Collins says he was 4-foot-9 his freshman year of high school. And he played second base and the outfield.

His senior year of high school, Collins threw a no-hitter against Auburn High School in the district championship game.

Undersized and undrafted, Collins was set to become a carpenter upon graduation from Worcester (Mass.) Technical High in 2007. He enrolled at Rhode Island Community College, but two weeks before classes an American Legion baseball game changed everything.

The 5-foot-7 lefty made a relief appearance on a mound in Worcester, striking out 11 of 12 batters, freezing them with a big league curveball.

Luckily for Collins, then-Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi was attending the game to scout 6-foot-7 lefty Keith Landers, who went on to the University of Louisville. If Tim hadn't pitched that night in Worcester, he'd be framing houses now instead of building a career as a big league pitcher.

Within days, the Blue Jays signed Collins, who, despite not having an agent, landed a $10,000 signing bonus and a contract that included four years of college tuition ($7,500 per semester) down the road.

"I was never on the radar," said Collins, who went 91-5 and threw a no-hitter in high school. "I was all set to work a construction job for the summer and the rest of my life. That's what I went to Worcester Tech for. Baseball was kind of a hobby."

"It's a crazy story. I was 17 years old. I'd never been out of the Northeast," Collins said. "Suddenly I'm down there in the Gulf Coast League trying to find an apartment.

The diminutive southpaw was mistaken for an infielder on his first cab ride in Florida. And Indians minor leaguers reportedly poked fun at Collins—presumably for his lack of size—before an outing in the GCL. (Kevin Gray-Baseball America-5/19/10)

In 2008, Tim led all minor league relievers in opponent's average, holding them to a .156 average.

The Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Collins as the 30th-best prospect in the Blue Jays organization in the spring of 2009. They moved Tim up to #19 in the spring of 2010. And, after moving to the prospect-packed Royals organization, he was up again, to #13, in the winter before 2011 spring training.

At the end of the 2009 season, Collins was named the Blue Jays' Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Tim limited Florida State League hitters to a .199 average and his 13.50 strikeouts-per-nine innings ranked sixth among all full-season relievers, the second year in a row he'd joined the Minor League leaders in that category.

Tim can't help but admire Tim Lincecum and Billy Wagner (his #1 inspiration), with whom he shares much in common. And not just a lively fastball.

"Obviously, they are not your average pitchers, being a little shorter, but they are really hard throwers," Collins said. "I'm the same way as far as trying to get everything I can out of my body."

Rigorous offseason workouts at Cressey Performance in Hudson, Mass., helped Collins increase his weight to 172 pounds and his vertical leap from 33 to 37 inches.

An outstanding athlete, Collins was also his high school's quarterback. Only a lack of size kept him off big league draft boards in 2007.

Tim is a big believer in the long toss, believing it strengthens his arm.

Before the 2011 season, Collins and Freddy Patek former big league star with the Royals at just 5-feet-4, sat down and talked—about being short and still making a big league impression.

You can't call Collins small, even though he's on a very short list for the title of "shortest pitcher since 5-foot-6 Bobby Shantz." He's got as close to a tank-like build as any pitcher. For five years now, he's worked out with trainer Eric Cressey in Hudson, Mass., and he's at it again this year—right from the 2011 season's end.

Collins said he isn't focusing heavily on one thing in his workouts, taking a full-body approach and making sure he has strength for his sophomore performance.

"Basically every year it's just getting stronger," Collins said. "That's what helps me stay healthy all season." (December 1, 2011)

June 3-5, 2018: Tim was on the paternity list.

July 27, 2020:  Collins has opted out of the 2020 MLB season, becoming the first to do so after the Miami Marlins' COVID-19 outbreak.

TRANSACTIONS

2007: The Blue Jays signed him as a free agent, out of Worcester Tech High School in Massachusetts.

July 14, 2010: The Braves sent SS Yunel Escobar and LHP Jo-Jo Reyes to the Blue Jays, acquiring SS Yunel Escobar, SS Tyler Pastronicky, and Collins.

July 31, 2010: The Royals sent OF Rick Ankiel and reliever Kyle Farnsworth to the Braves, acquiring Collins, P Jesse Chavez, and OF Gregor Blanco to K.C.

January 16, 2014: Collins and the Royals avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a one-year pact for $1,362,500 for 2014.

Nov 18, 2016: Tim chose free agency.

Oct 29, 2018: Tim chose free agency.

Feb 6, 2019: The Twins organization signed free agent Collins..

March 24, 2019: The Cubs organization signed free agent Collins.

July 30, 2019: Collins again chose free agency.

Aug 4, 2019: The Reds organization signed free agent Collins.

Collins has a 90-96 mph four-seam FASTBALL, an above average overhand 12-to-6 CURVEBALL with good spin, and a slightly above-average CHANGEUP with solid fade. And he is working on a CUTTER.

Tim moves his heater on both sides of the plate and can elevate it when he needs to. He changes the hitter's eye level with his curve. His curve's unique action makes it difficult to distinguish from a high fastball—until it is too late.

2019 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball 46.9% of the time, his Curve 21.3%; and Cutter 31.9% of the time. Average velocity: 4-seam 92.3 mph, Curve 75.2, and Cutter 88.9 mph.

2020 Season Pitch Usage:  Did not pitch.

Tim aggressively attacks hitters, challenging them. Collins has the mentality that when he steps on the mound, it is his game.

Tim has an extremely high leg kick in his delivery that keeps hitters from timing him properly. Hitters take swings, but they don't take good swings because of his deception.

His arm speed is exceptional. He has a high three-quarters arm slot which allows him to stay on top of his pitches and work down in the strike zone. Collins gets excellent deception from his high leg kick, a high set position and a rock-and-turn that has his back facing the hitter as he begins to delivery the ball to the plate.

Tim is about equally adept at retiring both lefthanded and righthanded hitters.

Feb 24, 2020: Tim Collins’ first driver’s license listed him at 5-foot-2, 138 pounds. The back of his baseball card in 2020, which he hopes will show him wearing a Rockies uniform, will list him at 5-foot-7, 166 pounds. The bio on the back of the card will include winning a World Series championship with the '15 Royals and a comeback from back-to-back Tommy John surgeries in '15 and '16.

Collins, a non-roster invitee to Rockies camp who registered a 3.12 ERA in nine appearances for the Cubs last season, is part of a collection of relievers that Colorado has quietly accumulated over the past year. The hope is the depth will help improve the club's 5.14 ERA in relief from last season. Whether the 30-year-old wins an Opening Day job or is part of the organizational depth entering the regular season, he already has quite a story.

Current Giants executive and then-Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi was scouting a 6-foot-7 pitcher at a 2007 American Legion game when he saw someone a foot shorter, out of Worcester Technical High School (Mass.), who was hoping to make a community college team. That someone was Collins, and he arrived in the Majors four years later. But he can’t bottle the formula.

“We have a lot of guys that call the gym, or parents that call the gym, and say, ‘I want my son to be on Tim’s program,’” said Collins, who works out during the offseason at Cressey Sports Performance in Hudson, Mass. “That’s not how it works. You can send them through years and years and years of my programming, and it’s not gong to benefit them like it benefitted me.

“I would be kidding if I didn’t tell you it was a lot of luck. Then I let my athletic ability and my ability to outwork everybody take control.”

Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster was the Royals' bullpen coach from 2010-12, working to nurture young relievers -- literally. Like, there was a “timeout chair" for relievers who acted up.

“[2011] was my rookie year, so we had a lot of young guys down there who sort of needed to be babysat,” said Collins, who pitched a perfect seventh inning in his Cactus League debut for the Rockies on Monday against the Indians. “Steve would sometimes have to get down and catch some of us, and we’d put eye black inside his catcher’s mask. He’d have a big grin on his face.”

But he loved Foster’s approach, which was gentle but high in accountability and low in sugarcoating.

“He really invests in his guys,” Collins said. “I know at the end of the day if I’m pitching well and the results are there, or aside from the results, Steve is the kind of guy that would go to bat for me or anybody else.”

You don’t see many guys Collins' size in the Majors. You also don't see many who had to undergo Tommy John surgery twice.

“That’s three years-plus of a monotonous routine every single day,” Collins said. “At the end of my second one, I was telling myself I was more physically prepared than I was. Your mind starts to play tricks on you.”

Collins appeared in 38 games for the Nationals in 2018. Released by the Twins last year during Spring Training, the Cubs signed him and bounced him between the Majors and Triple-A Iowa four times. He finished the season in the Reds' organization at Triple-A Louisville.

“It was a tough year for me,” he said. “But everybody gets 72 hours to report [when sent down] and I’ve got a wife and three little kids, so I spent more time at home than I ever have during the season. Joe Maddon [the then-Cubs and current Angels skipper], every time I was sent down expressed how much he liked having me and how much confidence he had to put me in situations. So it was never results. I was just that guy.”

Needless to say, Collins doesn’t mind the competition he finds himself a part of this spring with the Rockies.

“Contracts aside, you’ve still got to come for a job,” he said. “Your job isn’t given.” (T Harding - MLB.com - Feb 24, 2020)

April 7-May 4, 2014: Collins was on the D.L. with a left elbow flexor strain.

August 10, 2014: Tim was on the D.L.

March 12, 2015: Collins underwent Tommy John surgery to repair the ligament damage in his left elbow.

March 25-Nov 4, 2016: Collins, who had Tommy John surgery in March, 2015, will need a second Tommy John surgery after an MRI revealed the ligament graft from the first surgery had not held and was placed on the 60-Day DL.

April 3-July 30, 2017: Tim was on the DL most of the season.