Colorado Rockies get worst possible news on their best pitcher

German Márquez is just three strikeouts away from becoming the Colorado Rockies king of the K. He now may never get the chance to set the mark as the big right-hander is heading for major surgery.

Márquez, 28, has been ravaged by injuries this year and will get Tommy John Surgery for his throwing arm. The eight-year big leaguer has been limited to four starts this season, making three before heading to the injured list then coming back and leaving his fourth outing hurt again.

That final start came last Wednesday in Philadelphia and throwing felt pain in his right triceps.

Bad news. #Rockies German Marquez says he”ll undergo Tommy John surgery.

— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) May 2, 2023

This was slated to be a big season for Márquez. He is in the final season of a five-year, $43 million contract with a club option for 2024. Márquez is sitting at 983 career strikeouts, two away from matching Jorge De La Rosa for the most in Rockies history.

The Rockies have allowed the most runs in the National League to this point.

The Rockies recalled Connor Seabold from Triple-A to take Márquez’s roster spot when he was placed on the Injured List while Noah Davis stepped into Márquez’s role in the rotation when he was first injured and stayed in when the Rockies ousted Jose Ureña.

Márquez also missed the World Baseball Classic earlier this spring with a hamstring issue.

Márquez’s 65 wins are the third-most in Rockies history and he has a career 4.41 ERA. Aside from this injury derailed 2023, while 2022 was the worst season of his career. Still, Márquez was and has been by far the Rockies best pitcher for some time.

Mostly without Márquez, the Rockies are 9-20 and FanGraphs projects the team to go 61.5-100.5 with a zero percent chance of making the playoffs. The distribution of Frangraph’s prediction is between 58 and 65 wins, meaning Márquez’s injury makes it all the more likely the Rockies will lose 100 games for the first time.

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