Eddie Butler

Once one of the top prospects in the Rockies' system, Butler just hasn't been able to find any success at the major league level. The 25-year-old shuttled between Triple-A and the big leagues all season. Although he posted career-best marks in both K/9 (6.6) and BB/9 (3.0), those numbers were still underwhelming, and when paired with his career-worst 1.8 HR/9, it made for an awful year. The right-hander is only 25 years old, so there's still some room for development, but the window is closing for him. With a trade to the Cubs over the offseason, Butler will be hard-pressed to climb above a swingman role in 2017.

The learning curve for a young starting pitcher is sharp enough as-is before adding a wrinkle like Coors Field into the mix. With a Triple-A affiliate in the PCL (first Colorado Springs, now Albuquerque), Rockies farmhands get a taste of how difficult it will be when they reach the majors, but nothing can really prepare them for Coors. Unfortunately for Butler, the venue didn’t really matter in 2015. He was worse at home (7.28 ERA), but it’s not like his 5.07 ERA on the road was drawing any positive attention. He had four pitches: mid-90s heat, a power slider, a quality changeup, and a show-me curve, but only the slider had even a modicum of success and that was confined to the road. He gets some discount for the venues, but Butler hasn’t really had any success since leaving Double-A (5.80 at AAA, 6.04 at MLB) and without a move away from Colorado, it’s hard not to envision more growing pains given the already-thin margin for error.

Butler received his first call to the big leagues last June, with optimism abounding that he and, eventually, fellow top prospect Jon Gray, would immediately lock down spots in the Colorado rotation for seasons to come. Unfortunately, Butler barely had the chance to showcase his stuff. He fell victim to shoulder soreness following his debut and didn’t pitch for the Rockies again until September, making it difficult to glean much from his uneven three-start sample. That being said, the long-term outlook remains bright for the 24-year-old, whose plus fastball and quality secondary offerings have allowed him to thrive in offense-heavy environments during his minor league career. The Rockies’ need for high-upside starters gives Butler an inside track on an Opening Day rotation spot, but the concerns with pitchers who call Coors Field home still apply. In fact, even if Butler does become the frontline starter the Rockies are banking on, his real-life value would more than likely outstrip his fantasy utility. The righty mostly gets by on inducing weak contact rather than making batters whiff, as his pedestrian 5.2 K/9 rate with Double-A Tulsa last season would illustrate. It remains to be seen if he will change his approach to miss bats as frequently as he did at lower levels of the minor leagues.

Although he entered the past season as a highly-touted commodity within his own organization, Butler concluded 2013 as one of the more coveted prospects in all of baseball, after dominating at three different levels. It was at his last stop, Double-A Tulsa, where he was particularly unhittable, allowing just two earned runs over 27.2 innings, while striking out 25 and walking six. With a devastating three-pitch mix, highlighted by a fastball consistently clocked in the mid-90s, Butler is viewed as a potential top-of-the-rotation starter once he reaches his peak for the Rockies, who have lacked a legitimate ace since trading away Ubaldo Jimenez. The Rockies only have three rotation spots seemingly solidified at the moment, presenting Butler with an outside chance at grabbing a starting gig in the spring, but it's more likely that he opens 2014 in the high minors. If those levels continue to prove unchallenging for him, however, look for the 23-year-old to make his MLB debut at some point this season and remain a long-term fixture.