Let’s Talk About Jake Bird

While most sports media is focused on how historically bad the 2025 Colorado Rockies are, Jake Bird has quietly become one of the best relievers in baseball.

Currently, he is tied for fifth with all other MLB relievers in terms of fWAR (1.1). Ahead of him are Robert Suarez (1.7 fWAR), Randy Rodríguez (1.4 fWAR), and Ben Casparius and Cade Smith (1.3 fWAR). Bird is tied with Josh Hader. In short, he is in elite company.

His ERA of 1.41 ranks him 13th; his 11.74 K/9 is 21st; and his 0.23 HR/9 is 20th — for a pitcher who plays half his games at Coors Field. Moreover, Bird’s 50 Ks lead all of MLB.

As Rockies Club Information pointed out on Tuesday, “With three straight strikeouts in his last outing and five straight tonight, RHP Jake Bird tied the Rockies franchise record with eight consecutive strikeouts by a reliever, joining Justin Miller (three games, Sept. 7-11, 2015).”

Not bad.

Bird has thrown 38.1 innings (second only to Mitch Spence) though his usage has decreased since Warren Schaeffer took over as interim manager. Early on, he mentioned that protecting Bird’s arm was a priority, and he has followed through with that.

It’s worth, then, taking a moment to review Bird’s career over the last three years and his value in a potential trade.

How had Bird done as a Rockie?

Like many relievers, his career has been a bit uneven.

Bird was called up in 2022 and pitched 47.2 innings. He finished the season with a 4.91 ERA, so not awesome.

That changed in 2023, when Bird was, as I wrote at the time, “The Rockies’ Iron Man.” That year, Bird pitched 84 ¹⁄₃ innings, tying him with the Detroit Tigers’ Tyler Holton for the most innings by any MLB reliever. 

Bird finished the season with a 4.27 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.354 WHIP, and a 7.9 K/9, giving up six home runs while walking 27. He struck out 77 (with 52 of those Ks coming in the first half of the season and 25 in the second half).

At the time, he told me:

“Around June I kind of had to admit to myself that, ‘Hey, maybe this isn’t sustainable,’” he said. “Maybe I need to lighten up on my catch playing before the games a little bit. Maybe I need to figure out some other things to manage my body. Over the course of the year, I think it’s really just been having a consistent routine, taking care of my arm, admitting to myself when something’s not feeling right, so I can go take care of it right away.”

He finished the season worth 1.4 fWAR.

In 2024, all those innings caught up with him. He finished the season having thrown only 40.0 innings with a final ERA of 4.50. He dealt with right elbow inflammation in May and a groin strain in June. Additionally, he was optioned and recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque six separate times between June 10 and September 20. 

But this year, he is clearly back.

How’s the pitch mix?

This year, Bird’s slider is his bread and butter, closely followed by his sinker. He’s pretty fearless with his curveball but will only occasionally fall back on his cutter or four-seamer.

So, he’s wicked good this year.

Can you provide a sense of his contract?

In addition to his stuff, Bird is an especially attractive trade candidate because the 29 year old is under team control through 2029. Currently, the Rockies are paying him only $777,000.

So Bird would not be a rental.

Which teams might be interested?

If there’s a contending MLB team that would not use more pitching, I am unaware of it.

Earlier this week, Theo DeRosa wrote about teams most in need of relief pitching: the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Milwaukee Brewers, the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves, the Seattle Mariners, and the Chicago Cubs.

I would rule out the D-backs and Dodgers immediately. The Rockies are loathe to trade within the NL West, and I don’t see that changing now.

The Phillies would be a good fit; however, Bird had a run-in with Bryce Harper two years ago:

I am confident that in the event of a trade, the two would settle their differences, but still.

The Rockies have a history of trading within the Yankees, Atlanta, and the Mariners, so there’s that.

And I’m agnostic about the Cubs, but I could see a trade happening there.

Is this happening?

This is a topic of debate among Rockies fans. The organization has, in the past, been reluctant to make trades, and Ken Rosenthal reported earlier this week that “people briefed on the situation” suggest they will maintain that approach this season.

I mean, maybe? But I think too many reporters are underselling how bad this team is. Certainly the Rockies have normalized losing, but being historically bad is a whole other thing I am not sure they appreciate. The Rockies are weird, so who knows? But it’s difficult for me to see them being conservative this year. I expect them to be active at the trade deadline.

What they have to trade is a topic for another day, but there’s no doubt that Jake Bird would be at the top of many teams’ lists, and I expect the Rockies to take advantage of it.

What I’m Reading

• “When WAR comes easier than wins” | FanGraphs — What happens when a solid pitcher gets little run support (like, say, Kyle Freeland)? Michael Baumann has some ideas.

• “Former Rockies watch and weep at futility of 2025 team: ‘You have to really start over’” | The Athletic — Some former Rockies weigh in on the struggles of their old team.

• “Hunter Goodman discusses breakout season” | Action News 5 — One of my favorite sports genres is hometown media writing about local players who’ve gone pro. This time, the focus is on Hunter Goodman.

Closing Thoughts

And that’s it for this week.

Look, the Rockies are not good, but they are better. They are losing less badly? (Would that be the way to put it?) Most of their games are closer, and they are playing until the end. These are good signs.

Now they head on the road to play Atlanta and Washington, two ballparks in which they have not played well. So stay tuned.

As always, thanks for reading, and feel free to share this with a friend.

Renee

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Rockies Pitch is a newsletter that focuses on Colorado Rockies baseball. Find me on Bluesky at @Renee.Dechert.com.