Colorado Rockies: Mid-season ranking of the 2018 starters

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WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 14: Starting pitcher Jon Gray #55 of the Colorado Rockies throws a pitch against the Washington Nationals in the first inning at Nationals Park on April 14, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /

Halfway through the 2018 season and the Colorado Rockies starting rotation isn’t what many people would have expected. Jon Gray was supposed to be the standout ace but has struggled with mechanics. Instead, it’s the 25-year-old Kyle Freeland who has taken on that ace role in the 2018 season.

Despite the many disappointments throughout the starting rotation, the Rockies have been lucky when it comes to the health of the rotation. The Houston Astros are the only other team to use the same five starters throughout the season. I’m going to rank those five pitchers based upon their performances midway through this 2018 season.

Without further adieu, let’s take a look at number 5….

KANSAS CITY, MO – AUGUST 24: German Marquez #48 of the Colorado Rockies throws in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on August 24, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

5. German Marquez

I was one of the few skeptics when it came to the possible dominance of Gray. Instead, I believed that German Marquez would become the ace of this rotation. Unfortunately, this season that hasn’t been the case.

Marquez is 5-8 with a 5.53 ERA. I think the best stat to gauge a pitcher’s performance is adjusted ERA (ERA+). This stat takes into account the ballparks the pitchers play in. League average is 100. Jacob deGrom is the league leader in ERA+ at 225. That means that deGrom is 125 percent better than the average pitcher. Marquez’s ERA+ is 85.

4. Jon Gray

Gray came into the season with very high expectations. Expectations that were probably too high for the 26-year-old and, in a surprising move, the Rockies sent him to Triple-A Albuquerque on Saturday afternoon.

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Gray has struggled with mechanics and has allowed those struggles to get to him during his starts. He has said that he has focused more on his mechanics rather than just going out and pitching which has affected his performance.

He is 7-7 with a 5.77 ERA. Gray’s ERA+ is 82 thus far this season. So if Marquez has a better ERA and ERA+ than Gray, why do I have Gray ranked above him? For me, it goes back to the strikeouts.

Gray has the stuff to be great. I think that is clear by the amount of strikeouts he racks up. Thus far this season he has 119 strikeouts and has 11.6 strikeouts per nine, which ranks fifth in the league.

His downside is the amount of hits and runs he gives up. Gray has given up the third most hits in Major League Baseball with 108. That is also why he has given up the second most earned runs with 59.

3. Chad Bettis

Chad Bettis has continued to pitch well following his comeback from testicular cancer. He is 5-1 with a 5.07 ERA. His ERA+ is 93.

Like most of the Rockies pitchers, Bettis struggles at home where he has a 8.75 ERA whereas his away ERA is 2.72. Also, like most of the Colorado staff, he has really struggled in the first inning. Batters are hitting Bettis at a .371 clip and his ERA in the first inning is 10.69.

Bettis is also struggling with walks. He leads the rotation this season with 36 bases on balls.

The area where Bettis excels at is ground balls. His pitch arsenal is to force as many ground balls as possible, which needs to be done in the thin air of Coors Field. He is tenth in the league with 147 ground balls.

LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 29: Tyler Anderson #44 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Dodger Stadium on June 29, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /

2. Tyler Anderson

Tyler Anderson had the best outing of the season Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He went eight innings while giving up four hits, no earned runs and striking out eight.

This season, he is 5-3 with a 4.23 ERA. He is the first pitcher in this ranking with an adjusted ERA above league average. His ERA+ is 112.

Anderson started slowly this season but has really come on in the month of June. His ERA this month is 3.52.

What is interesting is the fact that despite Anderson being a lefty, he struggles against lefty batters and pitches well against righties. Lefties are hitting .329 while righties are hitting only .232.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – MAY 18: Kyle Freeland #21 of the Colorado Rockies pithces against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the first inning at AT&T Park on May 18, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

1. Kyle Freeland

Who would have expected that the hometown kid would be the best pitcher of this Rockies rotation in only his sophomore year?

Kyle Freeland is 7-6 with a 3.29 ERA. His ERA+ is 143.

What impresses me about Freeland is that he excels in all the areas the other pitchers struggle with: first inning, pitching at home and batter handedness.

The Rockies starting rotation is giving up .85 runs in the first inning. Without Freeland, that number would be well over one. In the first, batters are hitting a meager .164 against Freeland. His first inning ERA is 2.25.

Freeland also pitches exceptionally in his home state. He actually has a better ERA at Coors than on the road. His home ERA is 2.95 while his road ERA is 3.50.

Many of the Rockies pitchers throw well against either right or left-handed batters but struggle against the other. Freeland pitches well against both lefties and righties. Lefties are hitting .232 and righties are hitting .244 against Freeland.

It’s what Freeland is doing this season that the rest of the Rockies rotation can’t that makes him the best pitcher in the rotation thus far in the 2018 season.

Next: Four quotes that explain a lot about the Rockies bullpen

In the second half of the season, will the pitchers that should be dominating like Gray and Marquez turn things around? Will the young pitchers of Freeland and Anderson continue to pitch beyond expectations?

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