Colorado remains lone NL team to start only 5 pitchers
With perhaps the deepest and sturdiest rotation in the club’s quarter-century history, all five of the Rockies’ starting pitchers have shown enough flashes of dominance this season to inspire faith in even the most cynical fan.
But, as of late, the optimism surrounding that youthful rotation has soured as Colorado’s taken a tumble in the divisional standings and the bullpen continues to be kryptonite.
That souring is reflected in the stats, as Rockies’ starters possess a 4.87 collective ERA — second-worst in the National League — while also being the worst first-inning staff in all of baseball with a 7.85 ERA and 20 homers given up in that frame alone.
“Have they pitched how they’re capable, as a rotation? No,” manager Bud Black said. “Does that have to improve? Absolutely. But I like the mind-set, the durability, the work in between starts, and their deliveries and their arm actions that are allowing them to go to the post every fifth
day.”
The Rockies remain the lone NL team to have trotted out the same five starting pitchers all season, a stat they share only with the defending World Series champion Astros.
And while Black acknowledged there could “possibly” be a performance-based change in the rotation at some point this season, for the meantime it’s clear Colorado is banking on the combination of Jon Gray, Tyler Anderson, German Marquez, Chad Bettis and Kyle Freeland to provide stability on the hill.
For their part, the Colorado starters believe their durability is related to a competitive mindset within the unit.
“We have a group of guys where everybody wants to take the ball every single day, and it’s never a matter of ‘I’m a little banged up,'” Anderson said. “And even though we’ve had some guys struggle at times, everybody’s had some really good games, too. But usually when it does go bad, we have a tendency to have them be really bad, so it kind of skews the perspective of our guys throwing well.”
Considering the recent implosions in the bullpen (major league-worst 5.56 ERA), Colorado’s starters are going to have to start shouldering more of the load in order for the Rockies to make a serious run at the division crown in the second half of the season.
The Rockies are averaging 5M innings per start, which ranks tied for third in the NL, while the bullpen has thrown the league’s third-fewest innings this season at 260M. But the decency of those stats comparative to the rest of the NL hasn’t been enough to consistently be in a position to win, and the Colorado starters know it.
“The key is settling into the game earlier, and that means locating our pitches,” Marquez said. “All of us can do it — it’s a matter of getting it going together now, and taking pressure off the bullpen.”
As they work to do that, the Colorado starters remain a pleasant surprise and, at times, a frustrating work-in-progress.
“Typically, if you said before the year that your guys would make every turn through late June, people would be like, ‘That’s great,’ ” reliever Adam Ottavino said. “And if guys are going deep, that means they’re pitching well. Hopefully everything good and bad that’s happened will be a learning experience, and they can all kind of gel going forward and build the length of those outings collectively.” Footnote. Charlie Blackmon appears on the cover of the July issue of Sports Illustrated For Kids that hit newsstands this week. Blackmon is depicted in
Rockies’ rotation
4.87 ERA is second worst in NL (Reds, 5.35).
7.85 ERA in the first inning is the worst in MLB.
20 HRs allowed in the first inning, most in NL.
5M innings per start average ranks tied for third in NL.
Best starter: Freeland (3.55 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 3.1 WAR)
Worst starter: Marquez (5.53 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 0.6 WAR) his road uniform at “Camp Wannawin,” and the cover teases Blackmon talking about “skills, drills and summer camp fun.” “It was a cool photo shoot — I enjoyed it,” Blackmon said. “And the article was mostly tips, and what I like to do to practice.” What kind of camp counselor would Chuck Nazty be, you ask? A “no rules” one, he said.