TUCSON — It was a glimpse, a snapshot, a cameo appearance in March in preparation for a season starting in April. But more than anything, Manuel Corpas’ performance Sunday was encouraging.
“You could tell a lot by his body language, his facial expression,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “He felt very good about today. Something arrived today.”
It may not have been the Corpas of 2007, the pitcher who appeared to be the Rockies’ closer of the future after racking up a 2.08 ERA and 19 saves. But make no doubt, Corpas’ three-strikeout performance in 1 1/3 innings vs. Arizona was a far cry from his struggles of 2008 and 2009 and his early showing in spring training.
“He slowed down his delivery,” said pitching coach Bob Apodaca. “He had sink instead of tail. His slider had depth. . . . I think he’s here on a mission to see what he could be. He wasn’t Manny Corpas last year. Maybe he’s a little embarrassed.”
Corpas entered Sunday’s rain-shortened game in the sixth inning. He promptly struck out two big-name hitters, Adam LaRoche and Mark Reynolds, on sliders.
Scouts clocked his fastball at 90 to 92 mph and his slider at 80 and 81. That’s not the stuff of 2007, when Corpas dominated the Phillies and Diamondbacks in the playoffs with a mid-80s slider, but it was his signature moment in an otherwise shaky spring.
Afterward, he celebrated by going for a run. No coincidence there. Corpas, whose conditioning has been a major issue since he signed his contract, is working overtime to try to lose weight. He weighs 227 pounds, down from the 235 he was carrying a month ago, but wants to be at 210 to 212.
“I have to be here every day working hard to show everybody I can do the same work I did in 2007,” Corpas said. “Everybody in Denver thinks about me and (Franklin) Morales and (Rafael) Betancourt and Huston Street. I have to show everybody I’m here again, I’m the man again, like I was in 2007.”
Corpas’ washout 2009 season ended in late July, when he underwent surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow. It was a fitting end to a dismal year in which he compiled a horrific 5.88 ERA and lost three out of four decisions.
If he literally and figuratively got fat since his breakout 2007 season, he’s slowly turning things around this spring. He doesn’t have a choice, what with all those talented young arms in camp.
“Manny realizes, just like a number of other guys in that clubhouse, there are no handouts here,” Tracy said. “There are none. When you strive to be first, there are no handouts.”
As in, the Rockies’ front office, contract or no contract, isn’t about to suffer through another season like he had last year. Corpas has heard the message loud and clear.
“There are a lot of guys on the team, a lot of pitchers,” he said. “I know I have a contract, but I have a lot of work to do. I don’t want to go back to Triple-A.”
Corpas said he would like to get his slider up to 87 mph, with a 93 or 94 mph fastball, similar to his 2007 numbers.
If he gets anywhere near there, the Rockies could have themselves a quality middleman to precede Betancourt and Street at the end of the bullpen.
But that’s getting ahead of things. Sunday was all about Corpas showing a flash of his old self. What now? What else? Consistency.
Said Tracy: “Now does it maintain itself? Is it a ‘here today, gone tomorrow, back the next day’ type thing? That’s why it’s so beautiful that we still have three more weeks down here to find out where this all takes us.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
