Late Tuesday night, the joke in the Rockies’ training room after their 8-0 win over the Padres was that someone should take a baseball bat to Kyle Freeland’s left heel before he makes his next start.
That’s because, according to manager Bud Black, Freeland actually started pitching better after San Diego’s Chase Headly smashed a ball off Freeland’s heel in the fourth inning.
Said Black:
“This might seem a little odd, but after he got hit in the heel — that was a direct blow — he’s sore. But after he fought through the (fourth) and he was in a little bit of discomfort, I told him that helped his delivery.
“It smoothed him out. He didn’t overthrow, and I thought he made better pitches after he got hit in the heel. I’ve seen that before. I think his focus might have been heightened because he was in a little bit of discomfort. But it didn’t affect his mechanics and I think it slowed him down a touch. He pitched great.”
Great as in pitching seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball with eight strikeouts and only two walks.
Freeland said he was sore, but he said he would be ready for his next start.
“Bud told me my mechanics were much more clean as the game wore on after I got hit,” Freeland said. “I guess you can attribute that to me thinking more about my heel than my mechanics.”
