Since first slipping on a Rockies uniform, Aaron Cook has worn many labels: talented, resilient, courageous, ultra-competitive.
Most of all, the right-hander with the cannonball sinker has been called promising — which is another way of saying he has yet to achieve consistent success.
With Rockies pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training today in Tucson, the defending National League champions are convinced Cook’s time is at hand. After all, they signed him to a four-year, $34 million contract extension though he’s never won more than nine games in a season.
“It meant a lot to me,” Cook said. “It showed they believed in me. They stepped up with a contract that I could not turn down.”
Now it’s up to the 29-year-old right-hander to justify the club’s faith. Cook said he’s ready to carry the burden that comes with big money and weighty expectations.
“No matter what other people say or do, or what the contract says, I always expect more of myself than other people, or what’s written in the paper,” he said.
Cook enters spring training no longer expected to be the staff ace. That honor belongs to Jeff Francis.
Cook had his shot a year ago, and manager Clint Hurdle anointed him the team’s opening-day starter. But he didn’t pitch anything like an ace, finishing 8-7 with a 4.12 ERA in 25 starts.
“One of the challenges for Aaron was trying to be the No. 1 guy,” Hurdle said. “He tried so hard to be the one guy that he stopped pitching the way that Aaron can pitch, at times. I think it’s a matter of experience and maturity. We’ve seen how efficient he can be; now we want a full and complete season from him. He’s looking for it.”
Keep it on the ground
When Cook is on, hitters struggle to lift his sinker beyond the infield. His 2.78 groundball/flyball ratio a season ago was third-best among NL starters. In a July 25 victory over San Diego, Cook needed just 74 pitches in his complete-game performance, matching the lowest pitch count in a nine-inning game since Stats Inc. began tracking pitch counts in 1988.
Cook’s gem came during a stretch in which he appeared to be delivering on his promise. He went 3-1 with a 2.41 ERA in six starts before straining his left oblique muscle Aug. 10, which forced him to miss the remainder of the regular season. He pitched once more, a credible outing in Game 4 of the World Series.
Throughout his career, Cook has been haunted by an inability to stay on top of his game for a full season. But pitching coach Bob Apodaca saw signs last summer that Cook was close to casting out that demon.
“Aaron finished the season on a high note,” Apodaca said. “His thinking and his approach to every hitter was much more consistent, instead of having those hills and valleys. At times last season we saw the consistent delivery, then other times we saw him pitch like his hair was on fire. You watch the good pitchers over the season and it looks like an instant replay. That’s the consistency we are looking for from Aaron.”
And that’s what they have gotten from Francis, who became the team’s bona fide ace last season, going 17-9 and winning his first two playoff starts.
“I’ve learned a lot from Jeff over the last couple of years,” Cook said. “I’ve seen his mind-set and his consistency, the way he prepares for each game.”
Cook is capable of firing a 95-mph fastball, but he’s more effective when he takes his foot off the gas.
“I don’t think he’s the best he can be attempting to throw 95-96,” Apodaca said. “When he found success, it’s in games where he commanded that tremendously moving (sinker). Whatever the velocity was, 88 or 90, he commanded it.”
Taking a cue from Arizona Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb, perhaps the best sinkerball pitcher in the league, Cook is working to expand his repertoire.
“I started working last year on a cutter-slider type pitch,” Cook said. “I think that’s something that will open up my sinker a little bit.”
Confident spring
Cook believes hitters have been laying in wait for his sinker and making just enough contact to hurt him in key situations.
“The last couple of years when I’ve got hurt, it’s not been guys hitting the ball out of the ballpark or guys hitting doubles off the wall, it’s been guys hitting singles,” Cook said. “I got bled to death by giving up eight or nine hits a game. I think (pitching to) both sides of the plate more consistently will take away some of those hits and maybe turn them into groundballs.”
Cook said he’s never entered spring training more confident.
“I think I’ve really matured over the last couple of years,” he said. “That means knowing myself, knowing what I do well and what I don’t do well. I think I have really turned the corner.”
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
Ups and downs
The Rockies’ Aaron Cook is 36-35 with a 4.47 ERA in his roller- coaster major-league career. A closer look:
2003
Up: On April 18, throws complete-game five-hitter vs. San Diego.Down: Goes 0-3 over his next six games.
2004
Down: One win in first seven starts. Up: 4-2 with 2.78 ERA in two-month midseason stretch.
Down: Season ends Aug. 7 when he develops blood clots in his lungs.
2005
Down: Allows seven runs on July 30 against Philadelphia in first start in nearly a year.
Up: Finishes season on a 7-1 streak, with a 3.08 ERA.
2006
Up: Starts strong, going 4-0 in one early-season five-game stretch, posting a 2.97 ERA.
Down: Never regains early-season form, finishing 9-15.
2007
Up: 4-1 in May. Down: 0-3 in June.
Up: 4-1 with 2.68 ERA in July, including 74-pitch, complete-game win over the Padres.
Down: Strained oblique muscle ends Cook’s regular season Aug. 10.
Up: Pitches six strong innings in Game 4 of the World Series against Boston, giving up three one-run innings.
Patrick Saunders
