Colorado Rockies: The “inside” on how this tactic is changing the game

The Colorado Rockies have developed a reputation as a team that pitches inside. It’s not a bad thing, necessarily. It’s a fact and, in 2018, pitching inside can bring big rewards … and big reactions.

Pitches that have tailed too far inside have led to heightened tensions before the Rockies and San Diego Padres brawled at Coors Field in mid-April. On Sunday against the Chicago Cubs, a German Marquez fastball caught Kris Bryant in the helmet in the first inning and forced him out of the game. Later in the game, Rockies reliever Jake McGee hit Anthony Rizzo and Rizzo wasted no time in showing his frustration in being hit.

So what is the fine line between being able to pitch inside and pitching too much inside and drawing the ire of the opposing team? That’s the question we posed to Colorado manager Bud Black and various players inside the Rockies locker room.

From Black’s perspective, as a former pitcher and now overseeing a young and developing Rockies rotation, pitching inside is as much a part of the game as anything else the pitcher could and should be doing on the mound.

"“It’s part of the game,” Black said. “German didn’t mean to hit Bryant. Jake, in a close game, didn’t mean to hit Rizzo. Rizzo, as you know, crowds the plate and he’s one of the leading hit by pitch guys in all of baseball."

"“How we pitch, and how a lot of teams pitch, inside is a part of the game, as is outside as is high as is down. It’s all part of the pitching side of this game.”"

So let’s talk to McGee about pitching inside and his perspective on how inside pitching has become part of the game…