Black willing to ride a rotation that is stocked with workhorses
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.» Jon Gray is eager to be a workhorse, ready to eat innings and carry the Rockies through a long season like a 21stcentury Nolan Ryan. “I want to throw 200 innings,” the righthander said. “I know I can handle the workload.”
But should he? The Rockies have a stable of starting pitchers who appear capable of pushing them to the postseason. Their run to the wild-card playoff game last season came on the arms of the youngest staff in club history. Those pitchers combined to throw far fewer innings than the 2009 rotation, which was the last time Colorado made it to the playoffs. Shorter starts from the starters has become a trend throughout baseball.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, National League champions last year, averaged less than six innings from their starters. That ranked 17th in baseball. The Rockies were one slot ahead of them.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said his strategy was intentional. “The way I manage a bullpen sort of plays into how people manage in the postseason,” he said. That means calling to the bullpen early and often, looking for matchups from fresh arms before a starter falters, not after he does.
The Dodgers’ rotation averaged only 86 pitches per start, the lowest number in the majors, according to The New York Times. They led the league with a 3.39 ERA.
“If you give me the choice of 150 innings and dominance or 200 innings and mediocrity, it’s not even a question,” Dodgers starter Alex Wood told The Times.
Gray’s goal of pitching 200 innings goes against the grain. Rockies manager Bud Black does too. His idea of what a starter should do seems old school.
“I’d like my starters to pitch a lot of innings,” Black said. “You know why? If they’re pitching a lot of innings, it means they’re pitching well and we want to leave them in the game. That’s the basic premise of all this. Go five and you’re pitching well? Hey, keep going. Still good? Hey, go another one.”
In the playoffs, with the season’s end in sight, managers tend to make more urgent moves. In the Rockies’ wild-card loss last fall, Gray was pulled in the second inning, having allowed four runs. Black used seven relievers after him. Arizona won 11-8.
During the offseason, when the Rockies signed closer Wade Davis to a three-year, $52 million contract and setup man Bryan Shaw to a three-year, $27 million contract, and resigned Jake McGee, they built a bullpen that should be able to carry more quality innings toward the end of games.
But that may not be the plan.
“The dynamic of our ’pen looks good right now. But we need starters to allow bullpen guys to be healthy all year long,” said Rockies lefthander reliever Mike Dunn. “If you tax the ’pen by June or July, what will it look like on the back half when you’re trying to make a playoff push?”
The 2017 Dodgers took advantage of a 10day disabled list (five days shorter than previous seasons) and call-ups from the minor leagues to extend the health of their bullpen. They have the depth to shuttle pitchers in and out of their rotation and bullpen.
The Rockies appear to have similar bullpen depth. But their reality is different. Pitching half their 162 games at Coors Field requires a constant check on the availability and health of their relievers. One sideways start from a pitcher at the beginning of a long homestand can overtax the bullpen and wreck their readiness for days to come.
“To see how a bullpen would last for 162 games? You’re asking a lot out of guys,” Dunn said. “They’ll be more tired at the end. There are stretches of the season when you need starters to carry you. And stretches when the bullpen carries you. It takes everybody.”