SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Felipe Paulino had just amped up the heat on an already hot day, blowing away three Angels batters in order. Afterward, Rockies manager Jim Tracy was asked if he knew what Paulino had reached on the radar gun.
“No,” said Tracy. “If you want to say what he threw, just put ‘hard.’ “
Such is life on the Rockies’ pitching staff, where the arsenal of arms reads like a weather forecast in July: heat, heat and more heat.
“We have power arms,” Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said. “We need some coaching to get them where they need to be, but we have some guys with strikeout ability. That was a focus for us this winter, no doubt.”
Nowhere can the Rockies’ evolution from the Blake Street Bombers to a small-ball team be seen more than on the mound. Gone are the days when Jeff Francis’s 86-mph fastball made for a staff ace or Jason Jennings would lead the club with 142 strikeouts. How far have the Rockies come since those days? Rockies pitchers struck out 952 batters in 2006. That figure has risen every year since to 967, 1,041, 1,154 and 1,234.
For the record, Paulino reached 97 miles per hour against the Angels. According to the Rockies’ video department, starter Esmil Rogers hit 98 that day. Two other relievers who worked that day, Franklin Morales and Rex Brothers, have mid-90s heaters. And the list goes on and on.
Starter Ubaldo Jimenez and reliever Matt Lindstrom have touched 100-plus in their careers. Jimenez sits at the top of a rotation in which No. 4 starter Jason Hammel’s 92 to 93 mph fastball qualifies as flipping on the air conditioning.
It has come to this: Closer Huston Street was asked this spring if it would take him a while to get sharp because he’s a finesse pitcher.
“Finesse pitcher?” Street asked. “I guess if 93 (mph) is finesse, then I’m a finesse pitcher.”
NL West’s arms race
The Rockies’ switch to higher-octane gas isn’t some novel new approach as much as it’s getting with the program in arguably the game’s most pitching-rich division. That would be the National League West, where power hitters are on trial — good morning, Barry Bonds — and power pitchers are in vogue.
Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez, Clayton Kershaw, Mat Latos, Jimenez . . . and that’s just a random sampling of NL West starters. The bullpens in the West are just as lethal. To wit: The Padres had eight relievers last season who averaged more than a strikeout per inning.
“Power arms . . . that’s basically the environment in our division,” Tracy said. “If you’re looking for a slugfest on a day-in, day-out basis, the National League West might not be the best division for you.”
There are a lot of factors at work in the West. The ballparks, for one. Petco Park, AT&T Park and Dodger Stadium are three of the best pitcher’s parks in the industry. And Coors Field no longer plays like the launching pad it was before the humidor was installed in 2002.
The fundamental change in how games are played in LoDo has created a change in philosophy in the Rockies’ front office, one that has led to the presence of all those power arms on the roster.
“With the way the ballpark played, there was no way you could build a ballclub traditionally around pitching and defense,” O’Dowd said. “You had to build a club centered solely around offense and hold on for dear life from a pitching and defense standpoint.
“The ballpark has really evolved. I’m not saying it’s a traditional game, like it is at Petco, but it’s certainly much more traditional than it was. It’s enabled us to put together a team that can go on the road and compete in the division.”
Yes, the Rockies’ change in philosophy was facilitated by the humidor, but make no doubt, it has been impacted by the Giants too. For all the pitching that resides in the division, the world champions remain the leaders of the arms race.
“The Giants set the bar for everyone with their great pitching,” O’Dowd said. “We’re trying to get ourselves to that point.”
San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said: “If we’re a trendsetter, it’s a compliment to this staff. Our scouts, our development people, we do take that as a compliment. You look at this division, there are some great arms. We felt we needed to improve in the pitching area and defense, especially in these ballparks.
“It worked for us last year, and you know they (the Rockies) have some very nice arms over there too. It’s nice when you have a guy who can get a strikeout for you.”
Difference in one
One strikeout. It may not seem like much, but, if there happens to be a runner on third base and less than two outs, it can be the difference between winning and losing. The Rockies discovered that in a painful way in 2010, when they lost 30 one-run games, six more than any other team in the division.
Their failure to deliver in such games led to the acquisition of Lindstrom and Paulino. And the re-signing of Jason Giambi, who, now that he’s had a year on the job, could be the difference in a handful of games as a pinch hitter.
Tracy and his staff have preached team offense this spring in an attempt to grind out extra runs at every opportunity. Move a runner. Have a smart approach at the plate with two strikes. Always be looking to take the extra base.
When you’re in a division with the only two pitching staffs in baseball to allow fewer than 600 runs last season (San Diego 581, San Francisco 583), those things take on added importance.
“We have to learn to play close games better than we have,” O’Dowd said. “We have to execute better in all aspects of the game for us to win our division. We’re not going to outslug people. We have to play the game the right way.”
Third baseman Ian Stewart is from the generation of Rockies hitters who arrived post-humidor. Tales of softball-like scores in LoDo were Vinny Castilla’s reality, not his.
“I didn’t follow it closely before I was drafted, but I guess popups would go out and they had a lot of high-scoring games,” Stewart said. “It still happens, but we have our share of low-scoring games there.
“When you have pitching like we do, you know there’s a pretty good chance the other team isn’t going to score a lot of runs. And we know we’re not going to, either. Every little run counts. That’s why small ball has really grown on this team and this division. You’ve got to scrap and scrape for a run any way you can.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
Power in the K
The Rockies have begun stockpiling power arms capable of putting up big strikeout numbers to make a run at the National League West title. A look at where NL West teams ranked in the league in strikeouts in 2010:
Team Strikeouts Rank
Giants 1,331 1
Padres 1,295 2
Dodgers 1,274 3
Rockies 1,234 7
Diamondbacks 1,070 14
Jim Armstrong, The Denver Post
Power in the K
The Rockies have begun stockpiling power arms capable of putting up big strikeout numbers to make a run at the National League West title. A look at where NL West teams ranked in the league in strikeouts in 2010:
Team Strikeouts Rank
Giants 1,331 1
Padres 1,295 2
Dodgers 1,274 3
Rockies 1,234 7
Diamondbacks 1,070 14
