DENVER -- Fresh from a 20-pitch bullpen session Saturday morning that served as a solid step toward his return from right biceps tendinitis, Rockies right-handed pitcher Germán Márquez stood in the only home dugout that he’s ever called home not knowing exactly how to feel.
Márquez can’t help but like this team and wonder what it can become. How can he not after nights like Friday? It started with a nine-run deficit before the first turn to bat and ended with Brenton Doyle’s two-run, walk-off home run for a 17-16 victory over the Pirates.
“There’s a lot of talent here,” Márquez said. “It’s gonna turn out pretty good.”
Yet, Márquez knows that if his health hadn’t failed him right before Thursday’s Trade Deadline, he would be in a postseason race, pulling for this incredibly green club from afar. Márquez (2021) is the only current pitcher and catcher Hunter Goodman (this year) the only position player to represent the Rockies in an All-Star Game. (Utility man Orlando Arcia repped the Braves in 2023).
So he is finishing his current contract, and his ninth year with the Rockies, with a club that went into Saturday’s game against the Pirates 29-80, after losing more than 100 games the previous two years.
While the youth is refreshing in one sense, it’s a far cry from his early career -- postseason trips his first two years (2017-18) and the All-Star invite in a game played at Coors.
“I’ve had good times, man,” he said. “You win games, it is fun. Everybody is having fun. Losing all the time is hard for everybody.”
Márquez pitched minimally from when he underwent Tommy John right elbow surgery in 2023 to the start of this season. His 2025 had a rusty beginning. But a 10-start stretch during which he posted a 3.25 ERA from May 22-July 11 made him a candidate to help a contending club.
But the tightness in the shoulder area limited him to three innings against the Twins on July 20 and put him on the injured list and off the trade radar. He felt as bad for the Rockies, who are trying to accumulate talent, as himself.
“I felt like if they wanted to trade me, it was at the right time -- because they could get something in return,” Márquez said.
Regardless of how the team is doing, Márquez said he is dedicated to passing the positive counsel and leadership that then-veterans Carlos González and Gerardo Parra gave him early in his career. Márquez said still leans on both former Rockies to help him stay positive through injuries. It helps energize him to help younger players through their myriad of struggles.
“With these guys, it’s more mental than anything,” he said. “Basebasll is hard. I’ve been in a lot of positions, good and bad.
“I remember CarGo and Parra would come to me sometimes after rough outings. They didn’t get on me. They told me I was good, and to keep going.”
The Yankees picked up the $34.2 million that third baseman Ryan McMahon was owed through 2027, and the Rockies aren’t dealing with righty reliever Jake Bird’s arbitration-fueled salary for next year. To quicken the progress, the Rockies could sign multiple veterans to produce as well as provide what Márquez is doing now off the field.
Asked if he would be willing to re-sign with the Rockies, Márquez -- who wants the meaningful games that this year’s injuries robbed him of -- said, “I don’t know.”
When healthy, Márquez will finish his time with the Rockies with other teams’ evaluators watching. But what he hopes to show -- not only his possible next employer but his current co-workers -- is the confidence that when he’s right, he’s a winner.
“I’m going to do my job,” Márquez said. “They know what I have. Everybody knows what I have.”