At What Point Do Colorado Rockies Fans Admit Yohan Flande Is... Good?

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July 6, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Y. Flande (58) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

We’ve been conditioned to think that the lefty is the Colorado Rockies’ long man/emergency starter, but what if we’re getting trolled by a decent pitcher?

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It’s blasphemous to even suggest this amongst Colorado Rockies fans, bloggers, writers, and “experts,” but what if the team has, ya know, a halfway decent pitcher in Yohan Flande? I get a lot of tweets about Flande not being a big leaguer, and yet the more I see from him, the more I wonder… really?

I’m not talking about an ace; despite his recent success I still maintain he’d be best used as the club’s long man, a la what Christian Bergman did on Friday night against the Mets.

But let’s be honest about Flande; what he’s done this year is impressive relative to what the club asked of him coming into the season (you know, that whole beginning the year in AA thing). And I can’t help but put Flande up against a few different people: Eddie Butler, Chris Rusin, and 2014’s version of Yohan.

I’m not saying Flande’s a 2016 rotation candidate (well…) and he’s not a prospect (he’s nearly 30, y’all), but I am saying that at some point we should probably discard the preconceptions we have about the journeyman and realize that he’s doing a pretty damn good job.

We did it for Chris Rusin as he’s continued to prove himself this year, and while Flande has a ways to go before getting on Rusin’s level, there are a few things about Yohan’s game that need to be given their proper recognition. Here’s where I’m going with this…

Next: Flande vs Butler

Jul 24, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher E. Butler (31) trips over third base in the fifth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Yohan Flande vs. Eddie Butler

Butler is the prospect, right? The guy the Rockies are counting on to figure it out and be a key-ish member of the rotation at some point in the future — and while you’d hope that point is 2016, I think most Colorado Rockies fans are rightly a little pessimistic about Butler.

Look, it’s tough to compare two pitchers, especially two who have such different repertoires like Butler and Flande. (But get ready! Because I’m going to do it here! And then again with Rusin!)

Imperfect comparison aside, I’d hope you’re wondering why unknown Flande has outpitched Butler so significantly over the past two seasons, despite Butler’s prospect pedigree.

Well, for one, Flande isn’t afraid to throw strikes. In his 104.2 career big league innings, the man has walked 2.4 batters per nine innings. Butler has putzed around to nearly double that (4.6 per 9) while somehow still allowing 11.6 hits per nine innings (Flande’s allowed just 8.4 per 9).

We could go through stats all day — and Flande has better marks than Butler across the board — but the real point is this: Butler has a 95 mph sinker while Flande is equipped with a 91 mph fastball, and yet Flande’s in the zone more often, attacks hitters better, works into advantageous pitcher’s counts far more often, and finds far better results.

If nothing else, then what Richard Bergstrom tweeted about Flande the other night is the wisest morsel of info comparing the two pitchers:

Also to reiterate something I said last week. #Rockies need to teach people like Butler how people like Flande with lesser stuff succeed.
— RockiesZingers (@RockiesZingers) August 21, 2015

Next: Flande vs Rusin

Aug 5, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher C. Rusin (52) pitches in the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Yohan Flande vs. Chris Rusin

Chris Rusin is an interesting comparison to Flande, too; neither are overpowering with their fastballs, neither has a put-away breaking ball, and both have to get by on doing the little things that are critical… like, ya know, locating pitches, getting ahead of hitters, and limiting walks.

Rusin has been in the rotation far longer than Flande this year, so it makes sense that while folks are starting to look at Rusin’s chances of being in the rotation next year, no one’s gone that far on Flande.

That’s fine, and I don’t have a problem with that; I’d rather see a healthy and decent Rockies rotation next season with Flande as the long reliever. But we’d be lying to ourselves if (that’s a big if!) Flande doesn’t have a few more good starts to end the season and comes into camp in 2016 having turned a few heads.

Either way, both Flande and Rusin prove the beauty of baseball, while coincidentally showing what can be so maddening about watching guys like Eddie Butler develop slower than we’d hope: just because you have the greatest tools, it doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be the best player. (And vice versa, just because you haven’t been gifted with the best stuff doesn’t mean you can’t make a career.)

Next: Flande vs Flande

Aug 9, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Y. Flande (58) gets a visit by pitching coach S. Foster (56) and catcher M. McKenry (8) against the Washington Nationals. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports

Yohan Flande (2015) vs. Yohan Flande (2014)

The most important aspect of Flande’s 2015 is comparing it to the 2014 version of himself: Yohan Flande has become better after his rookie campaign last season, and he’s continued to get better during 2015.

Just three of Flande’s ten starts were longer than 5 innings last season. Already three of his first five starts this season have eclipsed the five inning mark, including the career-high seven frames he tossed Thursday night against Washington. Not coincidentally, Flande’s done much better the second and third times through opposing lineups in 2015 compared to 2014.

Last year, opponents facing Flande for the third time in a game slashed .400/.450/.857 with four home runs and five walks in 40 plate appearances. Obviously, big league hitters figured out Flande’s stuff fairly quickly and made it tough for him to go longer than five innings in his starts.

This year, Flande’s shown a marked improvement facing a lineup the third time through; hitters have slashed only .238/.273/.571 with two home runs and a walk in 22 plate appearances against him the third time through the order, showing Flande’s been able to adjust in-game against Major League hitters to stay competitive on the mound.

Even Flande’s most recent start against Washington showed growth; he faced the Nationals for the first time on August 9, allowing 3 runs in 4.2 innings (the Rockies eventually won that game). Eleven days later, he faced them again, and gave up just three hits and two runs while striking out five over seven innings, proving his game plan and adjustments were better than his opponent, at least on that day.

Small sample size? For sure. But don’t forget how much a young guy like Jon Gray struggled on Friday night seeing the Mets for the second time in ten days (after dominating them the first time around in his second career start).

No, Flande and Gray aren’t comparable here, and yes, Gray is way younger than Flande and will have some bad starts early in his career, but the fact that a guy like Flande proved he was able to adjust to a lineup twice in less that two weeks shows he’s developing in the big leagues. That shouldn’t be lost on the Rockies — and it’s something veterans get better and better at doing as their careers continue.

Next: Does Any Of This Matter?

Jun 25, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Y. Flande (58) walks off the field during the fourth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Why Any Of This Matters

Let’s be real — all this actually may not matter; Flande could have two or three terrible starts in a row, get booted from the rotation in early September, struggle in the bullpen the rest of the year, and eventually be a Spring Training afterthought in 2016.

There’s still a lot of baseball left to be played this year, and Flande has a ways to go to prove he ought to be in the bullpen (and, presumably, the emergency starter) next season. As much as I like the guy it’d be irresponsible to anoint him with a 25-man roster spot next year.

But come on. You’ve seen the stats; he’s pitching better than the majority of Rockies’ pitchers this year (I know, that’s not saying much). And he ought to have passed your eye test; he goes after hitters, doesn’t walk many guys, and doesn’t back away from whatever role the Rockies place him for the day.

Yes, against all logic, Yohan Flande is my favorite player, and I am thus biased towards him and this post probably isn’t the most sensibly-written thing. You’ll survive (I hope?). But I don’t like the guy because it’s fun to tweet about him; I like him because he pitches the right way.

Fill out your starting rotation with power pitchers like Gray (and Butler?), veterans like De La Rosa, and whatever free agents you can find.

Create a bullpen of power arms and get Adam Ottavino healthy again. Those are the most important parts, and we’ll be writing a ton about that this winter.

But any team that plays its games at Coors Field needs a swingman like Flande who will shove the ball in the strike zone no matter the score, role, or game.

He’ll never going to be the team’s most important pitcher, and Thursday night’s start against Washington might well be his one shining moment.

But if you try to put together a team without a utility pitcher like Flande, you’re missing a key component that becomes valuable in July and August when everybody else starts dropping like flies.

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