Jordan Lyles good, Rockies defense bad in loss to Milwaukee Brewers

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies are continuing to work their way through their Spring Training schedule. On Thursday it was a Cactus League showdown with the Milwaukee Brewers. It ended in a 5-3 loss, but as far as spring storylines are concerned there was some intrigue to go around.

Manager Walt Weiss was tested in two regards. He utilized his first challenge under the new replay system, losing on a review of a stolen base. He also watched his team commit five errors (four in a single inning!) en route to the loss. Spring Training or not, that kind of performance is not good for a manager’s health (or for Rob Scahill‘s ego, in this case).

Aside from that debacle, here are some key points from today’s game.

Notable lines from the Box Score

• Jordan Lyles – 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K, o R
• Matt Belisle – 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER

It is difficult to overstate the pressure on Lyles this season. It has not been a prominent thread yet in Spring Training, but he will play a role this season. Jhoulys Chacin‘s shoulder injury has reminded us that we need to look beyond the initial rotation to consider all of the starters who will decide the team’s fate this season.

That will eventually fall to Lyles, who could provide a huge boost if he can point his still-promising career in the right direction (the guy is still only 23 years old, after all). And I’m sure the Rockies wouldn’t mind if he pitched well to take the focus off of any success Dexter Fowler might enjoy in his first season in Houston.

As for Belisle: there is plenty of spring left and no reason to get discouraged yet, but his problem last season was how hard opposing teams were hitting him. A strike thrower to the end, he needs to see fewer guys square him up in the near future to reward the Rockies’ continued faith in him. For my money I bet he will do just that once the season rolls around.

As for the young hitters, Charlie Culberson stayed hot (1-2), Tommy Murphy is forcing you to pay attention to him (an RBI double in this one), and Kyle Parker pitched in a double as well. Parker’s knock was not an overwhelming display of offensive skills, but it was good to see nevertheless.

The Rockies are now 3-6 for the spring. At least part of the Rockies (see the ‘SS’ next to the game) will take on the Angels on Friday.