German Marquez Makes Big Impact in First Colorado Start

The Colorado Rockies finally figured out how to beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Denver. It just took giving a rookie pitcher his first Major League start.

German Marquez spun five masterful innings in his first outing as a Rockies starter as Colorado avoided a sweep at the hands of the Cardinals with an 11-1 decision. The win gave Colorado two wins in six outings against the Redbirds this season and snapped a four-game skid against St. Louis.

For the 21-year-old right-hander, his first start came in his fourth big league appearance since making his debut on September 8. He made sure it was worth the wait for Colorado fans.

Marquez allowed just one run over five innings, scattering four hits. He also struck out three and walked just one in his 82-pitch performance.

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Nolan Arenado would give his rookie teammate all the runs he would need in the second inning, launching a grand slam off St. Louis starter Luke Weaver (a fellow rookie). It was Arenado’s 39^th homer of the season and highlighted a five-run second-inning explosion for the Rockies.

But on Wednesday, the focus was clearly on Marquez and his solid start. Marquez recorded his first Major League win and became the second-youngest player (21 years, 212 days) in Rockies history to record his first Major League win. Only Jamey Wright (21 years, 206 days on July 17, 1996 against San Francisco) was earlier.

Thinking back to when Marquez was almost considered a throw-in player as part of the trade that also brought Jake McGee to Denver and sent Corey Dickerson to Tampa Bay, it’s hard to imagine the harvest the Rockies could potentially reap in years ahead. At the time, it was labeled as “the Corey Dickerson trade.” With days like today, it could easily be renamed “the German Marquez trade.”

“He didn’t give us a lot of opportunities,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Marquez after the game. “We kind of created one early. He did a nice job of shutting it down. Good stuff. Good movement. Good life.”

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And seemingly plenty of good things ahead for Marquez and a young, talented Colorado Rockies pitching staff as well.