Hey, we’re all Kyle Freeland guys. But when his pitching stinks so badly the erstwhile Colorado ace slams a bat in frustration, there needs to be an intervention, a change of scenery and a trip to the minor leagues, far away from Denver, where Freeland feels as if he’s not only letting down his Rockies teammates, but the whole city.
“The frustration is high, no doubt,” Freeland said Thursday, after the Rockies overcame yet another of his horrendous outings to beat Arizona 11-10.
He labored through three innings, surrendering multiple home runs for the sixth time this young season.
“I’m doing everything I can to get back to being me and the pitcher that I know I can be. I don’t think frustration is getting in the way,” said Freeland, before pausing a second to reconsider. “I mean, it definitely builds on you. Time and time again, when you go out to the mound and you’re not getting what you want, it (stinks).”
Something has got to change. If the Rockies care for Freeland’s future, the team simply cannot keep trotting this 26-year-old lefty out to the mound every five days to get his ego and earned run average trashed.
“We have to do some things with Kyle, I think, to get him back on track. Itap too early to say what those (things) are. But there’s a need for some adjustments … We’re going talk to Kyle and we’re going to figure this out,” Colorado manager Bud Black said, trying to delicately dance around a tough question.
What needs to be done to fix K-Free?
Sending Freeland to the minor leagues will be discussed by the Rockies, because itap a move that must be considered.
Black, his coaches and Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich know far more baseball than the rest of us wannabe’s. But at this point, I don’t see how moving Freeland to the Colorado bullpen for mop-up relief duty can allow him to hit the reset button.
Right now, with a 7.13 ERA, Freeland is not merely the worst starting pitcher in the National League. He’s getting hit harder than Charlie Brown. Batters are knocking his shoes and socks off, along with his cap and pants.
Aaugh!
Here in Denver, we love Freeland like a favorite son. Well, in front of 30,371 neighbors so embarrassed I’m surprised somebody at Coors Field didn’t call Freeland an Uber to send him home, he got bashed for seven hits, including a homer off the bat of Arizona pitcher Taylor Clarke, while surrendering five runs.
His frustrating afternoon ended with a strikeout, with Freeland whiffing at the plate and then walking what seemed like a green mile back to the Colorado dugout, where he slammed his bat in frustration.
The thin air at 5,280 feet above sea level can mess with any pitcher’s head. Coors Field is a monster. And it is eating Freeland’s lunch. Every Tim, Nick and Taylor that stepped into the batter’s box for the Diamondbacks immediately morphed into Babe Ruth.
“We know he’s going to come out of it,” said Rockies veteran Daniel Murphy, because a good teammate becomes great by standing by a struggling teammate. “I’d give (Freeland) the ball every day of the week, if I could.”
As Freeland stood in front of his locker after the game and answered every question for cell phones waiting to record his pain on video and turn it into Twitter clicks, the strain showed in the pitcher’s eyes.
Nothing feels better than being a hometown hero. Nothing stinks worse than bombing in front of friends and family that have been certain you would go far since the training wheels came off your first bike.
Let’s put K-Free on a Southwest flight out of Denver International Airport. He needs to get away. Clear his head. Re-learn how to locate his fastball. Paint the black, instead of being consumed by dark thoughts of self-doubt.
So let his next start be in Albuquerque, Hartford or any place far, far away from the pressures of getting rocked in Denver, where Freeland graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School and grew up to win 17 games, as well as the city’s heart, in 2018.
Sending Freeland to the minors shouldn’t be considered punishment. At this point, it would be an act of kindness.
