Rockies’ Feltner eyeing a spot in the rotation
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> Ryan Feltner hoped 2023 would be his breakout season. In the blink of an eye, a 92.7 mph line drive to his head shattered those plans.
Undeterred, the Rockies’ 27-year-old right-hander enters spring training in the best place of his career, confident he can earn a spot in the starting rotation.
“Everything happens for a reason, so I’m framing it in my mind that maybe it’s a good thing that everything happened the way it did,” Feltner said Sunday after a morning workout at the club’s complex at Salt River Fields. “I faced a big hurdle, overcame it, and now my stuff is better than it was before.”
Listen to veteran lefthander Kyle Freeland and manager Bud Black and they’ll tell you that Feltner possesses the tools necessary to thrive in the majors.
“I’ve been with this organization for 10 years now,” Freeland said. “I think the two pitchers with the best raw stuff I’ve seen are (German) Marquez and Feltner. They both have that explosive fastball that sets up their other pitches.
“Ryan worked out with us here in Scottsdale this offseason and he looks great. He’s worked incredibly hard and he’s so committed. He’s got a chance to be in the rotation, for sure, and to have a big season.”
The first three spots in the rotation are locked up by newly acquired righthander Cal Quantrill and the two veteran lefties — Austin Gomber and Freeland. Competing for the other two spots are newcomer Dakota Hudson, along with Peter Lambert, Noah Davis and Feltner. Colorado’s rotation will be without Marquez for at least the first half of the season and will likely not have Antonio Senzatela at all. Both right-handers underwent Tommy John surgery last year.
During spring training, Black will be looking for indications Feltner can master an arsenal that includes an upper-90s fastball, slider and curveball, as well as a resurrected changeup.
“The thing that stands out about Ryan is the potential of what he could be, based on his stuff,” Black said. “It’s a good, live fastball and he has a feel for his secondary pitches. You can project success just on what we have seen in flashes.
“Now, the challenge for Ryan is the consistency — game to game. You can break it down even further, inning-to-inning and pitchto-pitch. What has troubled Ryan is the bigger inning that cost him pitch counts and cost him being taken out of the game because he couldn’t stop the bleeding.”
Feltner’s statistics illustrate his inconsistency. In 32 big-league games (31 starts, 147 innings), Feltner is 4-14 with a 6.06 ERA and 1.524 WHIP. He’s averaged 4.2 walks per nine innings vs. 7.8 strikeouts per nine. That’s not going to get the job done.
Ironically, a nasty twist of fate allowed Feltner to reset. He’s looking at 2024 as a fresh start and is relishing a chance to emerge as a power pitcher.
First, he had to deal with that scary moment last year when it looked, for a time, that Feltner’s career might be in jeopardy. On May 13 at Coors Field, in the third inning, Philadelphia’s Nick Castellanos scorched a line drive toward the mound. Feltner had just enough reaction time to avoid getting hit in the face, but the baseball struck Feltner in the back of his head, just above the right ear. He suffered a concussion and fractured skull. Symptoms of dizziness lingered for about a month.the head in- jury kept Feltner off a major league mound for almost 19 weeks, but, remarkably, he came back. He pitched well in his return on Sept. 19 at San Diego, blanking the Padres for five innings and striking out five. In that game, his fastball was noticeably hotter. In the first inning, he struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. on a 98 mph fastball, about 4 mph faster than his career average fastball velocity.
“I should average about 96-97 mph and there is potential to reach triple digits,” Feltner said. “I won’t do that in spring training, but my fastball can go up a few ticks if I need it to.”
Feltner entered 2023 relying heavily on his two-seam sinking fastball and a slider. This year, a four-seam fastball and a changeup will be his bread and butter.