The Rockies are about to enter their Golden Age of starting pitching.
In some places — baseball hotbeds such as Boston, New York, St. Louis and Los Angeles come to mind — that statement could get me locked up for blasphemy. Or at the very least get my baseball writers’ card revoked.
But hear me out.
The Rockies’ current rotation is young (for the most part), talented and appears up to the difficult challenge of pitching at Coors Field. There is optimism and a continuity we have not seen since 2009.
Recent statistics are very un-Rockies like. Colorado’s overall road ERA is 3.62, third in the National League, trailing only the New York Mets and Washington. In winning 11 of their last 14 games entering the weekend, Rockies starting pitchers were 10-1 with a 2.28 ERA, with opponents hitting a meager .224.
In July, Colorado’s starters posted 20 quality starts, setting a franchise record for the most quality starts in a month. You get the picture.
“It’s about mind-set — 100 percent,” veteran catcher Nick Hundley told me. “We are much more aggressive. There is much less hope and lot more confidence. These guys go out there knowing they are going to get the job done.”
My bottom line: I think this staff has a chance to be better than the 2009 quintet of Ubaldo Jimenez (15-12, 3.47 ERA), Jason Marquis (15-13, 4.04), Jorge De La Rosa (16-9, 4.38), Jason Hammel (11-8, 4.33) and Aaron Cook (11-6, 4.16). Remember, I said, has a chance.
The current staff is anchored by power right-hander Jon Gray (8-4, 3.77), who has emerged as the staff ace for the present and future. He’s only 24, throws a 95-98 mph fastball, an evil slider, curve and changeup. He could well be the organization’s first 20-game winner. Not this year, of course, but in 2017 or ’18.
Tyler Chatwood (10-7, 3.63), Chad Bettis (9-6, 5.16) and left-hander Tyler Anderson (4-3, 3.25) are all entering the prime of their careers and all of them are 27 or younger. Only De La Rosa (7-7, 5.51) , who entered Friday night’s game against the Marlins with 100 career victories, is long in the tooth. The lefty is 35 and in the final two months of his contract with the Rockies.
Waiting in the wings are right-hander Jeff Hoffman (5-9, 4.35), now learning lessons at Triple-A Albuquerque, and German Marquis (9-6, 2.85), who has been dominant for Double-A Hartford (Conn). In fact, four of the Rockies’ top nine prospects are pitchers who are currently pitching at Double-A or Triple-A.
The organization’s emphasis on inducing groundball outs is paying off. Entering the weekend, Rockies starters had 753 of them, second in the NL behind only the Cardinals (821). Colorado’s 64 groundball double plays also ranked second to St. Louis (74).
As manager Walt Weiss explained to me, he doesn’t want his pitchers throwing only sinkers or only pitches that might induce infield dirtballs. What he wants is “situational groundballs,” mixed in with the pitchers’ best stuff.
“What I’ve tried to emphasize is that we execute pitches to get those groundballs when we need them,” Weiss said. “I think that’s made a difference.”
Hundley especially likes the aggressive nature of Gray and Bettis, both of whom are learning to throw curveballs in tough counts.
“Being able to do that is all about confidence and belief in your stuff,” Hundley said. “Our guys have that now.”
The last time the Rockies made the postseason was in 2009, when they had a solid corps of starting pitchers. This group has the potential to be better, if, knock on wood, they stay healthy.
Jonathan Lucroy, catcher, Rangers
Whatap up: Lucroy has long been one of the majors’ best catchers, but also one of its most forgotten. Playing in Milwaukee, where the Brewers are constantly in a rebuilding mode, Lucroy was a local favorite, but without the promise of playing for a winner. Last week, Lucroy was traded to Cleveland, but he nixed that deal by invoking his no-trade clause. He ended up being dealt to the powerful Texas Rangers, who come to Coors Field on Monday for a two-game set against the Rockies.
Background: A lot of fans in Cleveland were angry that Lucroy rejected the Indians. But in a he explained his perspective: “It was already pretty clear there wasn’t going to be much of a future for me in Milwaukee. They’re in rebuilding mode, and they wouldn’t want to pay to keep me there.” As for rejecting Cleveland, he wrote: “My decision not to go to Cleveland had nothing to do with the team, but it had everything to do with my future in this game. It was an economic decision. Period.”
Saunders’ take: Lucroy’s article is worth a read, because it provides insight from a player’s point of view. As Lucroy notes, he had to make a smart career decision: “My agent, Doug Rogalski, found out it was the Indians that traded for me. I was surprised, but I wanted to keep an open mind. Great team. Competitive team. There’s a real chance to win. Doug called Chris Antonetti, the Indians’ president. There was one thing we wanted to know: What was my future with the Indians? We knew Cleveland already had a good catcher, Yan Gomes, who’s injured right now. He’s getting paid more than me, and he’s younger than me. We knew they’d probably want him catching almost every day next year. … We were right. Antonetti told Doug that the Indians couldn’t make any promises on me catching next season. … I would have been mostly at first base and designated hitter. In the end, that was the deal killer. Doug called me. He said, ‘You’re not going there.’ ”
3 Up, 3 Down
UP
1. Blue Jays: Going to six-man rotation to keep talented young starter Aaron Sanchez on the hill.
2. Tigers: Miguel Cabrera now the fourth active player with at least 12 25-home run seasons. The others are Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and David Ortiz.
3. Cubs: Loose? A bunch of Cubs flew early to San Francisco to play golf at Pebble Beach on their day off Thursday.
DOWN
1. Giants: Jeff Samardzija was terrible in a 5-1 loss to the Nationals on Friday as San Francisco slumped to 5-14 since all-star break.
2. Yankees: Lost season includes retirement of Mark Teixeira, one of only five switch-hitters in baseball history to slug 400 home runs.
3. Diamondbacks: Worst bullpen in the majors gives Arizona the second-worst record in the National League.
