Get To Know The Newest Colorado Rockies Pitcher, Chris Rusin

Chris Rusin joined the Rockies for the Double Header today. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

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Chris Rusin is being promoted to Colorado, in case the Rockies need an extra arm for the double header.

He was scheduled to start for Albuquerque tonight and is on full rest. I have wrote a bit on Rusin, so here’s a quick and easy way to get to know this Rockie before he takes the field (potentially) today.

He is a starter, not a reliever so if they use him as a reliever that could change his approach.

Rusin was a little wild in his last start but has improved in each of his last few outings.

"Rusin continued the fundamental issues with 2 wild pitches. He did throw 97 pitches with two-thirds of them strikes, but I have more bad news: that was only in 5 2/3 innings. He scattered 8 hits over those 5+ innings. Six runs showed on the score board, but only 3 were charged to him due to that mess of errors behind him."

Today was going to be a “prove it” day for Rusin in Albuquerque so this could be a real gut check for him on the big stage.

"Wednesday will be a big day for Chris Rusin. He started very rough, giving up 6 runs in his first five inning start. Since then he has steadily improved with a 4 run, five inning start at Reno, a 2 run, 6 inning performance and most recently a nice 3 run appearance against the Salt Lake Bees on April 30th where he scattered eight hits and a three walks while striking out six! Ironically, he took losses in his last two games, which were his best starts, but not the first two."

And:

"Rusin is sitting on a 6.23 ERA but another six innings of two run baseball could take a huge hit out of that. The continual improvement is great to see and puts all eyes on him to continue to do so, making him a viable option for the Rockies."

Roxpile Editor, Bobby DeMuro added that, like Jon Gray, Rusin is throwing too many pitches.

"Rusin is suffering from the Jon Gray problem – allowing a lot of hits in his starts (26 in just 16 innings), and considering he’s only struck out four batters across those 16 frames, he might not be ideal for a big league rotation right now."

Rusin is a pitcher with a 6.75 ERA in the minors and the expectations have to be minimal but if he’s on he can be excellent.

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