Hometown pitcher a big hit as Rockies rookie
TJ graduate Kyle Freeland could be headed for stardom
Back in the day, before he was crowned Mr. Big Shot, Chauncey Billups was the King of Park Hill. A Denver born-and-bred hoops prodigy and a graduate of George Washington High School, Billups played 17 seasons in the NBA, including one in which he was named Finals MVP.
He is a bona fide Colorado legend.
Kyle Freeland, 24, wouldn’t mind joining that exclusive club someday. He’s not there yet, not even close, but after an eyeopening rookie season in which he finished 11-11 with a 4.10 ERA, dazzled the Dodgers in the home opener and later flirted with a nohitter, the Rockies left-hander finds himself on the edge of stardom.
The state sure could use some new sports stars.
The almighty Broncos, riding their worst losing streak in 50 years, suddenly are a team without an identity. The Avalanche hasn’t made the playoffs in seven years. The Nuggets haven’t visited the postseason since 2013 and haven’t won a playoff series since 2009.
In Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon, the rising Rockies have two popular, likable all-stars. If all goes right next season, Freeland could make it a trio.
At 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, Freeland is tall but hardly physically imposing. Local sports fans aren’t going to mistake him for a Broncos linebacker or a Nuggets forward, but the hometown kid is starting to turn some heads.
“Toward the end of the season, when we were playing well and in the hunt for the postseason, fans started recognizing me,” Freeland said. “I’d get noticed downtown sometimes. The fans were telling you how proud they were. That was fun, that was fulfilling, especially for somebody born and raised here.”
Freeland, a 2011 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School, has long been a big deal in his little corner of the world in south-
east Denver. When he tees it up at John F. Kennedy Golf Course, the guys in the pro shop and the starter on the course welcome Freeland with open arms.
Don Freeland credits his son for helping spread the gospel of Rockies baseball during a season when the team made the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
“My wife (Susan) and I hear it from people all of the time,” Don said. “They are just really happy for the family and for Kyle. I know so many people who were not baseball fans, but they started to watch Kyle play and then they become Rockies fans.”
Freeland made his big-league debut amidst the hoopla of Lower Downtown’s annual baseball carnival known as the home opener. In front of 49,169 fans at Coors Field on April 7, he shut down the Dodgers for six innings in the Rockies’ 2-1 victory.
“It’s still kind of hard to describe my feelings about that day,” Freeland said. “It was a mix-
ture of pride in myself, pride in the team. I was proud and happy to be able to get that opportunity in front of fans in the city where I grew up in, for the team I grew up watching.”
On July 9, Freeland’s star glowed even brighter. He came up two outs short of pitching a nohitter against the White Sox at Coors Field. The southpaw struck out nine and walked three before White Sox left fielder Melky Cabrera singled with one out in the ninth inning. Although Freeland desperately wanted to finish what he started, reliever Jordan Lyles was called on to get the final two outs in Colorado’s 10-0 victory.
“What better type of demeanor and personality could a coach want than having a young guy who is hungry and doesn’t want to come off the mound? Wants to compete?” said Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster. “If there was a single game that would personify who Kyle is, that almost no-hitter was it.”
Freeland’s rookie season was not without its warts. One game, in particular, tested Freeland’s mettle. On July 3, in front of a fireworks night crowd of 48,338 at Coors Field, the Rockies lost to the Reds 8-1. Freeland struggled early, lost his focus and received a tongue lashing on the mound from manager Bud Black.
“He can handle things like that because he’s so competitive and so mature,” Foster said of Freeland. “He can handle scrutiny and tough conversations. He might not like it at the time, but he wants it. He wants to be coached and he wants the tough conversations. Not all guys are like that.”
Not coincidentally, Freeland’s near no-no came just five days later.
His ability to learn, adapt and evolve will be key as he enters his second season.
“We are talking about a guy who had an incredible rookie year,” Foster said. “But there are some things he will have to improve and things he will have to do in order to stay in this league, be a starting pitcher and be one of the best. We aren’t talking about a guy we want to be just another ‘good pitcher.’ We are talking about a guy we want to be one of the best and help us win a World Series. We believe Kyle Freeland can be that type of pitcher. But it’s going to take a lot of hard work.”
To that end, Freeland recently moved to Scottsdale, Ariz., so he can work out at the Rockies’ facility at Salt River Fields. He has been going through rigorous conditioning four times a week and plans to start throwing in the third week of December.
His 2018 to-do list includes gaining command and confidence in his curveball and changeup, thereby preventing hitters from teeing off on his basic fastballslider combination.
And although Freeland loathed to admit it during the season, he smacked into a rookie wall this year.
“I threw about the same amount of innings as I did in Triple-a last year,” Freeland said, noting the 162-inning workload at Double-a and Triple-a in 2016 versus the 156 innings he pitched for the Rockies. “But the difference is: The season was about a month longer, and you have to stay committed to that. That’s a big difference.”
“On the mental side, you have to be engaged in every single pitch and in every single moment,” he said. “That starts to wear on you a bit, so you have to learn how to prepare for the long season.”
Patrick Saunders is the president of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America: psaunders@denverpost.com or @psaundersdp