Antonio Senzatela surrenders four runs in relief

The deal is now official. Senzatela heads to Milwaukee as a potential low-leverage relief option for the home stretch. The 31-year-old earns a reprieve from Colorado after spending a decade pitching in Coors Field. He’ll leave behind a strong 3.61 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 46/17 K/BB ratio across 52 1/3 innings over 34 appearances this season. He’s an interesting pickup by the Brewers that could wind up making a difference as a multi-inning weapon.

Antonio Senzatela got the win, his eighth, after throwing hitless seventh and eighth innings. Herget was then handed a two-run lead and maintained it without incident. It’s the 11th career save for Herget, who returned from a shoulder impingement last week. His other nine all came with the Angels in 2022. He’s sporting a 4.42 ERA in 18 1/3 innings this season.

Hill has earned the Rockies’ last two saves, so this is bad timing for him. The 26-year-old has a 5.06 ERA overall in 26 2/3 innings on the season. Antonio Senzatela and Victor Vodnik are better bets for saves while Hill is out, but no one in the Rockies pen seems worth rostering right now.

Ian Happ hit the homer that led to Senzatela’s third blown save. The former starter is now 6-0, however. That’s more victories than he had in 28 starts in 2021 (4-10), 19 starts in 2022 (3-7) or in 28 starts from 2023-25 (4-17).

Senzatela, coming off four days’ rest, took the mound in the eighth with a two-run lead. He struck out the side on 15 pitches and returned for the ninth to attempt a two-inning save. Things got away from Senzatela as the Brewers brought four runs home on four hits and an error. He’d leave with two outs in the inning with his second blown save. The 31-year-old right-hander remains the only reliever worth rostering in Colorado, and only in deeper leagues, with a 1.98 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a 30/10 K/BB ratio across 36 1/3 innings.

After being a well below-average starting pitcher, Senzatela moved to the bullpen this year and has been lights out, posting a 1.30 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 26/10 K/BB ratio in 34 2/3 innings. Now, the lack of strikeouts remains a bit of a concern, but Senzatela has proven he can provide valuable length out of the bullpen and will be a free agent at the end of the season, so the Rockies will almost assuredly move him to a contender looking to shore up their bullpen.

Senzatela came in with an 8-6 lead, two on and one out in the eighth and gave up a game-tying triple to Jorge Soler. Still, he preserved the tie from there and then worked a scoreless bottom of the ninth after the Rockies regained the lead in the top of the inning. Senzatela is 5-0 with a 1.30 ERA. The Rockies probably shouldn’t risk waiting until the trade deadline to deal him.

Senzatela came into a tie game in the eighth and recorded the win after the Rockies went ahead in the top of the ninth. With his 1.13 ERA, he’s a leading candidate for saves in the Colorado pen, but he’s also a leading candidate to be one of the first established major leaguers traded this season.

Vodnik had four saves for the Rockies last month, but he’d really struggled of late, giving up 14 runs in his last nine innings of work. Not that we’re recommending any Rockies relievers, but Juan Mejia and Antonio Senzatela are probably slightly better bets for saves with Vodnik out.

Senzatela got the call in the ninth to close out the game with a two-run lead for his first traditional three-out save chance. He worked around a hit and a walk, shutting the door on Arizona for his third save of the season. The 31-year-old right-hander has been outstanding in his first full season in relief, posting a 1.27 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and a 25/8 K/BB ratio across 28 1/3 innings.