Making pitch for playoffs
Rockies’ rotation will probably lean toward the veterans
Surgeons snaked a camera into Tyler Anderson’s left knee, but the agony only came later. The Rockies’ crafty left-hander was forced to look at a season passing him by.
“I felt like for the last two months I was a surfer waking up every morning watching the most beautiful, perfect waves and I couldn’t get in the water,” he said.
Anderson returned last week, and not a game too soon. With his team angling toward a wild-card postseason berth, and with less than two weeks remaining in the season, the Rockies, in a roundabout way, put their band back together. The pitching rotation they penciled in to begin the season is finally intact.
After riding a rookie-heavy rotation for five months, Colorado has topped its starting quintet with experience for the stretch run. Anderson, the lone lefty, is joined by Jon Gray, Tyler Chatwood, Chad Bettis and German Marquez, the only rookie.
“Something special is happening with this team,” said Gray, the 25-year-old atop Colorado’s rotation. “It feels like we have a lot more weapons now. Guys who are just now getting their feet wet, like Anderson, will only get better. We’re in a good spot.”
With them comes a bonus: rest. Anderson (left knee surgery), Bettis (cancer treatment), Gray (broken foot) and Chatwood (bullpen demotion) each had their innings limited this season. Marquez has carried the heaviest burden, throwing 145 innings, second on the club behind fellow
rookie Kyle Freeland. Gray, Bettis and Anderson have not yet reached 100 innings.
Anderson on Saturday flew through his first start since June 25, leading a three-hit shutout of the San Diego Padres. He gave up just two hits in six innings before Freeland and Hoffman, both starters earlier this season, combined for three innings of one-hit ball.
“This is where I wanted to be the whole time, competing,” Anderson said. “We’ve had a lot of depth and that’s helped a lot. To be able to come back and have (manager) Buddy (Black) trust me in these situations, he’s shown a lot of trust, that’s always good.”
Chatwood, in his three starts since returning from a bullpen demotion Sept. 5, has allowed just one run over 13M innings.
Gray on Sunday pitched his 11th consecutive game with three or fewer runs allowed, striking out 11 Padres batters. He efficiently threw just 63 pitches through five scoreless innings before a long rain delay cut his day short.
Bettis, Colorado’s eldest starter at 28 years, gave up just three runs in his first 14 innings after returning in August. After struggling in just one-third of an inning last week at Arizona, the Rockies pushed back his turn in the rotation to Saturday at San Diego.
That is a luxury Black can play with. An off day Monday and an expanded September roster gives Colorado’s manager room to maneuver. He put Freeland (11-10), the team’s win leader, in the bullpen, with Hoffman (6-5) and Antonio Senzatela (10-5), all of them starters. That freed space for more mature arms in the rotation, a valuable postseason commodity for Black.
“They’re just a little more seasoned because of their service time,” Black said. “Just who they are, it’s probably more comforting for us to run those guys out there.”
If the Rockies reach the postseason — they were 2½ games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers for the second and final wild-card spot before Monday — their pitching hierarchy will probably look like it does now.
Gray holds the top spot, followed by a mix of Anderson, Chatwood and Bettis. Marquez, with relief experience and a style that suits short stints, may move to the bullpen with Freeland, a valuable lefty, according to Black. Hoffman and Senzatela would be on the bullpen bubble. And there is wiggle space, in case Chatwood or Bettis falter in the final days.
But Black’s trust in experience is shaping Colorado’s rotation in the crunch.
“We’re probably one of the few teams who have used less than 10 starting pitchers this season,” Black said. “But this time of year, every inning is important. Regardless of the game.”