Revitalized rotation
Anderson, Freeland and Senzatela help spark Rockies
Nolan Arenado doesn’t sugarcoat things with throwaway quotes. The all-star third baseman made that clear last week when he raised a ruckus about the need for the Rockies to start winning — now.
So Arenado’s views on the current state of the starting rotation are telling.
After left-hander Tyler Anderson two-hit the Giants over eight innings in the Rockies’ 1-0 victory Wednesday night, continuing a string of strong starting-pitching performances, Arenado was upbeat, in a cautious sort of way.
“That’s how we win ball games,” Arenado said. “That’s what it all comes down to. We need our starters to go deep in games and give us a chance to score some runs and give us a chance to win.
“Tyler has been really good his last few games. He’s competing. He’s super-confident on the bump and we feel really confident with him on the bump. It’s similar to (Kyle) Freeland. When Freeland takes the mound, we always feel like we have a chance to win. That’s how we feel with Tyler.”
With a 4.52 ERA that ranks 12th in the National League, no one will ever mistake the Rockies’ rotation for the Atlanta machine of the mid-’90s that included Greg Maddux,
Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. But as Colorado heads to Seattle for a three-game series beginning Friday night, there are some encouraging signs.
Over the last 12 games, the rotation has posted a 2.34 ERA and the Rockies have gone 7-5. More impressive, in the just-completed, three-game sweep over the Giants at Coors Field, Freeland (seven innings, two runs, three hits), Antonio Senzatela (seven innings, no runs, three hits) and Anderson gave Colorado exactly what it needed.
The sweep not only boosted the Rockies (44-43) back over .500 for the first time since June 8, it also gave the beleaguered bullpen a chance to regroup.
The challenge now is to keep it going.
“The good rotations do it the whole year, with a couple hiccups here and there. So, we’ll see,” manager Bud Black said. “But I think these guys physically are in a good spot. Mentally, they’re in a good spot. The offense is back. There’s a little bit of mojo there. Let’s keep it going.”
Lack of depth, however, could be an issue going forward. The Rockies sent veteran right-hander Chad Bettis to the 10-day disabled list with a blister on the middle finger. The hope is that he will not miss more than a few starts. Right-hander Jon Gray, the opening-day starter, was demoted to Triple-A Albuquerque on Saturday as the organization works to get him right for the second half of the season.
The wild card in the rotation is young right-hander German Marquez, 23, whose season has been colored by inconsistency. That’s reflected in his 5.14 ERA and 1.44 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched). His last start, however, flashed his great potential. He beat the Dodgers, in Los Angeles, allowing one run on two hits over eight innings. He struck out nine, walked none and moved the ball in and out of the zone like a composed veteran.
“When you have confidence in your approach and your mechanics, it breeds more confidence,” veteran catcher Chris Iannetta said. “That’s what we have going right now. A lot of the guys got tangled up and some of their keys got away from them. But they got back to it over the past couple weeks. This really is an energetic boost for them.”