Rockies’ Senzatela expects better this season
Pitcher working on perfecting changeup
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — By many measures, Antonio Senzatela was Colorado’s best star ting pitcher in 2020. And the Rockies, whose strength is their rotation, expect more of the same in 2021.
“Next for me is to maintain what I did last year,” Senzatela said. “I’m getting better with my pitches. I’m getting more (confident). I’m getting deeper into games. I’ve put my mind to this year. I’ve got to throw a lot of innings, help my team to win, keep my body (healthy), keep working hard.”
As manager Bud Black said, Senzatela, 26, “turned the corner” last season, rebounding from an ugly 2019 when he posted a 6.71 ERA across 124M innings.
Senzatela’s 2020 measurables: 3.44 ERA, 1.214 WHIP, 2.2 walks per nine innings and a 153 ERA+. All of those statistics were club bests.
And, oh yes, he pitched Colorado’s only complete game — a six-hit, 109-pitch beauty in a 3-1 win over Oakland on Sept. 15 at Coors Field. Senzatela struck out three and walked just one. He also induced 15 outs via ground balls. That wasn’t a big shock. Since his debut in 2017, Senzatela’s 50.5 groundball percentage ranks third in the National
League (minimum innings pitched).
Rockies first baseman Josh Fuentes said Senzatela had A’s batters off-balance in almost every at-bat on that Tuesday night at Coors.
“I don’t want to say he had them rattled, but it seemed like they were very uncomfortable in the box,” Fuentes said at the time.
The difference between Senzatela in 2019 vs. 2020? Rather than relying too much on his 94.5 mph fourseam fastball, the righthander began trusting his full repertoire — and he finally got his changeup to star t behaving again.
“His secondar y pitches … they really turned the corner as far as effectiveness and his confidence to throw them in all counts, the cur ve and the slider,” Black said. “The slider, more than any of his secondary pitches, showed the most improvement. And his overall pitch ability improved.
“Didn’t he look in control? Confident? He’s always had that. He competes like crazy.”
Senzatela is quick to say that his changeup is usually his best secondary pitch, but he admits that he misplaced it for a while.
“When I got to the majors, I just tried to throw my fastball because I had success with the fastball,” Senzatela said. “I lost my changeup (grip). I lost confidence (with) it. Year by year, I’ve tried to find the right grip and confidence that I had in the minors.
“Last year, I got my changeup back and the confidence that I had in the minors. I felt like, ‘OK, this is the pitch I want to throw.’ Now I feel like I can throw it anytime, no matter who is hitting. I feel really good about it.”
While pitch location is key for any pitcher, it’s become absolutely essential for Senzatela, who is not a strikeout pitcher in the same vein as fellow Rockies starter, and good friend, German Marquez. Senzatela averaged 5.0 strikeouts per nine innings last season vs. 8.0 for Marquez. What’s more, Senzatela’s strikeout rated has declined every season. That’s fine with him.
“I want people to hit the ball on the ground,” Senza400
Sunday’s games
Pittsburgh 6, Baltimore 4
Minnesota 7, Boston 6
Detroit 10, Philadelphia 2
Tampa Bay 9, Atlanta 7
Toronto 6, N.Y. Yankees 4
Washington 4, St. Louis 4
Miami 6, Houston 1
Cleveland 5, Cincinnati 1
Kansas City 3, Texas 2
Milwaukee 7, Chi. White Sox 2
L.A. Dodgers 2, Oakland 1
L.A. Angels 5, San Francisco 2
Seattle 5, San Diego 4
Colorado 5, Arizona 2
Today’s games
Houston vs. Washington, 11:05 a.m. Minnesota vs. Tampa Bay, 11:05 a.m. Baltimore vs. Philadelphia, 11:05 a.m. Atlanta vs. Boston, 11:05 a.m.
Detroit vs. N.Y. Yankees, 11:05 a.m.
N.Y. Mets vs. Miami, 11:05 a.m. Pittsburgh vs. Toronto, 11:07 a.m. Kansas City vs. Cleveland, 1:05 p.m.
San Francisco vs. Texas, 1:05 p.m.
Colorado vs. L.A. Dodgers, 1:05 p.m. Cincinnati vs. Oakland, 1:05 p.m.
Chi. Cubs vs. San Diego, 1:10 p.m.
Chi. White Sox vs. L.A. Angels, 1:10 p.m. Milwaukee vs. Arizona, 1:10 p.m.
Tuesday’s games
Detroit vs. Pittsburgh, 11:05 a.m.
Tampa Bay vs. Boston, 11:05 a.m. Minnesota vs. Atlanta, 11:05 a.m.
N.Y. Yankees vs. Baltimore, 11:05 a.m.
St. Louis vs. Miami, 11:05 a.m. Philadelphia vs. Toronto, 11:07 a.m. Houston vs. N.Y. Mets, 11:10 a.m.
Kansas City vs. Chi. Cubs, 1:05 p.m. Texas vs. Chi. White Sox, 1:05 p.m. Cleveland vs. Seattle, 1:10 p.m.
Oakland vs. Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m.
San Diego vs. Arizona, 1:10 p.m.
L.A. Angels vs. Cincinnati, 6:05 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers vs. San Francisco, 7:05 p.m.
Arizona 002 000 00x — 2 Colorado 000 211 01x — 5 Arizona ab r h bi Colorado ab r h bi K.marte 2b 2110R.tapialf 2001 J.rojasss 2000Stametsss 2011 Peralta lf 2 0 1 1 C.owngs ss 2000 Mthisen 3b 00 0 0J.hnnahrf 2011 Escobar3b 2 0 0 0Mcmahon3b2 1 1 0 Vnmeter 2b 1 0 0 0 C.wlker 3b 2 0 1 0 Calhoun rf 2 0 1 0 C..cron dh 3000 Frchild rf 1000Hlliardrf 2110 N.ahmed ss 2 0 0 0 Con.joe 1b 1000 Qrecuto lf 2 0 0 0 Fuentes 1b 2120 C.kelly c 20 0 0Yo.dazacf 2000 Mccrthy cf 1000Hampsoncf2021 P.smith 1b 2000R.vladelf 2000 Se.beer 1b 1000Rodgers2b 2000 Thmpson cf 2 1 1 1 A.trejo 2b 1210 Herrera c 0000D.nunezc 2 0 1 0 D.vrsho dh 2000Bricenoc 2000 A.young ph 1 0 0 0 Montero eh 1000
Totals 27 2 4 2 Totals 34 511 4 E — Rodgers (1). DP— Arizona 0, Colorado 2. LOB — Arizona 6, Colorado 11. 2B — Peralta (1), Calhoun (1), Mcmahon (1), Trejo (1).
HR— Thompson (1).
Arizona IP H R ER
Gallen 2 2 0 0
Clarke 2 4 2 2
Frankoff 2 3 2 2
Bukauskas 1 0 0 0
Gilbert 1 2 1 1
Colorado IP H R ER
Gomber 2 1 0 0
Gonzalez 1 3 2 2
Sheffield 1 0 0 0
Diehl 1 0 0 0
Holder 1 0 0 0
Tinoco 1 0 0 0
Doyle 1 0 0 0
W — Diehl. L — Frankoff. S — Doyle
HBP— by Holder (Fairchild).
WP— Frankoff, Gomber, Gonzalez.
Umpires — Home, Jim Wolf; First, Jordan Baker; Second, John Libka; Third, Edwin Moscos.
T— 2:42. A — 2,100
BB
2 1 1 0 1 BB
0 0 0 0 1 1 2
SO
1 2 1 2 1 SO
1 1 1 0 1 1 1
tela said. “To me, it’s more location than pitch (selection). I like to locate my pitches.”
Also fueling Senzatela’s confidence is his growing baseball IQ.
“I’m a lot smarter,” he said. “Now I know about the different teams and the hitters. I know what they are looking for because I have faced them a lot of times. That’s part of the experience in the big leagues and it’s what makes you better.”