Welcome to the 2025 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log 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 organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.
No. 21, Nick Anderson (0.0 rWAR)
The Colorado Rockies saw a wide range of bullpen arms in 2025. For the most part, it was full of regular young arms sprinkled in with some veterans along the way. Even more so, there were the veterans who were in service for only a short time and were rather forgettable in the blink-and-you-miss-it moments. For a brief stretch of 12 total games with the Rockies, righty reliever Nick Anderson was that type of veteran.
A 32nd-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2012, Anderson has been the definition of a journeyman reliever. After seven years in the minors, Anderson didn’t make his big league debut until 2019 as a member of the Miami Marlins. Oddly enough, his debut came against the Rockies, where he recorded just one out in a scoreless outing.
Anderson started to gain notoriety with the Marlins and was traded to Tampa Bay that season and impressed in a Rays uniform. Unfortunately, injuries hampered his time with the Rays, capped by a partially torn UCL in 2022. After plantar fasciitis ended his season once he had been activated, he entered the free agent market and began his journey around the league. His stops included successful, albeit shortened, big league stints with the Atlanta Braves in 2023 and the Kansas City Royals in 2024. His 2024 season ended with brief stints in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles organizations before becoming a free agent once more.
His journey continued into 2025, where he started the season with the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Anderson didn’t find much success, posting a 6.20 ERA over 20 1/3 innings across 17 games. Despite his track record of big league success, Anderson couldn’t find a chance with the Cardinals and triggered an opt-out and quickly signed with the Rockies.
Over 15 total games with the Albuquerque Isotopes, Anderson posted a 4.73 ERA in 13 1/3 innings with 18 strikeouts and 10 walks (three intentional), while converting four of five save opportunities. Anderson’s numbers were inflated by a nightmare inning where he allowed five runs on two hits and three walks without recording an out. Otherwise, he hadn’t allowed more than a single run in any appearance.
In the late days of July, the Rockies decided to call up a fresh arm in Anderson as Jake Bird had been struggling and rumors swirled about the trade market for Rockies relievers. His first appearance came against the Baltimore Orioles, and it wasn’t pretty. In the Rockies’ eventual 18-0 loss to the O’s, Anderson allowed five runs on six hits in his lone inning of work. He was optioned back down but only appeared in one game with the Isotopes before coming back at the start of August after the trade deadline.
Anderson’s second stint was much better. He tossed 13 2/3 innings over 11 games, posting a 3.29 ERA with 10 strikeouts against two walks. He allowed just five runs on 11 hits, but three of those hits were home runs. He was a serviceable reliever with a modest strikeout rate, but the Rockies decided to try and option him late in August, and he elected free agency instead. He latched with the Seattle Mariners but only appeared in eight games with Triple-A Tacoma.
There isn’t much else to dive into with Anderson. Outside of one bad appearance, he was a decent help in August as fatigue settled in with the younger relievers and losses continued to mount for the Rockies. However, his success this season only earned him a minor league contract with the Athletics this offseason. The A’s were hoping to add a pitcher with closing experience, and Anderson does fit the bill, but he will have to earn a big league spot at the age of 35.
Yet, a full healthy season proved how much Andreson may still have in the tank as a big league pitcher; he needs the opportunity, and he got to show that for a time with the Rockies.
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