Statistically, Antonio Senzatela had one of the worst seasons as a Major League pitcher in 2025. In 30 games, 23 starts with the Colorado Rockies in the 2025 regular season, Senzatela went 4-15 with a career-worst 6.65 ERA, career-worst 22 home runs allowed, and a K: BB ratio of 73:47. Senzatela was demoted to the bullpen in late August and looked to be on the last leg of his Major League Baseball career. Oh, how things can change in a year.
Senzatela made the Rockies Opening Day roster in 2026 as a long reliever. But considering how 2025 ended, Senzatela seemed to be a few bad outings away from being out of a job. The factor going in Senzatela's favor, though, was that he was due $12 million guaranteed in 2026 as part of the five-year, $50.5 million extension he signed with Colorado in October 2021.
Fortunately for both sides, it never got to the point where difficult decisions would have to be made this season. Senzatela was lights out to begin the season. He posted eight scoreless outings in his first nine appearances of the season. With an impressive K: BB ratio of 19 Ks to just five BBs. It was the most dominant Senza had looked in years as he became one of the most reliable options out of the bullpen for the Rockies.
Jul 10, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela (49) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the eighth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images
A total offseason overhaul of his pitch mix had paid significant dividends early and potentially saved Senzatela's career. In 2025, Senzatela relied on a six-pitch mix, mainly utilizing his four-seamer 57% of the time followed by a slider and curve 18% and 15%, respectively. The results were not pretty; his -41 pitching run value and -25 fastball run value per Statcast were both in the bottom one percent of MLB.
In 2026, his cutter moved to the forefront. A pitch that he utilized just 2% of the time in 2025. Meanwhile, his usage rate for his four-seamer went down to 31%, and his sinker went up from 1% in 2025 to 21% in 2026. Finally, his curve and slider went down from 15% and 18% in 2025 to 8% and 2% in 2026. It was truly a total overhaul of a pitch repertoire that had been a mainstay in Senzatela's 10 years with the Rockies.
Per Statcast , Senzatela's four-seam usage rate had not gone below 53% in his career and was as high as 72% in his rookie year of 2017. Meanwhile, his slider had always been his primary secondary pitch, as high as 32% in 2021. He didn't even have the cutter in his pitch mix until 2025, when he threw a 91.2 mph cutter just 2% of the time! He introduced his sinker in 2021, but it never got above a 6% usage rate and hadn't been above 1% since 2022. But Senzatela was at the lowest point of his baseball career statistically in 2025, and he went to work in the offseason.
The results were significantly improved across the board. All the stats below are courtesy of Statcast .
2025
Pitching Run Value: -41
Fastball Run Value: -25
Breaking Run Value: -7
Offspeed Run Value: -9
xERA: 6.98, bottom one percent
xBA: .319, bottom one percent
Fastball Velo: 95 mph, 62nd percentile
Avg Exit Velo: 90.9 mph, ninth percentile
23.1% chase rate, third percentile
18.1% whiff rate, fourth percentile
11.8% K rate, bottom one percent
46% hard-hit rate, ninth percentile
44.4% GB Rate, 61st percentile
2026
Pitching Run Value: 1
Fastball Run Value: 4
Breaking Run Value: -2
Offspeed Run Value: -1
xERA: 4.06, 52nd percentile
xBA: .259, 23rd percentile
Fastball Velo: 97.1 mph, 88th percentile
Avg. Exit Velo: 88.7 mph, 47th percentile
30.8% chase rate, 54th percentile
23.5% whiff rate, 37th percentile
19.3% K rate, 28th percentile
40.4% hard-hit Rate, 32nd percentile
48.9% GB Rate, 83rd percentile
The overhaul could not have worked better. Senzatela had improved across the board. His fastball velocity went from the 62nd percentile to the 88th percentile as it increased by two mph. He saw a 7%, 5%, and 8% increase in his chase, whiff, and K rates. Relying on weak contact to primarily get outs for much of his career, Senzatela's GB rate even improved from 44.4% in 2025 (61st percentile) to 48.9% (83rd percentile) in 2026.
Suddenly, opposing lineups facing the 31-year-old were facing a completely different pitcher from the one they had come to know throughout his career. A truly remarkable turnaround for a player who had already spent a decade in the MLB and had come out of the bullpen just 17 times in his career before 2026.
By the time the trade deadline came around, Senzatela had become one of the Rockies' top trade candidates . Something that would have been unthinkable a year prior. The eventual champion Milwaukee Brewers came calling and sent prospects, left-hander Mark Manfredi and shortstop Juan Martinez, in exchange for the veteran reliever. It could not have worked out better for both sides. A still-rebuilding Rockies club got some quality prospects out of what had been one of the worst contracts on their payroll, and Senzatela joined a first-place team in the National League, giving him his first taste of the postseason since 2018, in which he faced the Brewers in Game One of the 2018 National League Division Series.
He was solid in August, recording five holds. But did have a rough stretch from August 7 to 13 when he was the losing pitcher twice and blew two save opportunities. His 6.10 ERA in September was deceiving. Eight of his 12 outings were scoreless, but his ERA suffered due to two poor outings against the Cincinnati Reds in which he allowed five combined earned runs in an inning of work. He had still been consistent enough to earn a spot on the postseason roster, which is no small feat in what is a top-flight Brewers bullpen.
Oct 26, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Antonio Senzatela (49) reacts during the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in game three of the 2026 World Series at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
He didn't let his opportunity go to waste. In 4 1/3 postseason outings, Senzatela allowed zero earned runs with three Ks to two BBs. His most impressive outing came in game three when the Brewers thrashed the Rays 10-1 to take a 3-0 series lead, in which Senzatela pitched a clean seventh and eighth. Senzatela then had the opportunity to close out the World Series in Game Four.
He came in for Aaron Ashby with one out in the 11th and struck out Taylor Walls looking before walking Yandy Díaz on five pitches. After Jorge Mateo came in as a pinch runner and stole second, Senzatela got Jonathan Aranda to fly out to right to move the game to the 12th. He looked to have started off the 12th effectively as well, but a throwing error by third baseman Joey Ortiz allowed Junior Caminero to reach, and Senzatela was pulled for Shane Drohan .
In the end, the Brewers clinched their first World Series with a 4-1 win in Game Five. What a whirlwind moment it must have been for Senzatela after the final out was recorded, considering how his last year has gone. It was also the second title Senzatela had earned in 2026, being one of three Venezuelan players on the Brewers' roster who were part of Team Venezuela's victory in the World Baseball Classic in March.
For as bad as 2025 was, it also was the first time Senzatela had played more than three games in a season since 2022, as he was limited to just five games in 2023-24 due to a torn left ACL suffered in August 2022 and a right elbow strain that required Tommy John surgery in July 2023 and kept him out until September 16, 2024. Few players could have come back at all after playing just five games over two seasons, so Senzatela deserves immense credit for that.
But he deserves even more credit for the remarkable turnaround he made this season and should merit serious consideration for the 2026 NL Comeback Player of the Year. It's hard to think of a player who would be more deserving.
Main Photo Credit: Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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