Welcome to the 2025 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we look back at each player to determine playing time for the Rockies in 2025. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizational principle derived from WAR (rWAR) from Baseball Reference. It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll start with the player with the lowest rWAR and end with the player with the highest.
No. 17, Tyler Kinley (0.1 rWAR)
When you look back at the 2020 Colorado Rockies roster, there aren’t many names still with the organization. Entering the season, it was one positional player, Ryan McMahon, and four pitchers: Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela, Germán Márquez and Tyler Kinley.
At the end of the season, only two are left on the team. One of the departing players, Kinley, was traded to Atlanta before the trade deadline, ending a six-year tenure with the Rockies. A bullpen staple, the 34-year-old RHP finished his career in Colorado with a 1.2 rWAR with a 5.05 ERA, 20 saves in 246 innings in 253 appearances.
Kinley, who the Rockies took off the waiver wire in December 2019 when he was cut by Miami, became a reliable reliever for Colorado over his first two and a half seasons with his new team. In 2022, Kinley even posted a 0.75 ERA in his first 25 appearances of the 2022 season, striking out 27 batters in 24 innings with no home runs allowed. A setup man for closer Daniel Bard, Kinley and his dominant slider were part of a very effective late-inning Rockies bullpen.
Then came the elbow injury, which occurred on June 8, 2022, and required flexor tendon surgery. The injury required 13 months of rehabilitation for Kinley, who had already undergone Tommy John surgery as a high school student. Kinley returned in August 2023 and missed the majority of consecutive seasons. His return was a bit bumpy as Kinley posted a 6.06 ERA in 18 appearances with an 0-4 record.
Those struggles continued in 2024 when Kinley posted the worst rWAR of his career outside of his 2018 rookie season, which was -0.5, with -0.4 and an ERA of 6.19 in 67 appearances (64 innings). In 2025, Kinley’s performance continued to be up and down. For example, in 10 appearances in April, Kinley posted a 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings with 13 strikeouts and no home runs. He also picked up his first save of the season against Washington by striking out three in the ninth to hold on for a 3-1 victory.
The following month, he increased his ERA to 6.85 after giving up 12 runs on 11 hits in 11 innings with a 9.00 ERA in the month of May.
June saw another high ERA month at 6.59, but improved again in July with an ERA of 2.13. Kinley had frustrating outings – like the three times he gave up four runs, including a grand slam to Max Muncy – or other times when he was dominant. He capped one of the Rockies’ three shutouts by striking out St. Louis’ Jordan Walker to preserve a 6-0 victory.
As of July 30, Kinley’s ERA was 5.66 with a 1-3 record in 49 appearances. With two months left in the worst season in Rockies history, Kinley became the latest veteran reliever traded to Atlanta. He joined Pierce Johnson, who traded Colorado to the Braves in 2023. He was traded for Austin Smith, a 26-year-old RHP reliever, spent the rest of the season in Double-A Hartford and recently played in the Arizona Fall League for the Salt River Rafters.
Kinley made the most of his time with Atlanta, posting a 0.72 ERA in 25 innings over 24 appearances with a 4-0 record. He struck out 22 batters with only six walks and one home run. Despite his success, the Braves declined Kinley’s $5.5 million option for 2026 (they also declined Pierce Johnson’s $7 option), making him a free agent.
Kinley, who turns 35 in January, was not only a leader in the Rockies’ bullpen, but at times he was also its most reliable and effective arm. He finished his 2025 season with eight holds, three saves and a win, which happened to be his last appearance in purple. Pitching a scoreless eighth inning with a strikeout against Cleveland, Kinley took part in an 8–6 victory on July 28 to end his time with the Rockies with a win.
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