GOODYEAR, Ariz. —Juan Nicasio’s fastball sizzled at 97 mph Thursday afternoon, flashing past Cleveland hitters and heating up scouts’ radar guns.
Nicasio struck out six Indians through four innings. When he walked off the field after 5 ⅔ innings, Rockies fans at Goodyear Ballpark serenaded him with applause worthy of a regular-season game.
“Today, I felt very, very good,” Nicasio said, flashing a bright smile. “I felt very strong.”
For Nicasio, his story is no longer about that Aug. 5 night game when a line drive off the bat of Washington’s Ian Desmond struck him in the temple, fracturing his skull and leading to a broken neck when he fell forward. It’s not about lonely hours of rehabilitation or taking an incremental step in an amazing recovery.
Rather, it is about fulfilling his dream of evolving into a dominant pitcher like Pedro Martinez, a hero back home in the Dominican Republic.
“Like Pedro Martinez, I want to be an ace kind of guy with three good pitches,” Nicasio said.
At age 25, Nicasio remains a hard-throwing work in progress, but he has also been the Rockies’ most dynamic pitcher in camp. With one spring start left, his ERA sits at 3.09.
“Today was his best day so far,” catcher Ramon Hernandez said. “He was throwing as hard as I’ve seen him. But, you know, for as hard as he was throwing, his fastball was very well located. And he threw some backdoor sliders that were good too.”
He was far from perfect. In the third inning, Nicasio left two four-seam fastballs floating up in the zone, and the Indians’ Beau Mills and Michael Brantley sent them into the seats for loud home runs.
Nicasio shrugged them off and kept working.
Manager Jim Tracy was most excited about Nicasio’s two “project” pitches.
“His changeup and slider today were as good as we have seen this spring, so that was very encouraging,” Tracy said. “He threw some great changeups. And his slider had some good depth to it.”
That has not always been the case this spring, nor last season, when Nicasio went 4-4 with a 4.14 ERA in 13 starts before the injury.
“It all has to do with consistency with his secondary pitches,” Tracy said. “It has a lot to do with Juan being able to repeat his delivery with consistency.”
At 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, Nicasio is an intimidating presence, especially when his fastball blazes toward the plate at a steep angle and bores in on right-handed hitters. Tracy believes Nicasio has a chance to develop into a special pitcher … and soon.
“I wonder where he would be right now if he didn’t miss those starts because of that freakish accident,” Tracy said. “How much more polished would he be this spring than he already is? Because I’ll tell you something, he is gaining ground very, very quickly.”
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1720 or psaunders@denverpost.com
