German Marquez, 22, makes the Rockies’ rotation even younger and will start against the Nationals.
Rockies’ rotation about to get younger
The Rockies long ago settled on the idea of a youthful rotation, anchored by 25-year-old Jon Gray, but that rotation will soon become even younger. Colorado on Tuesday will activate 22year-old German Marquez to start against Washington at Coors Field, manager Bud Black said Monday.
“Isn’t that great? I’m pumped about that,” Black said. “I am. I’m serious. I love it. I’m excited for him. I like young pitchers.”
The youngest rotation in the National League West will get even greener when Marquez takes the spot vacated by Gray, who broke his foot in a game April 13 at San Francisco.
The average age of the Rockies’ rotation — with Tyler Chatwood and Tyler Anderson, both 27, with Kyle Freeland, 23, Antonio Senzatela, 22, and Marquez — is now 24.2, nearly five years younger on average than the rest of the NL West. The average age of the Dodgers’ rotation is 31.6, followed by the Padres (30.4). Giants (30.0) and Diamondbacks (27.0).
Marquez, who debuted last season as a September call-up, broke camp on the Rockies’ roster this month in the bullpen but never appeared in a game before being sent down. In three outings for Triple-A Albuquerque, Marquez had 18 strikeouts and no walks over 10 innings. “I’m very excited,” Marquez said. He got a phone call Sunday night to catch a flight to Denver.
“My time down there was really good, because I got the time to get better and get my pitches up,” he said.
The Rockies are not holding Marquez back. They acquired the then-20year-old in January of 2016 in a trade with Tampa Bay that sent left fielder Corey Dickerson and minor-league infielder Kevin Padlo to the Rays in return for reliever Jake McGee and Marquez. He was 21 when he made his debut, becoming the second-youngest player to debut for Colorado. (Jamey Wright was six days younger in 1996.)
“His time up here last year was invaluable,” Black said. “He got the initial awe of being in the big leagues out of him. That’s always a big thing to feel comfortable. Even making the team this year, as excited as he was, he was confident in his ability at this level. We knew at some point he was coming back to pitch for us.”
In his last Triple-A start, against Reno on Thursday, Marquez struck out nine and gave up two runs in just 4M innings. He was pulled at a 75-pitch limit. When the Rockies put him in the bullpen to start the season, his innings workload diminished and he has since been building it back.
But Black said Marquez is ready to throw in the 90-pitch range Tuesday. To get here, Marquez beat out 24-yearold Jeff Hoffman, among others, for the open rotation spot.
“He knows what’s going on around him,” Black said. “His challenge is to pitch his game. As simple as it sounds, it’s one pitch at a time. He needs to make his pitches, do what he does to get outs.”