What started as a snowball became an avalanche and it eventually buried the Rockies.
We’re talking about the bullpen, which finished with a 6.77 ERA and a .300 batting average against. Only the Philadelphia Phillies (7.06, .312) were worse.
The Rockies lost right-hander Scott Oberg, their best reliever and potential closer, before the season began because of a reoccurrence of blood clots. Wade Davis, the incumbent closer in spring training, suffered a shoulder injury in the first week of the season and was released near the end of the campaign.
Right-hander Bryan Shaw and lefty Jake McGee — who along with Davis were part of Colorado’s $106 million bullpen expenditure prior to the 2018 season — were gone before the season began.