Senzatela gets used to reliever role in first true bullpen appearance for Rockies this season

DENVER — For Antonio Senzatela, it was a new job description.

With the Rockies trailing 9-2 in the sixth inning Friday night, he jogged out of the bullpen, working as a bullpen option for the first time since April 2018.

The result? A mixed bag.

Senzatela gave up a pair of solo home runs in the seventh inning that covered more than 900 feet in combined distance. But he had scoreless frames in the sixth and eighth innings.

Dansby good, Dansby great! pic.twitter.com/kF2nLqlXWj

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 30, 2025

In the eigthh, Senzatela nearly had a 1-2-3 inning, but Brenton Doyle fell short on his attempt at a diving two-out catch in center field, allowing Ian Happ to reach base with a double. But Senzatela rallied, inducing a groundout from Nico Hoerner to escape the inning unscathed.

“I think Senz, over the long run, he can be a starter again, but I do think he can be good out of the bullpen, too,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said.

“Today was his first game he ever came out of the ‘pen. I thought it showed well for him. Just a couple of mistakes for homers, but, overall, it looked like he was agressive with his stuff. He took it well, and he gave us three good innings, saved the bullpen.”

SENZATELA WAS LAST A FULL-TIME BULLPEN ARM EARLY IN 2018

This was Senzatela’s second relief appearance of the season — technically. That’s because interim manager Warren Schaeffer used an opener for him against the New York Mets on June 6, looking to work around the 30-year-old’s profound first-inning woes; he’s allowed a ghastly 11.51 ERA with opponents posting an astounding 1.086 OPS at his expense in the opening frame.

That night, it worked. He worked four innings without allowing a run.

But his overall poor form in starts persisted. Finally, earlier this week, general manager Bill Schmidt and the Rockies had seen enough.

“The bottom line is that he was not helping the club. He was hurting the club, especially early in the game. Same thing with ‘Gomby,'” Schmidt told The Post, also referring to Gomber, who was given his outright release earlier this month.

“They were putting the team in a hole early, and they were putting our young relievers in a hole, too.”

Senzatela’s work Friday translated to a 6.00 ERA. It’s telling of his struggles this season that it represented an improvement over his 7.42 ERA as a starter.

And with another year on his contract before a club option for 2027, the Rockies know they must try to extract something of value from him. Even if it’s as a bullpen arm.

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