Revitalized pitching staff taking the Colorado Rockies to the next level

The Colorado Rockies pitching staff is really good. Yes, that sentence does not have any typos or misused words. Every aspect of the Colorado Rockies pitching staff has fueled them to their 13-6 record which is tied for the second-best start through 19 games in franchise history. (1997: 14-5) While most of that success can be attributed to the bullpen, the starting pitching deserves the credit for the sweep against the Giants for the first time at Coors Field since May 2002.

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

If the more than 42,000 fans at Coors Field on Sunday are any testament, the word is out, the Rockies are fun to watch. Colorado has the revitalized Rockies pitching staff to thank for that.

Kyle Freeland was the latest rookie to step up after Antonio Senzatela went seven strong in the second game of the series. Freeland pitched seven shutout innings by using his fastball and slider combination well, down in the zone. The Denver native certainly knows the formula for successful pitching in Colorado. He induced 12 ground-ball outs.

The best piece of advice Freeland said he has received this early in his career is to keep his head down and mouth shut. Freeland’s manager had a little different advice for his lefty.

“I would like to think that the best piece of advice he’s gotten is to keep the ball down,” manager Bud Black said. “I’m one that likes dialogue with players. As far as keeping your mouth shut, I’d like to think he can open it and talk. I like that about Kyle. We’ve had some good conversations. I think Kyle’s very respectful of where he is and what is going on in his career. I like the fastball down as opposed to the head down.”

This is Freeland’s demeanor though. In a start that was almost unbelievable from someone starting in just their fourth game, he was succinct and to the point in his post-game interview. When asked if he excelled more with the Opening Day hype gone, he attributed part of his success to the packed Coors Field.

Yeah, [everything was working] especially the fastball,” Freeland said. “Everything kind of plays off that for me. Growing up here is a big part of being comfortable here. You continue to learn. I think that’s what it mostly is.”

Bullpen success

That comfort level is extending amongst the starters and relievers. Being comfortable in the Rockies bullpen wasn’t an easy feeling to come by last season. The dynamic of the bullpen has changed with new additions, better health and redefined roles.

The bullpen wasn’t the main story in the series against the Giants, but the starters going deep gives Black flexibility with his pen.

“I think the bullpen was worked the first 10 games you look at the starts in Milwaukee, you look at the couple of starts against the Dodgers and Padres. Those guys were working,” he said. “The two off days. The Chatwood game in San Francisco. It’s been nice. It’s been it’s a function of our starting pitching that allows you to use your bullpen like we’ve been able to use it.”

Good starting pitching brings more than rest. Black used an analogy specifically relating to those who ask him questions every game.

“Yes [pitching can be contagious] absolutely. There is a sense that when things are going well, there is a level of confidence the that sort of lifts everybody up. I think it’s a lot like sports writing. When you guys are writing good, you guys just pick each other up. When you see good articles around the internet, it lifts your game. You want to hang in there. You don’t want to be the one with a bad article. ‘Did you read Patrick’s piece?’ It was brutal,” Black said smiling and looking at Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. “You gotta be on your game.”

No one is setting that tone better in the bullpen than Greg Holland. He has closed all of his nine save opportunities. This chance wasn’t always certain for Holland. Before coming to the Rockies, he spent all of the 2016 season on the DL recovering from Tommy John surgery.

That gave Holland a lot of down time recovering. One of the best things about last year for Freeland was getting to spend time with his son who is now two years old. His former teammate Alex Gordan said when his family started growing, it took a lot of pressure off him. Holland took notes.

“Your kids don’t know whether you blew a game,” Holland said. “When you get home, it’s time to be dad. I think that helps with the mental grind of the game.”

Being gone from the game so long, Holland had to work on his mechanics in Spring Training to get back to what he was used to. He said his his delivery wasn’t consistent. He liked how the ball was spinning out of his hand the way he wanted to but there were times when his timing wasn’t perfect. The repetition of his delivery and staying calm with the help of family are paying dividends now.

Last year’s closer has been working his own mechanics. Going back to last season, Carlos Estevez changed his delivery. After a strong start to his rookie campaign, the closer role became too much and Estevez needed to slow down. He pauses now when he lifts his leg and he is able to leverage more behind his pitches.

“It kind of feels weird [to slow] down because I’ve been doing something else ever since I was in pro ball,” he said. “Sometimes I was thinking about it too much. It was like, ‘I’m going to make the pitch now.’ I was still trying. I lifted one leg and I was like, ‘Oh God, this can’t be happening right now.’ After that I got used to it. I stopped thinking about it. It feels more natural now.”

Every aspect of Jake McGee’s delivery is more natural now that the lefty is back to 100 percent. The biggest change that McGee said he sees in his pitching this year is to have full strength in his knee again. Now he is able to push off the mound with more force helping him get his velocity and location back. He is also throwing more fastballs and said that he feels like he is bringing more of what he did in Tampa Bay to Colorado.

While much has changed for McGee this season, he also notices that much has changed about the bullpen this year.

“Last year you weren’t sure as much when you were throwing,” McGee said. “You could throw when you’re up six nothing and then the next game you’d throw a one run game. It was a little inconsistent last year. This year it’s more consistent. We pretty much know when we are going to throw. Me and [Mike] Dunn are in the back of the bullpen and Rusin can be a weapon anytime now too. We have Holland and everyone mixes in after that. Everyone doing it together is pretty cool.”

Chris Rusin spoke to that versatility and attributed that characteristic to the entire bullpen. He also said something that might sound a little familiar.

“We have a great group of guys. We had a couple good signings in the offseason. Jake [McGee] was injured and he’s healthy now. [Scott Oberg] is throwing the ball good. We feed off each other. Next man up. Pitching is very contagious. You don’t want to be that guy that gives it up. You want to do as well as the last guy.”

Next: How Mark Reynolds and Ian Desmond Make Each Other Better

From the pitching-oriented coach, to the starting rotation and bullpen, this pitching staff is in-sync to start the 2017 season.