Who Should The Colorado Rockies Name As Their Fifth Starter?

It has been a wild and wacky Spring Training thus far, regarding none other than the Colorado Rockies. The team agreed to release former ace Jhoulys Chacin upon his request Sunday morning, while Jorge De La Rosa suffered a groin injury Friday after delivering a pitch in Cactus League play. From the sounds of it, De La Rosa isn’t expected to be ready come Opening Day and doesn’t know when he will be able to pitch again.

The Rockies are already scrambling to name a replacement for Chacin, whom battled shoulder problems which led to a dip in velocity and a lack of control. The Rockies have some names lined up such as Jon Gray, Eddie Butler, David Hale, and Christan Bergman. Now with De La Rosa appearing to be on his way to the disabled list, Colorado will need another pitcher to fill the void. Here is what the rotation looks like as of now without De La Rosa and Chacin in the mix.

1. Kyle Kendrick
2. Tyler Matzek
3. Jordan Lyles
4. ?
5. ?

Matzek is seemingly the only pitcher worth watching, unless Lyles can duplicate what he did in the first-half of the season last year. Either way you roll the dice, this isn’t exactly what the Rockies were hoping to deal with towards the end of Spring Training. As you can see in the rotation example above, Colorado needs two pitchers to fill the void for two veteran pitchers.

Basically every Rockies fan is 50-50 on whether or not the team should have Jon Gray start the season as a member of the Rockies rotation. If he did begin the season with the Rockies, Colorado would essentially lose one year of service for the prospect, which shouldn’t be a problem if Colorado is serious about winning and winning now. Then again, I really don’t think it makes a different whether or not Gray starts the year with the team. Three starts won’t make that much of a difference, really. My personal thought is to let Gray get a couple of starts down in Triple-A, three-to-five starts, then make his debut with the Rockies.

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Eddie Butler is an interesting topic of conversation, considering the youngster made his Major League debut last June, only to end up being sidelined afterwards with rotator cuff inflammation. Butler is obviously aware that there is a spot up for grab and is controlling only what he can.

"I can’t control the other guys’ actions, if somebody else throws well or doesn’t throw well, or time served, since there are guys with more time served than me that are fighting for that spot. It’s just a matter of what I do. Control what you can.”"

Christian Bergman, on the other hand, is a guy whom I believe will earn a spot in the rotation. Bergman made 10 starts last season for the Rockies, collecting a 3-5 record with an ERA of 5.93. Over 54.2 innings pitched, Bergman gave up 36 earned runs on 75 hits, walking 10 while striking out 31. Opponents hit an eye-popping .318 off the righty. Bergman is pitching well this Spring, however, giving up just three earned over 11.2 innings.

Spring Training stats as of Mar. 24, 2015:

Jon Gray: (0-1, 2.08 ERA) 13.0 innings, 11 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts.
Eddie Butler: (0-2, 3.12 ERA) 8.2 innings, 8 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts.
David Hale: (0-2, 5.79 ERA) 9.1 innings, 14 hits, 6 earned runs, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts.
Christian Bergman: (0-0, 2.31 ERA) 11.2 innings, 10 hits, 3 earned runs, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts.

By just eyeballing the stats, Gray, Butler, and Bergman are all deserving of a spot. Hale has struggled, but the good thing is that he isn’t walking many batters. As mentioned above, I believe Bergman will be a lock for the starting rotation, who should the other be?