.5 WAR (#2 pitcher in 2010)
- Total: 14.2 WAR
