Two years ago, Rex Brothers rolled down the road toward becoming the Rockies’ star closer.
The left-hander arrived like a Ferrari in a residential neighborhood, drawing attention with dominating performances. Now, recently called up from Triple-A Albuquerque, Brothers is trying to find what he once had. He’s a long way from those heady days two summers ago when he had a stretch of 32 consecutive scoreless outings , finishing the season with a 1.74 ERA and 19 saves.
“Triple-A can beat you up. You have to really keep the game at bay and have fun,” Brothers said. “To be here and have some success, then to have a little bit bigger than a speed bump, it was a punch in the gut.”
Rockies manager Walt Weiss wasted no time getting Brothers into a game after he was called up the week before the All-Star Game. And the left-hander responded, recording back-to-back scoreless outings in wins over Atlanta.
In Brothers’ latest appearance, though, against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night, he was hit hard, allowing four hits and two earned runs in 1 1/3 innings.
WATCH:
He remains inconsistent, looking invincible at times but out of control in others.
Rockies manager Walt Weiss isn’t about to give up on him. He attributed the poor showing Tuesday to rust, as Brothers hadn’t thrown in eight days.
Brothers said his problems began a year ago when he became too focused on his pitching mechanics. He was wildly inconsistent for the Rockies before his demotion to Triple-A last year.
“Some days I didn’t even feel 100 percent ready to pitch,” Brothers said. “I was behind the 8-ball before I even started.”
Brothers, 27, struggled in spring training this year and remained in the minors, where he slowly began to show some of his former command. Though he had a 4.71 ERA with Albuquerque this year, he allowed just 6.9 hits per nine innings.
He began showing better command of his pitches rather than simply hoping batters would chase a ball out of the zone.
“His stuff has always been great,” Weiss said. “It’s just having the confidence to throw his fastball for strikes. His slider has always been a put-away (pitch); guys don’t hit it.”
He hasn’t regained his 2013 swagger, but compared to his train-wreck 2014 with the Rockies, when he posted a 5.59 ERA and allowed nearly two baserunners per inning, he’s showing improvement.
“I knew I had work to do,” Brothers said. “I didn’t fret. I just went back to the drawing board.”
He reminded himself of his main goal, which was having fun as a pitcher, and not questioning himself when things went wrong.
The Rockies have invested a lot of time in Brothers. They’re waiting for the payout.
“He’s a back-of-the-bullpen guy,” Weiss said. “We want to get him back to that role, because that’s where he has thrived in the past and that’s where we think he will thrive in the future.”
Cameron Wolfe: 303-954-1891, cwolfe@denverpost.com or
