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. 47, Kyle Farmer (-0.8 rWAR)
Kyle Farmer’s 2025 season was much like the music video of his
walk-up song as the versatile veteran rode a roller coaster of ups and downs, just like Mariah Carey in “Fantasy.”
In going from being an everyday starter through April and most of May, Farmer’s playing time fluctuated, as did his success at the plate, resulting in a below-average season. However, Farmer did provide much-needed infield depth when the Rockies needed it, along with experience and leadership in the clubhouse, as Purple Row’s Renee Dechert chronicled last month.
The twists and turns even started before the season. When the Rockies signed Farmer as a free agent in November of 2024, he was expected to bring a veteran presence and be a utility infielder to help the Rockies bridge the gap at second base from Brendan Rodgers to infield prospects Adael Amador and Ryan Ritter.
Then, in January, about two and a half months before the season was set to start, the Rockies signed free agent second baseman Thairo Estrada. The move seemed to bump Farmer to a backup role, but that changed when Estrada broke his wrist at the end of spring training. Second base defaulted back to Farmer.
Farmer started 22 games in March and April, playing in 26 of the Rockies first 29 contests. In that stretch, he hit .250/.281/.357 with an OPS of .638 with nine doubles, six RBI, two runs scored, 21 strikeouts and four walks. Then things went downhill in May, June and July as Farmer put up averages of .219, .211 and .139, respectively. This is also when his playing time started to decrease.
He bounced back with his best month of the season in August when he hit .324/.410/.500 with a .910 OPS in 34 at-bats in 15 games. It’s also when he had one of his best swings of the year, connecting for a 422-foot bomb off Cubs’ reliever Drew Pomeranz on Aug. 29.
He only recorded 21 at-bats in nine games in September when his average dipped to .190 in the month. After playing in 68 games and having 206 at-bats before the All-Star break, Farmer only recorded 71 at-bats in 29 games after. Even in a league with a shorter second half, Farmer saw his playing time slashed as the season went on.
In total, Farmer appeared in 97 games, Farmer hit .227/.280/.365 with an OPS of .645 in 277 at-bats. He hit eight homers and 14 doubles, drove in 31 runs, scored 24 runs and struck out 66 times compared to his 17 walks. His stats are the worst of his career, but not surprisingly, considering he turned 35 in August.
Farmer, a Georgia native who was drafted in the eighth round by the Dodgers in 2013, played his ninth MLB season with the Rockies in 2025. Historically, he hit lefties much more successfully than right-handed pitchers and that continued in 2025 when he hit .252/.325/.441 with a 767 OPS in 111 at-bats against LHPs vs. .211/.249/.313 with a .596 OPS in 166 at-bats against RHPs.
Farmer was able to be a utility player, as the Rockies had imagined with they signed him. He started 28 games at second base, 17 at DH, 15 games at first base, nine at shortstop and seven at third. He even pitched an inning, giving up a homer in an 18-0 beatdown at the hands of the Orioles in July. While he’s not a terrible fielder, he didn’t especially help the Rockies in the field either. He was worth -1 defensive run saved at both first and third base and a neutral zero at second, shortstop and pitcher. He committed four errors on the season and finished with a career-low 11 outs above average.
It was really experience and leadership that proved to be Farmer’s most valuable contributions to the Rockies. In Renee’s argument in re-signing Farmer, young players cited his skill in helping them create routines, the value in talking to him during games and his generosity as he lent his bat to Hunter Goodman in St. Louis when the All-Star catcher hit two homers. For a young team without a culture of winning and trying to establish an identity, Farmer’s contract of $2.5 million in 2025 was a better investment than many of the other deals on the Rockies books — Kris Bryant’s, Antonio Senzatela’s, Estrada’s and the good old $5 million Colorado paid to Nolan Arenado.
There were only five players on the Rockies final 2025 roster who have been to the MLB postseason. Kyle Freeland, Germán Márquez, and Senzatela — who all went in 2017-18 with Colorado — as well as Farmer and Orlando Arcia. Arcia played in the playoffs in seven of his 10 seasons in MLB, going to the postseason with Milwaukee and Atlanta. Farmer made trips to the postseason in 2017 with the Dodgers, 2020 with the Reds and 2023 with the Twins. Interesting side note, in 13 at-bats, Farmer’s lone postseason hit is a homer vs. the Astros in 2023.
Having position players who have played with good organizations and have playoff experience are good to have around. Whether or not it’s worth $4 million the Rockies would need to pay Farmer on a mutual option to stick around in 2026 is a different question. It’s one that will likely be made by the Rockies new general manager, who will have many decisions to make about the Rockies future at second base and beyond.
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