In 2001, Marquez signed with the Rays (see Transactions below).

German did not distinguish himself in the first two years.

In 2014, he struggled initially at low Class A Bowling Green, but he responded by not allowing more than two earned runs in any of his last 14 starts. (Spring 2015)

In 2015, the Baseball America rated Marquez as the 25th-best prospect in the Rays organization. He was at #14 in 2016. He moved up to #5 in the winter before 2017 spring training, following the Rockies acquiring him in January 2016.

German has the character and makeup to rise to the top. It is all positive.

July 22, 2018: German was on the Paternity leave.

July 25-27, 2018: German was on the restricted list.

Nov. 8, 2018: German won his first Silver Slugger Award.

Dec 21, 2018: Growing up in San Felix, Venezuela, German learned from his father that the best gifts aren't the ones you receive. German Marquez Sr. works in an aluminum factory. And through the company, his family would hand out toys to the children in town on Christmas Eve.

"On the 24th, we would be excited and be ready to go," said Marquez, who said his dad will soon retire. "I shared a lot of this with my family. A lot of the toys came from where he worked."

This Christmas, the 23-year-old Marquez, after establishing himself as one of the National League's top young pitchers in 2018, will keep the tradition going. Working through his agent, Daniel Szew of L.A. Sports Management, and in conjunction with Timbuk Toys, Marquez is handing out toys in his hometown for the holiday. Timbuk Toys donated a number of toys and sold more at a 30 percent discount. A total of 310 toys were recently shipped to San Felix, according to Timbuk Toys owner, founder and president Sallie Kashiwa. 

"I feel like it's important for kids to be looking forward to toys at Christmas time," Marquez said. "With the situation the country is going through, it's part of my obligation to give back to the community because I have the resources and ability to. "It's difficult, like the rest of Venezuela, but people get up in the morning, they go to work, and they go out and fight just to get some food on the table."

In order to help in Venezuela, German set up Team Marquez.

"It's not like a full-blown, registered foundation," Marquez said. "It's a group of family members that cook for people, go to hospitals in the area and help out where they can." The Christmas toy distribution was Marquez's next step.

"I remember him handing out some toys last year, but it wasn't really through him but through one of his friends' foundations," said Szew, who translated for Marquez during the phone interview. "This year, we got to talking once he was a little more established. It was really his idea, and he was really on board."

Marquez is looking to do something similar in the Denver area during the season. "We would use this as an opportunity to collect more donations from the customers who come to meet him, while creating a marketing opportunity for him and for Timbuk Toys," Kashiwa said. (T Harding - MLB.com - Dec 21, 2018)

2020 Spring Training: Feb. 24 was the day for Márquez to pitch, but the plan was for him to do a simulated game on the back field, away from the fans. But when he does pitch in a Cactus League game, he’ll be doing so for two special fans.

Márquez, 25, will finally pitch in front of his wife, Dilvanny, and his 19-month-old son, Damian, after securing a visa for them. Márquez, from San Felix, Venezuela, last pitched in front of family members in 2012 in the Dominican Summer League while he was with the Rays, who traded him to the Rockies before the 2016 season.

“It’s really exciting to have your family in the stands," Márquez said. "It’s going to be awesome, first time for them."

It’s not as if Márquez didn’t feel the support from back home. A family friend gathers a neighborhood group of around 20 to watch all of his starts. But Márquez admitted feeling something was missing when he saw his teammates visit with their loved ones.

“It’s kind of hard being away from your family,” Márquez said. “It’s hard, but you have to keep going.”

Political unrest in Venezuela and a contentious relationship between the government there and the United States have combined to make travel difficult. Márquez originally could secure a visa for Damian but not for Dilvanny because they weren’t married. Then, the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela closed.

But Márquez did eventually marry Dilvanny. Then the family followed the suit of many Venezuelans, athletes and otherwise, by going to Colombia to secure the visas. (Thomas Harding - Feb. 24, 2020)

July 2021: Marquez was chosen to represent the Rockies in the All-Star Game.

Aug. 2022: German committed to play for Team Venezuela in the 2023 WBC.

Feb. 18, 2023: Marquez will not be on the initial Team Venezuela roster because of a hamstring injury, per a tweet from MLB.com’s Thomas Harding.

March 24, 2023: The Rockies named German as their opening day starter.

TRANSACTIONS

July 2011: Marquez signed with the Rays as a free agent, out of Venezuela, for $225,000 via scout Ronnie Blanco. 

January 28, 2016: The Rays traded Marquez and LHP Jake McGee to the Rockies for LF Corey Dickerson and 3B Kevin Padlo.

April 2, 2019: Marquez and the Rockies agreed to a five-year, $43 million contract. Marquez’s new contract covers 2019-2023. And it includes a club option for 2024 that would become a mutual option if Marquez has two top-three finishes in Cy Young Award voting.

It also includes a $1 million bonus if Marquez is traded, and escalators if he wins the Cy Young. A first-place finish would result in $1 million being added to the fifth year in the deal and the option year. He would receive $500,000 in the fifth year and another $500,000 in the option year for any finish from second to fifth place.

Marquez has an 91-98 mph FASTBALL, has crisp rotation on his CURVEBALL with tight spin and off-the-table depth, and a CHANGEUP that shows good promise. He has feel for it, putting it low and on either side of the plate.

He now has good command. German's tight curve plays well in the mile-high Coors Field altitude. (Spring, 2017)

2016 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 59.5% of the time; Sinker 3.2% of the time; Change 8.9%; and Curve 28.5% of the time.  Marquez was named MLB Pipeline Rockies prospect Pitcher of the Year. And German finished 2016 contributing to the Major League team.

2017 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 56.8% of the time; Sinker 8.3% of the time; Change 5.4%; Slider .5%; Curve 25.2%: and Cutter 3.7% of the time.

2018 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 46.1% of the time; Sinker 8.8%; Change 6.5%; Slider 18.7%; and Curve 19.8% of the time. Average velocity: 4-seam 95.9 mph, Sinker 94.6, Change 86.3, Slider 85.8, and Curve 82.2 mph.

2019 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 40.8% of the time; Sinker 11.4; Change 3.4%; Slider 22.3%; and Curve 22.2% of the time. Average velocity: 4-seam 95.8 mph, Sinker 94.6, Change 88.2, Slider 87.4, and Curve 84.9 mph.

2020 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 38.2% of the time; Sinker 14.2; Change 5.6%; Slider 17.5%; and Curve 24.6% of the time. Average velocity: 4-seam 96.2 mph, Sinker 94.9, Change 87, Slider 88.2, and Curve 85.7 mph.

German pounds the lower part of the strike zone with above-average control, and can overpower hitters with his heater. His fastball tends to jump out of his hand and possesses late life. His quick arm and wrist also generate a sharp, above-average curveball, and he shows good feel for a changeup.

Marquez has a balanced deliver that provide excellent control most outings. His is a clean, repeatable, short-to-long arm action. He has an easy arm action with clean polished mechanics. Mature for his age, Marquez needs to fine-tune his command in the strike zone, though he does a good job of working the lower half of the zone. Marquez profiles as a back-end starter.

“This isn’t just some throw-in prospect,” Rockies farm director Zach Wilson said in 2016. “This is a dude with front-of-the-rotation stuff and a front-of-the-rotation mindset.”

Noting that Marquez can still register 95 mph in the 8th inning of a start, Wilson said, "That's a credit to the looseness of his arm, the fluidity of his arm action with his delivery and his ability to keep his legs underneath him for seven, eight innings.”

German also has learned to land his curveball for strikes, using it on consecutive pitches this year at times and dropping it on the back foot of a lefthanded hitter. His changeup also was a point of emphasis during the 2016 season.

“It used to be a changeup where he would slow his arm down, and he would push it,” Wilson said. “We’ve been very much focused on that, and that’s come a long way.

“He’s certainly made some big strides from when we acquired him to now, especially with his delivery,” Wilson said. “He’s staying on line and staying taller on the back side. That started right when we got him . . . and it’s continued since.” (Jack Etkin - Baseball America - 9/02/2016)

2018 Improvements:  Marquez lives in San Felix, Venezuela, about a five-hour drive from the nearest Venezuelan Winter League team. So his 2017 rookie year—an 11-7 record with a 4.39 ERA to earn a spot on the Topps MLB All-Star Rookie Team—has made him an unquestioned local celeb.

"Yeah, I have a big following and a lot of people want to congratulate me," Marquez said, with his agent, Daniel Szew, interpreting when necessary. "That's wonderful."

And Marquez is working on new tricks to make more news in 2018. Acquired as part of the deal that sent outfielder Corey Dickerson to the Rays before the 2016 season, Marquez provided power and strike-zone efficiency for a young Rockies rotation that fueled a berth in the NL Wild Card game. Marquez finished with 147 strikeouts (eight or more in seven of his 29 starts) against 49 walks (no more than three in any start) over 162 innings.

Already possessing a power fastball—one he leaned on for 51 percent of his 2,673 pitches in 2017 (31st highest in the Majors in terms of frequency)—and an effective curve, Marquez learned a slider from pitching coach Steve Foster and bullpen coach Darren Holmes during Spring Training. He was such a quick learner that he used it 33 times with two strikes, earning six strikeouts and giving up just one hit.

In 2018, hitters will no doubt look for Marquez to challenge with the fastball and curve. However, Marquez hopes his four-seam changeup becomes a bigger weapon. Statcast™ showed him using it just 18 times, but he yielded no hits and forced four ground-ball outs. The only baserunner came on a walk.

"I worked on it most of the season, and I didn't quite get it to where I wanted," Marquez said. "I really want to perfect it before I add it to my repertoire for next season." (Thomas Harding-MLB.com-Nov.29, 2017)

August 8, 2018: Marquez pitched an immaculate inning. He accomplished three straight strikeouts—on three pitches each—in a 4-3 loss to the Pirates.

Marquez was down, 3-0, at the time. He fanned the top of the Pirates' order—Corey Dickerson, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco—all on curveballs. Marquez became the second pitcher in Rockies history, and first at Coors Field, to accomplish the feat. Lefty reliever Rex Brothers did it on June 14, 2014 in San Francisco, against Michael Morse, Brandon Crawford and Gregor Blanco. (Thomas Harding - MLB.com)

September 26, 2018: Marquez tied a modern Major League record by fanning the first eight Phillies he faced. He matched the Astros' Jim Deshaies (Sept. 23, 1986) and the Mets' Jacob deGrom (Sept. 15, 2014).

The modern era is since 1900. Before then, Mickey Welch, pitching for the 1884 New York Gothams, started a game with nine strikeouts.

Through four innings, Marquez had 10 strikeouts, raising his season total to 230, which surpassed Ubaldo Jimenez's club record of 214, set in 2010.

April 14, 2019: The first complete game in the big leagues in 2019 was very close to being much more. As it was, German settled for one-hit, nine-strikeout domination of San Francisco as the Rockies ended an eight-game losing streak with a 4-0 win over the Giants.

The no-hit effort came to an end one out into the eighth inning when Marquez’s 0-2 slider wasn’t quite low enough and was slapped by Evan Longoria past third baseman Nolan Arenado for a single. Longoria was the second and last Giant to reach base. Marquez hit Kevin Pillar with a pitch to open the sixth after having retired the first 15 men he faced.

“I wanted [the no-hitter] for him so bad,” Rockies catcher Tony Wolters said. “At some point, he’s going to do a no-hitter, a perfect game. He’s got the stuff. He’s such a competitor, and he’s so selfless. After the hit, all he wanted to do was to get us the win.” 

Marquez is now the owner of the only complete-game one-hit shutout in Rockies history. There has only been one no-hitter for Colorado, thrown almost nine years ago to the day by Ubaldo Jimenez in Atlanta. Today's game from Marquez qualifies as one of the best starts in Rockies history.  (Hickey - mlb.com - 4/14/19) 

July 2020: Rockies manager Bud Black announced that Márquez will start the season opener at Texas at 6:05 p.m. MT (AT&T SportsNet). It’s the first season opener for Marquez, who is coming off a solid 2019 and hopes to establish himself as one of the top pitchers in the National League.

“It’s a goal that I set the first time when I got to the big leagues – I have to do Opening Day, I have to go to the All-Star Game, win a Cy Young,” Márquez said. “So that’s one of my goals. It’s pretty amazing how I feel.”

In 2019, Márquez went into the season on a newly minted $43 million deal and pitched his heart out. At the time he went on the IL for the rest of the season, he had made the most starts in baseball. In a pandemic-shortened season, he again led all of baseball with 13 games started. He led the National League in innings pitched and faced more hitters than anyone else in baseball. The man went out to earn his money.

There’s no question that Germán has earned his money the past two years by a volume perspective. How we evaluate his performance is a matter of perspective. From 2018 to 2019, Márquez’s strikeout rate went down (10.56 to 9.06 K/9) but so did his walk rate (2.62 to 1.81 BB/9). His inflated ERA reflects a certain amount of bad luck: a career high home run rate (1.50 HR/9) and career low strand rate. All in all, Márquez had a rougher year than in the past, but still performed well enough.

So how was 2020 different for Germán? Well, his strikeout rate was the lowest and his walk rate was the highest of his career. So naturally he posted the lowest ERA of his career. The answer to this enigma is contact.

Germán has managed to raise his groundball rate each of his four full seasons, to the point where he now qualifies as a groundball pitcher by average launch angle.

But not only are his groundballs up, but his hard contact is down as well. Baseball Savants defines a “barrel” as a batted ball with the perfect combination of exit velocity and launch angle—essentially, exactly what a pitcher doesn’t want. Márquez was in the top quartile of MLB pitchers in limiting barrels (4.9%).

Combine the increased groundballs with the lack of quality contact and you get the big difference: a 9.4% home run per fly ball rate. Keeping the ball in the yard, you might suspect, is good for a pitcher. It’s especially good if you pitch half your games in Coors Field. 

The question becomes how much of this change is sustainable. Thirteen starts is a small sample size, so it’s hard to know if that level of limiting his contact can be sustained over a full season. Some of the improvements can be tracked to his pitch usage: he’s relying on his four-seamer less and less, so the weak contact looks to continue. But we’ll have to see what happens when the fatigue of a full season kicks in. One thing we can be sure of: Germán Márquez will keep putting in the work.  (Adam Peterson@playerTBNL - Nov 3, 2020)

In 2020, German's best pitch was his curveball. As has been the case for the last few seasons, the most valuable arm in the Mile High City last year was that of Germán Márquez. Speaking of value, Márquez’s 2020 curveball logged its second highest pVAL of his career (8.7). The pitch produced an incredible 43.9% whiff rate and held hitters to a .110 AVG thanks in part to the highest curve spin rate the pitch has seen since 2016. Even more impressive is the .176 xwOBA on the pitch since 2018. That number is casually the lowest in baseball on a specific pitch. (Shawn Barletta - March 30, 2021)

June 6, 2021: Marquez, Colorado’s ace, is a different pitcher from the one that opened the season. After a disastrous May outing, he has a 1.89 ERA over six starts since.

“We recognized a number of starts ago that the tempo through his windup was a little fast and then sometimes a little slow,” manager Bud Black said. “We put a stopwatch on it, and it got to the point where he was hurried or it was slow.

“In bullpen sessions we really worked on him getting a consistent tempo from the time he made his first move to the time he released the ball, both out of the windup and in the stretch. I think that had a big impact.”

It appears that the hard work is paying off. Márquez’s early-season struggles weren’t manifesting in the quality of contact against him. According to Statcast, opponents’ hard-hit rate against him through the May 4 outing was 37.1%, and in the six starts since, it’s 36.1%.

The issue early on was that Márquez was getting into too many deep counts, which drove up his pitch count during early-season outings and made him less effective. Straightening out the tempo has remedied that.

“I think it helped his ball-strike ratio and his control and command,” Black said. “This afternoon, a really good breaking ball. The A’s are a team that doesn’t chase a lot. But he was in the strike zone a lot, I thought, with his breaking ball and his fastball. He mixed in his changeup just to keep them honest. But I think it’s more about the consistent delivery, both in his windup and [out of] the stretch.” (M Randhawa- MLB.com - June 6, 2021)

2021 Season: Marquez had a very strong season, making 32 starts while going 11-10 with a 4.40 ERA and team-best 3.64 xFIP. His 3.4 fWAR also ranked second among Rockies pitchers with at least 40 innings. He was reliable and also avoided fly balls by inducing ground balls at a team-high 51.6 percent clip. The righthander has been this rotation’s most evident bright spot over the last couple of seasons.  (Andersen Pickard - October 17, 2021)

German started the 2021 season with a career record of 42-30 and a 4.24 ERA, having given up 86 home runs and 633 hits in 634 innings.

2022 Season: A year removed from his first All-Star season, Germán Márquez started the 2022 campaign slowly, lacking the results the Rockies’ ace is expected to produce. After a solid first start against the Dodgers on Opening Day, Márquez struggled through the rest of April and May. During June and July, Márquez seemed to figure out his control and limited the amount of runs scored, including a 7 2⁄3 scoreless innings against the Twins on June 24th. Perhaps his best start of the year came in New York against the Mets. Márquez outdueling Max Scherzer with seven innings of one run ball to help the Rockies to a 1-0 road win.

Between June 12 and August 17, Márquez had a string of quality starts, having eight such in 12 starts. Despite the stretch, the former All-Star had a some bumpy starts, which was the story of his season as a whole. For every quality start, Márquez would have a short start with five or six earned runs.

On the season as a whole, Márquez went 9-13, throwing 181 2⁄3 innings in which had an ERA of 4.95 and struck out 150. The numbers for his 2021 All-Star season had some similar statistics for innings pitched, 180 in 2021 to 181 2⁄3 in 2022, and walks 63 to 64. But in 2021, Márquez was able to strikeout 26 more batters in the same amount of innings. So what were the main differences between this season and last? In 2021, Márquez had a Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) of 3.86, but that rose in to 4.71, by far the highest of his career. For those less familiar with this stat, FIP a stat that shows how effective a pitcher is for things they control such as home runs, walks, or strikeouts in the same measure as ERA.

So what does it mean for Márquez having higher for his FIP this season? Márquez was did not limit the things he controlled, specifically in the the home runs and strikeout categories. As mentioned in the paragraph above, Márquez struckout less batters this season and gave up 30 home runs, the most in his career. Striking out less batters and surrendering more home runs is a bad combination at the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field. Another advanced stats that shows Márquez down year is ERA+ which is park-adjusted (100 is average, <100 is better than the average). 2022 marked the first time Márquez was below league average for a full season, dropping from 109 to 94 between the two seasons.  (Paul_Elliott@paulcroy30  Nov 28, 2022)

He had a lot at stake.
Things did not go well. He exited an April 10 game early with pain in his right arm. On April 26, he would leave after 3 2⁄3 innings against the Cleveland Guardians. Tests revealed significant elbow damage.

On May 12, Márquez underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his 2023 campaign and taking him out for most of 2024.

He started in four games earning a 4.95 ERA. In 20 IP, he had a 21.3% K%, a 3.8% BB%, and a 48.3% GB%. Márquez gave up four home runs, walked three, and struck out 17.

It’s worth noting that he is within two Ks of Jorge De La Rosa’s 985-career strikeouts, a club record. (Renee Dechert@ReneeDechert  Nov 14, 2023)

June 25-July 6, 2014: Marquez was on the D.L. with the Bowling Green Hot Rods.

April 20, 2019: Marquez, dealing with pain from an infected tooth, had the offending molar pulled.

Aug 23, 2019-Sept 30: German was on the IL with right arm inflammation.

Feb 17, 2023: - Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez expressed disappointment that a left hamstring injury will keep him off Venezuela's roster for the first round of the World Baseball Classic, but he is maintaining hope that he'll be able to participate in the second round.

April 11-26, 2023: German was on the IL with right forearm inflammation.

April 12, 2023: Márquez underwent an MRI that revealed right forearm inflammation but no structural damage. Bud Black said he doesn't think Marquez will be sidelined longer than the IL stint, and that the right-hander just needs to rest his arm. 

April 26, 2023: - Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez threw a fourth-inning pitch in the 4-1 loss to the Guardians, squatted in pain behind the mound, then walked despairingly to the dugout. Best that can be said is the injury -- the second in as many starts to his pitching arm -- might not be as bad as it looked.

A preliminary examination from a Cleveland doctor suggested the latest issue is in his triceps, above the elbow. The injury that forced him from the April 10 start was inflammation in the right forearm.

April 27, 2023: German was on the IL with right elbow inflammation.

May 2-July 14, 2024: It was determined that Márquez will have Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the 2023 season.