ROCKIES 2012 SEASON PREVIEW: New Young Pitchers POST SERIES; Josh Reonicke
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Josh Reonicke
Some Rockies fans or baseball fans who followed the Rockies last year may remember the name Josh Reonicke. If not, its OK. Reonicke was not a huge part of the Rockies’ bullpen last year, but he played an important role as he tried to prove himself to be part of the Rockies’ roster for seasons to come, and try to help the Rockies’ bullpen get back on track. Roenicke had some ups and downs last year, but this year is a fresh start and Reonicke isn’t starting it off half bad.
Reonicke has now made the Rockies’ roster, for Opening Day against the Astros in a few hours, and it wasn’t too easy either. Although Roenicke did have an advantage, as he no longer had any minor league options with the Rockies, he still brought his standards up and proved himself to the Rockies. His advantage was, if the Rockies let him go back to the minor leagues, they would risk losing him to another team. If the Rockies had sent Reonicke down to the minors, in a way, they could be saying goodbye, if another team picked him up off waivers. So, the Rockies had a hard decision to make. They were a little under the gun to make a decision, but given Reonicke entered Spring Training 1-0 with a 5.17 ERA, the decision got harder.
The Rockies needed to make a decision, the 29-year-old righty reliever could be an important part of the Rockies’ young bullpen, but the Rockies know what the downside could be as well. For the Rockies, keeping a man with a 5.17 ERA in 64 Major League games could prove costly if he took up a valuable roster spot.
Josh Reonicke knew this.
Reonicke even said: “I wanted to come in here and pitch my way onto the team”, and he did. Reonicke kicked his game up a notch, and in 11 appearances made his ERA 0.73. Not bad. Reonicke again went 1-0, but this time he was much more appealing to the Rockies. In the end the 29-year-old right-handed reliever landed himself a roster spot with the Rockies, and said; “When I found out I made the team, it was exciting”. And While it may be exiting for him, I think many Rockies fans are excited for this Opening Day game, as Reonicke and the Rest of the Rockies team will be at Minute Made Field in the bullpen in a matter of hours.
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I think Reonicke was a fine pick-up for the Rockies, and he will definitely add to the young pitching staff of the Rockies. My fear is that he only had a few Spring Training appearances, and it is possible he will not do as well as he did in Spring Training in the Major Leagues. Hopefully Reonicke can prove that he does indeed deserve a spot on the roster this 2012 Season, and for seasons to come.
Rockies Reporting 