Rockies Star German Marquez Lands with NL West Rival on One-Year Contract

The Colorado Rockies will see pitcher Germán Márquez later this season as he prepares to join a NL West rival.

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher German Marquez. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The chances of former Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Germán Márquez pitching in Coors Field in 2026 got a little better on Saturday.

Per ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, Márquez agreed to a one-year with the San Diego Padres, which comes with a mutual buyout in 2027. Terms were not disclosed and the Padres have not officially announced the deal.

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It means the end of Márquez’s long career with the Rockies, but assuming he makes the team in San Diego it increases his odds of pitching in his former home. San Diego goes to Colorado for three games April 21-23 and for four more games from Sept. 14-17.

Germán Márquez’s Colorado Career

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher German Marquez. / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Márquez was signed by the Tampa Bay Rays as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2011. Five years later, he was included in a trade with Colorado.

In 2016, he made his MLB debut with the Rockies and for 10 seasons he was a part of the Rockies’ pitching staff, mostly as a starter.

He had a terrific run from 2017-19, during which he won double-digit games each season. In 2017, his true rookie year, he went 11-17 with a 4.39 ERA in 29 starts and finished fifth in National League Rookie of the Year voting. The following season he set a career high with 14 wins (14-11) and had a 3.77 ERA in 33 starts. He had a career-high 230 strikeouts and won an NL Silver Slugger as a pitcher, batting .300 with a home run and five RBI in 60 at-bats.

He followed that in 2019 with a 12-5 record and a 4.76 ERA in 28 games with 175 strikeouts. From there, his performance slowly declined. That started in the COVID-19 shortened season of 2020, in which he went 4-6 with a 3.75 ERA, pitching an NL-high 81.2 innings and an MLB-high 13 games.

He followed that in 2021 with a 21-11 season that saw his ERA go up to 4.40. He threw three complete games, struck out 176 and led the Majors with 15 wild pitches. He also went to the All-Star Game for the first time. After that, the drop became steep.

In 2022 he went 9-13 with a 4.95 ERA in 31 starts. He followed that in 2023 with a 2-2 record and a 4.95 ERA in four starts, as he suffered an elbow injury that led to Tommy John surgery. He missed the rest of the 2023 season and most of the 2024 season, returning to start one game for the Rockies.

He pitched most of last season, but like most Rockies starters he suffered through a bad season. He went 3-16 with a 6.70 ERA.

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