In the early years of the Colorado Rockies, Marvin Freeman was the definition of a one-hit wonder. Nicknamed "Starvin’ Marvin" for his tall, 6'7" frame, he spent most of his decade-long career as a middle-of-the-road swingman for the Phillies and Braves. However, for a few months in 1994, he managed to do something almost no other pitcher in baseball history had: he dominated while pitching at Mile High Stadium.
Freeman’s tenure in Denver is defined entirely by the strike-shortened 1994 season, a run that looks like a complete statistical fluke when compared to the rest of his career. Before arriving in Colorado, he hadn't been a regular starter in years, but a spring injury to a teammate thrust him into the rotation. He responded by going 10-2 with a 2.80 ERA, a figure that would have been second in the league only to Greg Maddux had the season not been cut short. He managed a 4.5 bWAR in just 19 games, a level of efficiency that earned him a fourth-place finish in the NL Cy Young voting.
Once the 1995 season began, the league seemed to catch up. His ERA ballooned to 5.89, and he struggled with elbow soreness that eventually required surgery, forcing him to miss the franchise's first-ever postseason run. By 1996, his performance had regressed even further, and he was eventually released by the team mid-season after a difficult stretch that included a reported on-field incident with a media personality.
Freeman compiled a 20-18 record with 200 strikeouts with Colorado.
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