The 25-year-old rookie made just eight starts in the majors but posted an .893 OPS in Triple-A
Welcome to the 2021 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2021. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.
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No. 31, Alan Trejo: 0.0 rWAR
We have finally moved out of the negatives and now enter the 0.0’s. It’s made up of players who reached the major league roster at some point this season but had such a small sample size that their impact was mostly neutral. The first one we’ll discuss in our rankings today is the young middle infielder Alan Trejo.
A 16th round pick in 2017, Trejo made his major league debut nearly two weeks into the 2021 season but only appeared in 28 games across three different stretches in the majors. When he was called up, he made a total of eight starts (six at 2B, two at SS) and 50 plate appearances in which he slashed .217/.260/.326 with one home run and three RBI.
For Trejo, his first real shot in the majors was mostly due to the Rockies’ early season misfortune of losing both Chris Owings and Brendan Rodgers to injuries. Once Rodgers returned in May, he along with Trevor Story, blocked Trejo from ever getting any significant playing time for the rest of the season.
When he wasn’t sitting in the Rockies dugout hoping for a pinch hit opportunity, Trejo was having an outstanding season at Triple-A Albuquerque where he finished the year with an OPS of .893 that included 17 home runs in 334 at-bats.
It’ll be interesting to see how GM Bill Schmidt and the front office view Trejo and whether or not they decide to add a veteran middle infielder to try and replace what they might miss if Story were to sign elsewhere this offseason. If they don’t, Trejo would be one to benefit with a chance to compete for a somewhat regular role in 2022.
No matter what they do, Trejo has already shown he’s more than just a 16th round pick. He’s a potential contributor with very little left to prove in the minor leagues. Now he’ll just have to remain ready and await opportunity.