Chronicling the struggles of Adam Ottavino since his injury

Adam Ottavino was placed on the disabled list on May 30 with right shoulder inflammation. He returned on June 9 and since, his appearances have left something to be desired.

Adam Ottavino, since returning from the disabled list nearly a month ago, has struggled mightily and his performance is part of the reason why the Rockies have lost 11 of their last 13. In addition, it’s part of the reason why the Rockies may be looking for bullpen help at the trade deadline.

April

Ottavino started off the 2017 season performing well as in the month of April as in 12 games, he pitched 12 2/3 innings and only allowed eight hits, two runs (a 1.42 ERA), five walks, and 15 strikeouts. His opponent’s slash line was a very low .182/.260/.273. His peripheral numbers were also very good as his BABIP (or his opponent’s Batting Average on Balls in Play) was .241 and he threw 59% strikes. He also threw 221 pitches in April.

May

In May, his numbers deteriorated a bit as in May, he pitched in 11 games and 8 1/3 innings. He allowed seven hits, four runs, an alarming 10 walks, nine strikeouts, and his ERA in the month was 4.32 (raising his season ERA to 2.57). His opponent’s slash line in the month was .233/.439/.233 (the middle number (on base percentage) is much higher than the other because the 10 walks). Ottavino’s peripheral numbers paint a picture that was deteriorating too as his BABIP was .333, he needed 171 pitches for the 8 1/3 innings and his strike percentage dropped to 54%. His month ended with the aforementioned trip to the disabled list.

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?

June/July

Ottavino returned from the DL on June 9th and his numbers since have been atrocious. In 11 games since returning, he has pitched in nine innings and allowed 14 runs, 11 hits, 8 walks (compared to 15 strikeouts), and an ERA of 14.00 (which raised his season ERA all the way to 6.00. His opponent’s slash line has been .289/.438/.737. His BABIP is .333 and he has thrown 212 pitches in those nine innings of work. He has also thrown 54% strikes but only 31% are on pitches that were swung on and missed or looked at. This means that the other 23% is on foul balls or hits. Particularly, in his last six appearances, only one was scoreless and two of the six had Ottavino giving up three or more runs (June 25 vs. the Dodgers in a 12-6 loss and yesterday vs. the Reds in a 8-1 loss).

Next: Could Marcus Stroman be a trade target for the Rockies?

Final Thoughts

Since Ottavino has struggled since his return from the DL, one might wonder whether or not he is fully healthy. He had elbow surgery that delayed the start to his 2016 season until July 5th, 2016 and he pitched well for the rest of the year (2.67 ERA in 27 innings) and started out the season performing well. If he is on the disabled list for an extended period of time, that will almost certainly force the Rockies hand in acquiring at least one reliever for their playoff run.