Colorado Rockies relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins. (Lynne Sladky, The Associated Press)
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LaTroy Hawkins seemed really offended when I asked him the question. After he pitched a hitless ninth inning to earn a win in the Rockies’ comeback 7-6 victory over Arizona at Coors Field on Sept. 18, Hawkins made his 996th career appearance.
The Rockies, at that point, had nine games remaining. He needed four appearances to reach a major milestone. That’s an appearance every other day down the stretch, basically. In a lost season, when the games stopped mattering much, that’s a lot of action to demand of a 41-year-old arm.
So I asked: “Do you think you’ll even have the opportunity to reach 1,000 games? Will Weiss call on you enough?”
He snapped: “Oh, I’ll get to 1,000. No question.”
“You mean this season or next year?”
“I’ll get it this season, no doubt.”
At that point, I started wondering, why is he rushing it? Is he racing to 1,000 because he’s about to retire?
Turns out, all those questions were too curious. Hawkins simply was motivated. It’s probably the same motivation that will propel him to a 21st major-league season in 2015 at the age of 42.
Over that remaining week-plus, Hawkins pitched three total innings over four games. He allowed one hit and no runs. And he played in his 1,000th big-league game on Sept. 27 against the Dodgers in L.A.
“A lot of managers had a lot of faith in me,” “A lot of good teammates, a lot of good mentors in the game. Plenty of blessings from the man upstairs to stay healthy.”
And Hawkins will add to that total in one more season, likely his last.
“I anticipated coming back and I’m excited,” Hawkins said. “It gives me one more season in the big leagues and I get to come back to Colorado. I really think that if we can stay healthy next year that we can make some noise.”
Hawkins needs just three games to pass Goose Gossage for 15th on the list of most appearances by a pitcher. And he could pass Trevor Hoffman to reach the Top 10 later in the season.
That’s what Hawkins has to look forward to. But what will the Rockies get from their 42-year-old closer?
In 2014, Hawkins owned the third-best ERA among Rockies pitchers at 3.31, trailing only Brett Anderson and reliever Brooks Brown (who pitched half as many innings). Hawkins was the most consistent pitcher in purple last season.
Hawkins’ 2014 was impressively boring. He allowed only three home runs — for a 0.5 HR/9 average, best on the team. His 1.196 WHIP was second-best, behind only Tommy Kahnle. His ERA and WHIP certainly aren’t elite league-wide. But for the Rockies, that’s admirable.
He didn’t strike out a lot of batters (his K/9 average of 5.3 was among the three-lowest numbers on the team), but that might speak more to his veteran focus on smart outs as opposed to power. That number is near his career K/9 average of 6.0 and it was higher than two of his past three seasons.
There seems to be some negative focus on Hawkins’ BABIP in 2014, suggesting his due for some serious regression next season. But that might be misguided.
Sure, he held batters to a .275 average on balls in play last season. But that number isn’t skewed by an irregularly low number at Coors Field. He did it on the road, in more normal circumstances (.300 BABIP at Coors vs. .235 on the road).
And, in scouting how Hawkins might fare in 2015, it’s worth looking at his recent past. He’s finished with an ERA above 4.00 just once in the past 13 seasons. In his past four seasons, with the Brewers, Angels, Mets and Rockies, Hawkins pitched 215.1 innings over 229 games, with 73 earned runs — for a 3.05 ERA.
The Rockies signed Hawkins before 2014 as a place-holder closer before Rex Brothers took over the role full time. Now, going to 2015, Colorado has a presumptive closer or, depending on additions, a reliable late-inning arm.
It’s easy to dismiss a dude who was drafted BNN (1991, before Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’). But Hawkins has found a late-career groove without a hint of missing motivation.
2014 Salary: $2.25 million
2015 Salary: $2.25 million
Stat of Note: 0.5 … HRs per nine innings average. Hawkins’ had the best HR/9 average on a team that was killed by the long ball, allowing the most home runs in baseball (173 in 2014, for a staff 1.1 HR/9 average).
GRADE: A-minus
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Tags: Goose Gossage, LaTroy Hawkins, Rex Brothers, Tommy Kahnle
