BULLPEN COACHING DUO HAS WINNING CHEMISTRY
philadelphia» Pitching coaches live in anonymity, at least from the fans’ perspective.
That anonymity lasts until ERAs start to soar, starters get lit up and the bullpen collapses. Then some fans light up Twitter, demanding to fire coaches.
This year, the Rockies haven’t had to deal with that, not with the club off to a 28-17 start with the staff sporting a 4.37 ERA entering Monday’s game at Philadelphia. Thus far, the combination of pitching coach Steve Foster and bullpen coach Darren Holmes has deftly handled a young staff.
Quite often, a big-league bullpen coach becomes an underling to the pitching coach, but that hasn’t happened with Colorado. Foster and Holmes share duties, with Foster tending to work more on the psychology of his pitchers, while Holmes is the more technical fix-it guy.
“The greatest thing about our relationship is that with ‘Fostie’ as the pitching coach, I could have just been answering the dugout phone and throwing batting practice,” Holmes said. “That’s what most bullpen coaches do.
“But when we came to the Rockies, he called me and said: ‘I know what you can do. I’ve studied up on you, so I know you really have the talents to teach.’ He’s let me be a big part of this, and I wouldn’t imagine being under anybody better.”
As set-up man Adam Ottavino explained, Holmes breaks down every pitch that every Rockies pitcher throws. He’s analyzing video to make sure Ottavino’s big-movement slider stays on point.
“Fostie and Holmes usually see eye to eye with most things, and that’s really helped,” said rookie left-hander Kyle Freeland, who beat Cincinnati on Sunday, improving to 5-2 with a 3.31 ERA. “For me, it’s been about direction on the mound. They have really tried to nail that home with me, getting me to the point where I’m loaded over the rubber and I’m finishing down the mound toward the plate.”
Holmes, a reliever with the Rockies from 1993-97, became the bullpen coach in 2015, in large part because of his understanding of pitching mechanics and ability to impart that knowledge.
“‘Fostie’ does mechanics, too, but that’s kind of my forte, so I work a lot on the small-detail things,” Holmes said. “Fostie does a lot of the mental preparation with these guys, and he’s excellent at it. He’s really good at making guys feel comfortable and speaking the truth in ways that get through to guys, without putting them down.”
With manager Bud Black, a former major-league pitcher and coach leading the staff, having three sets of eyes and three opinions might seem like too many, but Holmes said that’s not the case.
“He lets us do our job, and he doesn’t second-guess what we do,” Holmes said. “He will throw in information that he has, but he doesn’t butt in. It’s really turned out to be an incredible relationship between all of us.”
Roster moves.
Right-hander Trevor Hoffman, who started Monday’s game, probably will be optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday, with shortstop Trevor Story coming off the disabled list to replace Hoffman on the 25-man roster.
Story, coming back from a left shoulder injury, has been playing rehab games at Triple-A, batting .273 (3-for-11) with a home run and two RBIs in four games.
To make room for Hoffman, outfielder Raimel Tapia was optioned to Triple-A. Tapia got scant playing time with the Rockies, but he has thrived with the Isotopes, hitting .400 (46-for-115) with 15 doubles, three triples and eight stolen bases.