TUCSON, Ariz.—Kip Wells appreciates all the instruction. It’s just that he’s going to trust his intuition from now on.
The 30-year-old right-hander who led the National League in losses in two of the last three seasons is vying for a spot in the back of the Colorado Rockies’ rotation.
Wells went 7-17 with the St. Louis Cardinals last season and 8-18 with Pittsburgh in 2005. The Rockies figure a change of scenery and coaching will snap him out of that funk.
Wells didn’t wait for spring training to start to get to the bottom of what was wrong, however. He worked with a sports psychologist from the University of Missouri to clear his head and also went to see former major leaguer Tom House, who helped him iron out flaws in his delivery.
“Before, I’d sign with a team and I’d get to spring training thinking the pitching coach was going to have some revelation for me and be able to help me turn the corner,” Wells said. “So I basically took ownership of my own career. I needed to know when I’m doing something wrong, and why. And I needed to know when I was doing something right, and why.”
Wells looked at photos from his heyday in 2001-03 to help him figure out his old arm angle and release point. He compacted his delivery, not an easy task for a man who stands 6-foot-3 and weights 205 pounds.
“I commend him for standing on his own two feet and figuring things out and coming into camp not over-relying,” Rockies pitching coach Bob Apodaca said. “Every coach likes to be relied on for sound advice, but you don’t want somebody who is absolutely dependent on your to fix each and every problem.”
Since posting double-digit wins in three straight seasons, Wells has gone 25-46.
“I think my numbers have been really skewed,” Wells said. “When I pitch well I really don’t get hurt at all. But when I get out of control or I lose it, I’ll either have four innings, seven runs, or seven innings and one run.”
Wells, whose 3.43 runs of support per nine innings was the lowest among major league pitchers with 20 or more starts last season, had a 0.90 ERA in his seven wins, an 8.86 ERA in his 17 losses and a 3.89 ERA in his 10 no-decisions a year ago.
He said he always seemed to be cruising along and then have one bad inning.
“A lot of pitchers suffer that ailment, and he was as big a victim of it as anybody,” Apodaca said. “We faced him several times and he pitched very well against us but it always seemed to be a series of pitches in a particular inning that opened the door.”
In an odd twist, Wells came to the Rockies after his good friend, right-hander Josh Fogg, declined a $5 million offer to stay in Colorado, figuring he could get around $21 million over three years in free agency.
Fogg’s representatives misread the market and he’s still looking for a job.
The Rockies used the money Fogg turned down to sign Wells to a one-year, $3.1 million deal and also lure veteran free agents Josh Towers and Victor Zambrano, all of whom will compete for a spot in the rotation along with Franklin Morales, Jason Hirsh and Mark Redman.
“He’s till trying to figure out what’s going to happen,” Wells said of Fogg, a key part of the Rockies’ run to the World Series four months ago. “He’s got teams that are apparently calling and interested, but no offers have been made. He’s at a point where teams are getting their rosters in order. I’m sure he wouldn’t have wanted it to go the way it has.”
Wells was surprised that the Rockies were still interested in him after the year he’d had with the Cardinals, whom he had signed with after spurning Colorado’s offer last year.
“They were still interested in what I was capable of doing, which was flattering,” Wells said.
