Rolison made most of time in Dominican
PEORIA, ARIZ. Left-hander Ryan Rolison, the Rockies’ top pitching prospect, missed chunks of his 2021 season because of injury and illness.
He made up for it by pitching for Licey in the Dominican Winter League.
“It was awesome, because of the talent there and the environment you get to pitch in,” Rolison said Monday after making his first Cactus League start of the spring. “Every single night you have that adrenaline and every game matters over there because their season is so short.”
Rolison, Colorado’s firstround pick out of Ole Miss in 2018 (22nd overall), was not sharp Monday in Colorado’s 8-4 win over the Padres. He gave up four runs (three earned) on three hits and a walk in the first inning. He was hurt when left fielder Tim Lopes lost a ball in the sun, resulting in a double.
“I felt like I made some pretty good pitches, but had some tough luck in the first,” Rolison said. “But I have to be better, to be able to get out of that inning with less damage.”
Rolison normally throws his fastball between 91-94 mph but it was down to 88-90 mph on Monday.
“My ‘velo’ wasn’t where I wanted it to be, but it’s still early on,” he said. “My curveball and fastball were down a couple of ticks, but I’ll get back to work tomorrow and get ready for the next one.”
Rolison made five starts for Licey, going 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA to go with 24 strikeouts against five walks in 20 innings. Last season, he missed time in the minors because of a case of appendicitis, followed by a broken bone in his throwing hand.
“We didn’t help Ryan, but he’s working into his spring,” manager Bud Black said of Rolison’s performance on Monday. “He’s still getting into shape right now. He missed a lot of time last year. Good for him that he went to winter ball. Now we’ll catch him up and give him some more starts here this spring.”
Prospect day. Monday afternoon’s game, filled with a lot of Rockies prospects, lasted more than 3 1/2 hours. It was, as Black likes to say, “A Cactus League grinder.”
But at least Black got to see some of Colorado’s best young talent, including catcher Drew Romo and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who hit a two-run homer to left in the sixth.
“He’s got some bat speed and he’s getting stronger,” Black said of Tovar. “He takes a rip at it. I think what we are looking for, overall in the minor leagues, is keeping things aggressive but showing a little more plate discipline.”
Black got to see Romo behind the plate for the second time this spring. He’s been impressed.
“He’s got good energy and good blocking skills,” Black said. “We saw a couple of good blocks today and he receives the ball well. This is a great experience for him to catch on a major league exhibition field.”
Footnotes. Outfielder Yonathan Daza reported to camp Monday after working through visa issues. He is from Venezuela. … Veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland will start Tuesday’s game against the Angels in Tempe.