Colorado Rockies morning after: The right move for Kyle Freeland

For the second consecutive year, the Colorado Rockies have sent their Opening Day starter to Triple-A before the All-Star break.

Think about that statement for just a moment. Last year, it was Jon Gray who was bounced to Triple-A Albuquerque. This season, it’s Kyle Freeland, who finally had shown enough to the Colorado Rockies after another rocky start on Thursday that things weren’t going to get better without a major shift in Freeland’s dynamic and surroundings.

Now comes the biggest question of all: How does Freeland respond to the demotion?

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The 26-year-old southpaw, bearing a 7.13 ERA, was all class at Coors Field on Friday afternoon after learning of the demotion. He answered questions from the media and stayed professional. We in the media have learned that that is who Freeland is. He’s a stand-up guy who won’t hide in the clubhouse to avoid questions or a reporter’s notebook. He knows he has been struggling and isn’t afraid to admit it. He also knows that the answer to whatever is plaguing him is ahead of him and can’t be seen in the rearview mirror.

"“I’m going to go down and learn,” Freeland said. “However I come back, that’s the kind of person I’m going to be. I’m not trying to repeat what I did last year. That’s kind of out the window at this point.”"

Freeland’s demotion isn’t a surprise … not to him and many fans or media members who have watched him surprisingly struggle this season.

"“I thought this was going to happen quite a long time ago,” Freeland said on Friday when he was asked if he thought a trip to Albuquerque was possible."

Freeland knew he needed help. He knew that something wasn’t right and to continue to roll out to the Major League mound every fifth day wasn’t going to solve it.

Good for him. Good for the Rockies.

It would’ve been easy for Freeland to have sulked and talked about last season and finishing fourth in the Cy Young voting. He didn’t. He is looking at the present and not the past … and he will be better because of it.

However, don’t automatically expect that it will be a quick fix for Freeland. Gray came back to the Rockies after roughly two weeks last year and returned with a 4.68 ERA and .244 batting average against in 13 post-All-Star starts (as opposed to a 5.44 ERA and .281 batting average against in 15 starts before the All-Star Game). He is still hovering around those numbers (4.52 ERA and .263 BAA this season).

There likely isn’t a miracle quick cure-all fix for Freeland in Triple-A. However, there can be a mental reset button pushed where he can regain confidence in his pitches and his placement of them in critical situations. That in of itself could do wonders for the former first-round pick.

Something had to be done to try to salvage Freeland’s season and confidence before it went any further downhill. The Rockies made the hard and right decision on Friday afternoon to try to do just that.