Week in Review: Pitchers, Defense Struggles

With Spring Training coming to a wrap soon, it’s safe to say the Rockies have had a solid spring. Currently sitting with the fourth best record in the Cactus league. The Rockies have a lot to be optimistic about; they have a wave of young and talented players ready to make an impact in Denver. Guys like Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado have Rockies nation raving. Story has obviously solidified himself as the shortstop of the now, and Arendo is so hot at that the plate that teammates are genuinely surprised when he makes an out. There is one area of Colorado’s game that has stumbled as of late, and that’s potential rotation guys. The Rockies rotation can’t afford to stagger and stall into the regular season and expect any tangible results. Let’s recap how the last week has gone for potential rotation members.

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Chad Bettis

is one of the few guys that pitched twice this past week. Not only that, but he faced the same team twice (the Texas Rangers). In his first outing, Bettis pitched 5 complete innings, giving up 7 hits, striking out 3 while giving up 3 earned runs. Not a horrendous outing, but that’s still a 5.40 ERA, not stellar by any stretch. Bettis’ second outing faired much better. Over 5.1 IP, Chad yielded only 4 hits and 1 earned run; however the defensive didn’t do Bettis any favors as they committed a horrendous 5 errors.

Jon Gray

was scheduled to start this past Tuesday, but was removed without recording an out. Gray suffered an abdominal strain and is now sidelined for an undisclosed amount of time. The injury is disappointing because Gray, after a slow start was able to salvage a 3.86 ERA this Spring. As a result of the short start,

Christian Bergman

was forced into extended action. Bergman ironically benefits the most from Gray’s injury, but more on that in another article. Also, Bergman is the only other guy to pitch twice this week.

Bergman’s first outing was nothing but inspiring. In relief of Gray, Bergman only allowed only 1 hit over 4 frames. The wheels came off however in Bergman’s second outing. Over 5 innings pitched, Christian was tagged for 8 hits and 5 earned runs. Berman’s outings is a microcosm of the week in general. Inconsistent.

The next guy up was Tyler Chatwood. Tyler pitched Thursday but like Bettis, was plagued by horrible defensive, committing an error himself. Over 3 innings pitched, Chatwood surrendered 4 runs on 7 hits, although only 1 run was earned. Yohan Flande came on in relief and struggled. Flade earned the loss by giving up 4 earned runs in only 2 innings pitched, he did strike out 4 if you want to consider that a bright spot. The rough outing took Flande from an ERA below 2 to one that is now over 4.

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On Friday, our Opening Day starter Jorge De La Rosa took the hill. Despite earning a win, De La Rosa definitely didn’t earn it. Over 6 innings pitched, Jorge got pelted for 9 hits and 4 earned runs while only striking out 3. De La Rosa will get a chance to rebound before his Opening Day start. Obviously given experience, don’t fret too much over a less than stellar spring for Jorge.

Next: Rockies Projected Lineup

Overall potential rotation members pitched a total of 32 innings and yielding 23 earned runs. That’s an ERA of 6.47. Clearly not sustainable if the Rockies hope to win any games this season. It’s also Spring Training, so it’s a chance to work these things out. That being said, starting pitching has always been a struggle for Colorado so expect pitching to finish near the bottom of the league yet again.

Other Updates: The Rockies defense was absolutely atrocious this week. Over 6 games, the defense committed a very ugly 14 errors. If the Rockies can’t pitch, and they can’t field; buckle in for a very long season. The encouraging thing is that over the 6 games, Colorado managed to inexplicitly win 5 of those game due to hot hitting from guys like Raimel Tapia, Trevor Story, Nolan Arenado and Tony Wolters. Chris Rusin also made his return from a finger injury, hopefully providing more stability to the end of the rotation.

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