De La Rosa Continues Coors Field Dominance vs. D-Backs

Jorge De La Rosa continues to show that even without his best stuff, he has what it takes to remain in the Colorado Rockies‘ rotation.

It was a pleasant, breezy afternoon at Coors Field on Saturday as the Rockies suited up for game three of four against division rival Arizona. After three straight one-run losses, they were in the market for a big win … and they got it with an 11-6 decision. Credit goes to starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa and an offense that never said die.

If you’re new to Rockies fandom, you might be a little frustrated with DLR. After all, he’s supposed to be the most established pitcher on the team, but lately it feels like every outing is a study in tedium. He throws tons of balls, gets deep in the count with nearly every hitter, and just generally seems not to have much authority or confidence. But what we’re actually seeing is a good pitcher, one of the best to ever wear a Rockies uniform, make necessary adjustments as he enters the twilight of his career and finds that things don’t work quite as well as they once did.

I much prefer the uncertain, careful DLR to the overanxious head case we had a few years ago. The bottom line is that this DLR doesn’t give up nearly as many runs. He may walk a guy like Jean Segura three times, but he makes sure Segura only scores once. And that’s the only run he allows in six innings.

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In his six innings on Saturday, DLR allowed one run on six hits with a season-high tying five walks and threw a season-high 107 pitches. He earned the win and is now 9-1 with a 1.98 ERA with 32 walks and 57 strikeouts in his career against the Diamondbacks at Coors Field.

However, the particulars of this pitching performance aren’t really that important, because I think we can expect the above from DLR around 75% of the time. It’s exactly what he did against the New York Yankees last week and more or less what he did against the Miami Marlins on Monday.

What is unacceptable is what the bullpen has been doing with the leads he’s giving them. In last week’s game, the Yankees tapped the pen for 10 runs in just three innings. On Saturday, it was five runs in two innings. It really seemed like this relief corps would be a strength for the team this season, but up to this point, most of them have shown great skill in pouring gasoline on the fire.

Major props has to go to the offense, which continues to fight. That’s a distinctive trait of this Rockies team. In the past, it felt like they would decide the game had reached a point of no return and then they would give up. But this season they keep staying in it.

I’m sure they felt really discouraged knowing that they could score eight or nine runs and the bullpen could still let it all get away, especially with those back-to-back-to-back one-run losses in the rearview mirror. Instead of shrugging their shoulders and conceding, they just kept at it.

Special recognition goes to Tony Wolters, who knocked his first career home run and fell a triple shy of the cycle; Charlie Blackmon, who drove in two runs, one on his 17th career leadoff homer; and DJ LeMahieu, who came up big with a three-run home run in the eighth inning when the Rockies had just a two-run lead and were desperate for some insurance.

Next: Why Coors Field Still Looks Good at the Age of 21

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Trevor Story as well, the hero of the ninth inning. With Gonzalez Germen pitching, a runner on first, and one out, Story went to his right to snag a liner off the bat of Brandon Drury and then, without missing a beat, turned and fired to first, doubling off the runner. It was a terrific heads-up play and likely saved the three- or four-run inning we were all anticipating.