PHOENIX — The road back to the majors doesn’t look nearly as steep to . His performance on Wednesday night at Sacramento played a big part leveling that mountain.
“Pretty much everything I was working on all kind of came game together in one start,” Freeland said Friday during a phone interview from Albuquerque, where he’s trying to regain his form while pitching for the Triple-A Isotopes.
The Rockies left-hander tossed seven innings, allowing one run on four hits, with nine strikeouts and only two walks. Although his 0-4 record and 8.80 ERA over six Triple-A starts is not pretty, Freeland said the rugged on-the-job training is paying off.
“My confidence is much higher now,” he said. “You never want to get sent down to the minors, and of course I want to be pitching with the Rockies, helping my brothers win.
“But I came down here and realized I had more to learn about the game and more to learn about myself. I have been able to do that.”
There is no timetable for Freeland’s return to the majors, but his improved pitch command has him on a faster track.
“I was able to command my fastball on both sides of the plate,” he said. “I was using my slider in timely counts, and using my whole pitch mix.”
Manager Bud Black was encouraged by Freeland’s start.
“You’re always trying to pitch to a standard to pitch in the big leagues,” Black said prior to Friday night’s game at Chase Field vs. the Diamondbacks. “There are certain principles that apply, even in a minor-league game. Kyle, in his last start, pitched very well to major-league standards.”
Freeland went 17-7 with a 2.85 ERA last season, good enough to finish fourth in the National League Cy Young Award voting. But the Denver native and graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School struggled mightily to begin this season, going 2-6 with a 7.13 ERA over 12 starts. He served up 16 home runs, the most in the NL at the time.
Freeland acknowledged that he’s had to navigate a rocky road — one that he never saw coming. But he also believes he’ll be better in the long run.
“Yeah, it’s been hard; definitely some ups and downs,” he said. “But you try to come down here with as much of a positive mind set as you can. You have to look at the big picture. Because once you fix some fundamental things, you can always fix them again, even if you have a bad start.”
Black wouldn’t say exactly what the next step for Freeland will be.
“The all-star break is coming,” Black said. “He’ll take a little exhale and at some point we’ll — meaning our organization — will get him on a schedule of when he’s going to pitch next.”
Rodgers report. Infielder Brendan Rodgers, on the injured list since June 24 with a right-shoulder impingement, has been rehabbing in Arizona. He joined the team on Friday for a workout and to get checked on by the team’s training staff.
Rodgers said the shoulder is still “achy and pinchy,” adding that there is no timetable for his return.
“It’s gotten a little bit better,” he said. “I’m just trying to strengthen it with treatment.”
Rodgers, 22, the top prospect in the organization, was tearing up Triple-A when he got called up for his big-league debut in mid-May. But he struggled with Rockies, batting .224 with no home runs over two stints. He said he’s been a little “too jumpy” and “too drifty” in the batter’s box.
For now, however, he’s just trying to get healthy.
“No one likes the (IL),” Rodgers said. “Itap a bummer. I watch the guys on TV every night at my condo (in Scottsdale). My main goal is to get healthy as quickly as possible and be out here helping these guys.”
On Deck
Rockies RHP Jon Gray (9-5, 3.84 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (5-6, 4.10)
8:10 p.m. Saturday, Chase Field
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Gray is rolling, winning each of his last four starts while posting a 2.55 ERA. Although Gray has endured some bad moments at Chase Field (the 2017 wild-card playoff game, for instance), he’s pitched well here overall, going 3-1 with a 3.13 ERA in four career regular-season starts. Ray has been a strikout artist for Arizona, whiffing 129 and trailing only the Nationals’ Max Scherzer (170) and Stephen Strasburg (138) in the National League. He’s tossed three consecutive quality starts at Chase Field, limiting opponents to a .237 average.
Trending: Since April 18, Charlies Blackmon leads the majors with a .377 average and is eight in the NL with 20 home runs.
At issue: Right-handed reliever Bryan Shaw has pitched relatively well this season, but he’s been vulnerable of late, being scored upon in five of his last seven apperances, including his last outing vs. the Astros in which he gave up three runs on three hits in one inning.
Upcoming pitching matchups
Sunday: Rockies RHP German Marquez (8-3, 4.38) at Diamondbacks RHP Taylor Clarke (2-3, 6.21), 2:10 p.m., ATTRM
Monday-Thursday: All-star break
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