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. 3, Victor Vodnik (1.8 rWAR)
For right-handed reliever Victor Vodnik, 2025 was an opportunity
to build on a strong foundation he set for himself last season. The 25-year-old only made six appearances in 2023 after being traded to the Rockies from the Atlanta Braves for his MLB debut, but in 2024 he saw plenty of work. He finished his first full season with a 4.28 ERA over 73 2/3 innings, tallied nine saves, and struck out 65 batters.
Vodnik hit a bit of a bump to start his season. In his first outing he gave up a run and was credited with a loss while in his second outing he gave up two earned runs in just 1/3 of an inning for a blown save. He gave up a home run in each of those appearances.
However, he quickly cleaned things up once the calendar flipped over to April. Over his next seven appearances he gave up just one earned run and struck out seven batters in 6 2/3 innings of work. His command was shaky at times as he gave up six walks and four hits, but he also earned his first save of the season and largely got the job done when needed.
Vodnik was unfortunately shut down right as he appeared to be hitting his stride. Right shoulder inflammation saw him placed on the injured list retroactive to April 17th. It was originally hoped he would only need the minimum 15 days, but Vodnik ended up missing over a month and required a cortisone shot due to persisting soreness.
When Vodnik returned to the active roster he appeared to not miss a beat. He rattled off seven straight scoreless outings, giving only three hits and two walks over eight innings and talling six strikeouts. He did slip up in a tough outing against the Atlanta braves, yielding three earned runs in a loss, but then quickly bounced back for another 11 appearances without giving up an earned run and racking up 13 more strikeouts.
Vodnik’s only real extended rough patch came in mid-July as the first half transitioned into the second. In seven appearances over 6 1/3 innings he gave up eight earned runs on 14 hits and walked five batters. However, he quickly rebounded from that as well. He finished out the season giving up just two runs—earned or otherwise—in his final 17 appearances. He struck out 14 batters over 17 innings and with Seth Halvorsen on the injured list he earned eight saves in closing duty.
As part of his excellent run to end the season, Vodnik at one point pitched 11 straight appearances without giving up a run or earned run. It was the longest streak by a Rockies right-handed reliever since Carlos Estévez in 2021.
Vodnik finished the season as one of the Rockies’ workhorses out of the bullpen despite a month of inaction. His 52 appearances were the third-most behind Juan Mejia and Jimmy Herget and his 3.02 ERA was the second-best among all Rockies pitchers (third best if you count Alan Trejo’s 0.00 ERA for a scoreless inning of relief).
His high-heat four-seam fastball—averaging 98.7 MPH—dazzled, but Vodnik’s true best pitch was his excellent changeup. Opposing batters hit just .109 and slugged just .130 against the offering with a whopping 44.2% whiff rate. He worked quickly on the mound, and while there are definitely things to improve such as his high walk rate and rate of hard contact, Vodnik was a reliable presence during a difficult season.
Manager Warren Schaeffer praised his young reliever.
“Over the last couple of years, Victor has really learned about himself and what makes him good,” Schaeffer told the Denver Post. “He’s very fast out there — and aggressive. He knows that. There are times when he knows he needs to pump the brakes a little bit.
“But there are also times when he even speeds up a bit, to speed the hitter up. It’s part of what he does, and it’s part of why he’s so good.
Victor Vodnik has shown improvement every season he has donned purple pinstripes and still has the potential to do even better. He enters his age 26 season as part of a young group of Rockies relievers that might just be one of the team’s few strengths.
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