Almost by definition, a Rule 5 Draft pick is a reclamation project.

The players selected on the final morning of Major League Baseball’s winter meetings usually come and go without much notice and without making much of an impact. On occasion, teams hit paydirt.

The Rockies are optimistic they’ve done so with Anthony Molina, the 22-year-old right-hander they plucked from Tampa Bay last December. Indeed, the Rockies see similarities to German Marquez, the 2021 All-Star who befriended Molina.

“I think he has the potential to be a good starter,” Marquez said. “He has the stuff but he just needs to keep improving his breaking ball.”

After a very rocky start, Molina has flashed his raw but tantalizing talent. He gave up 12 runs in just 4 1/3 innings in his first three relief appearances. But in nine appearances since June 2, he’s posted a 3.45 ERA with nine strikeouts and five walks.

He struck out four White Sox in two innings on June 28. He looked dominant and pitched aggressively.

“Once he got over the initial jitters and nerves of being in the big leagues, and the shock and awe, he’s been calm and he’s been poised,” manager Bud Black said. “We had heard that from our scouts — that his heartbeat is in the right place and he doesn’t get scared off. He’s made great strides.”

For the uninitiated, the Rule 5 Draft allows teams to select players from other teams’ non-40-man rosters. Teams may claim players for $100,000, but the players must remain on the selecting team’s 26-man active roster for the entire season. If they don’t, they return to their previous team.

When Molina learned during spring training that he’d made the team, he shed a few tears. Those tears have been replaced by resolve.

“I had to get stronger after those first few outings,” Molina said, with bullpen catcher Aaron Munoz interpreting. “I had to make some adjustments, but, if anything, I started to believe in myself even more once I got through that.”

Molina, listed at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, went 5-7 with a 4.50 ERA and 102 strikeouts through 28 games (27 starts) between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham in 2023. He was 3-2 with a 4.37 ERA in his 13 Triple-A games. The native of San Joaquin, Venezuela, originally was signed by the Rays as a non-drafted international free agent in July 2018.

Molina’s raw numbers, while not great, hinted at his potential. But it was Molina’s delivery and fastball command that intrigued the Rockies. Longtime scout Jack Gillis believed Molina had a huge upside.

“Jack kind of (compared) this guy to German Marquez when Marquez was the same age,” Sterling Monfort, Colorado’s director of professional scouting, said at the winter meetings. “Molina is actually two levels higher than when we traded for Marquez (in January 2016). The numbers are about the same as Marquez’s.

“German wasn’t a huge strikeout guy until he got to us and developed his off-speed pitches. I’m not saying they are going to be the same guy, but we are hoping we got a guy like German Marquez.”

According to FanGraphs, Molina’s four-seam fastball has averaged 94.5 mph this season. He throws that pitch 49.7% of the time and it’s good enough to set up his 88.4 mph slider (24.9%) and changeup (24.0%). Molina rarely throws a curveball, but the Rockies want to see him develop a better one.

“Originally, what we saw was a command guy whose velocity was increasing every year,” pitching coach Darryl Scott said. “For me, taking a shot on a guy like that is smart. The command part was already there.

“He’s sitting at almost 95 (mph) and hitting 96 and even 97 at times. He can get his fastball to the spots where he wants it. And the changeup is his best secondary pitch. So, really, the progress has been about incorporating the slider, and now we’re trying to develop the curveball.”

Scott was not rattled by Molina’s poor start, which included giving up six runs on six hits and a walk in just one-third of an inning in his major league debut on March 28 at Arizona.

“Some of that you chalk up to youth,” Scott said. “You could see him get out there and his delivery would speed up. You could see the game speed up on him. Now, he has a routine where he can step back, regroup, and settle back in. Those have been big maturity steps for him this year.”

Scott said that the Rockies “absolutely” think Molina can develop into a starting pitcher.

“That’s something that we have definitely talked about,” Scott said. “Coming into next year, we’ll develop him in that starter role and see where we’re at with our staff.”

If Molina breaks through and makes it big in the majors, he can thank Antonio Senzatela, 29, and Marquez, 29. The two Venezuelan pitchers have become Molina’s big brothers, even as they’ve gone through rehabs after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

“As a pitching coach, when you see a young guy and his two role models — the two guys he talks to — are German Marquez and Antonio Senzatela, you know you’re in a good spot,” Scott said. “The character of ‘Senza’ and ‘Marky’ is off the charts. So when you see a young pitcher of that same type of character — quiet, thoughtful, but super competitive on the mound — and you see him being mentored like that, it’s awesome.”

Marquez, who’s scheduled to rejoin the rotation by the end of July, bonded with Molina from the start.

“As soon as he was (acquired in the Rule 5 Draft), I started talking to him on the phone,” Marquez said. “I taught him little things about the game I’ve picked up through the years, and he’s improved on those little things throughout the year.”

For example, when they were shagging flyballs during batting practice earlier this season, Marquez reminded Molina how important mindset is.

“‘Marky’ said to me, ‘Don’t be negative. The main thing is being positive,’ ” Molina recalled.

Molina said he’s blessed to have two veteran pitchers care so much about him.

“They are always there for me, always looking out for me,” he said. “In every outing, they give me advice and point out things I can do better.”

Can Molina become the Rockies’ next Marquez?

“No doubt, especially with him in my corner,” Molina said. “I want to be just like him. I really feel like I can get to that level of pitching.”

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