Relievers are baseball’s police force, expected to serve and protect every lead.
was supposed to be the Rockies’ seventh-inning billy club, but his dress suit hung lonely in his locker Thursday. Minutes after the doubleheader was scrapped, the Rockies demoted Dohmann to Triple-A Colorado Springs. There would be no road trip.
The finality was cruel, Dohmann saying his goodbyes as Jay Witasick’s No. 41 nameplate sat in the equipment manager’s office a few yards away waiting to be perched above a locker.
“Sure it’s bad, but it’s good, too,” Dohmann said.
It’s a tough job, the late-inning shift, where flaws and skills are laid out for all to see. For every standing ovation, there are boos and gut-twisting moments, none worse than facing teammates after a crippling defeat.
“I am not going to sit here and blow smoke,” Dohmann said. “My confidence definitely took some hits.”
Dohmann joined rookie setup man Ryan Speier as roster casualties who were told to work on their fastball command and tighten up their sliders in the minor leagues. Speier, who lives for a job that can bury him on any given night, was more frustrated than relieved.
Even though his 9.82 ERA spoke eloquently enough about his exit, Speier didn’t want to leave.
“I think the best place to learn to pitch in the big leagues is in the big leagues, but I understand their decision,” Speier said. “I learned up here that if you make a hitter’s pitch in a hitter’s count, they spit on it.”
As hard as they tried, the Rockies could no longer ignore the reason – or even exercise patience – behind the worst start in franchise history. The bullpen is 1-7 with a 9.00 ERA and saddled with a league-high seven blown saves.
With Speier and Dohmann assigned a Sky Sox refresher course, only four relievers remain from the group that broke camp. , now working effectively with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and , traded to the Cincinnati Reds, were previously dispatched after pitching spooked.
“I wish I had gone to my psychological class in college,” Rockies pitching coach Bob Apodaca said. “No case, it seems, is the same.”
There is a common thread connecting all relievers: pressure. Any member of their fraternity will experience dramatic highs and lows. Starter suffered through a 2004 season he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. Converted to closer, he lost nine games.
Yes, the pay is great, but there is an expensive psychological toll.
“Being a reliever is absolutely one of the hardest things to do,” Chacon said. “You don’t know when you are pitching, you have a lot to time to think, it’s hard to relax. You can never accept losing, but you have to learn how to handle it if you are going to succeed.”
It’s hard to come to terms with that reality. The losses are agonizing. Perhaps only a football kicker can relate to the emptiness of playing a critical role in a collapse. It’s a wonder some bullpens don’t install an answering machine in the interest of self-preservation.
“Even after I have struggled, I want the phone to ring,” said Jose Acevedo, responsible for the seventh inning along with Witasick, leaving rookie Marcos Carvajal to man the sixth. “Every day is new, you wash away the negative thoughts. You have to.”
As his relievers faltered – Byung-Hyun Kim is on notice even after Thursday’s shakeup – Apodaca chose to address the issue with sensitivity, seeing no need for Triple-A ultimatums after each bad outing.
“Do I think that was a mistake? No,” Apodaca said. “I would do it that way again. You have to remember these are people you are dealing with.”
Youth amplifies a slump. Such relievers know they are disposable, easily farmed out with no strings attached.
“I went through that, worrying about everything, how every roster move was going to affect me,” said , closer Chin-Hui Tsao’s primary setup man. “There were nights after bad games I didn’t sleep well. But you can’t pitch if you are thinking about what might go wrong.”
Rockies’ players insist they have unshakable faith in their relievers. But preventing their slump from splintering the clubhouse will remain a challenge.
“I won’t let that happen,” veteran catcher Todd Greene said. “I have been on teams where that was the case, and nothing good comes from pointing fingers. We are all in this together.”
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5457 or trenck@denverpost.com.
