Colorado Rockies: The bullpen is nothing to worry about

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DENVER, CO – MAY 7: Relief pitcher Mike Dunn #38 of the Colorado Rockies delivers to home plate during the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field on May 7, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /

A month ago, the Colorado Rockies boasted the third-best bullpen by ERA (3.92) in the National League. While the starting rotation searched for answers, the bullpen – Mike Dunn and Seunghwhan Oh the glaring exceptions – was the squad’s stable force.

But the bullpen’s good fortune shattered in the bizarre June 12-15 series between the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres. The series broke the modern-era record for runs (92) in a four-game series as summer returned with a vengeance to Coors Field.

Since June 12, Rockies relievers have allowed 64 runs (59 earned) for a 6.13 ERA (27th in baseball in that time) in 86.2 innings pitched. They’ve posted a WHIP of 1.50, allowed a .275 batting average and given up 18 home runs.

But it is too soon to panic or come for this bullpen with the Twitter-equivalent of pitchforks and torches.

First, some perspective. This bullpen was not quite as good as its performance indicated in the first two months of the season. It posted a field independent pitching (FIP) – a statistic that removes the results of balls hit into the field of play – of 4.22, a bit higher than its ERA.

There’s been no meaningful difference in opponents’ hard-hit rate since June 12 – 36.4 percent before versus 37.7 percent after. The Coors Field series against the Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros exposed those hard-hit balls as the (possibly juiced) baseball carried more and outfielders played deeper.

DENVER, COLORADO – JULY 03: Pitcher Chad Bettis #35 of the Colorado Rockies throws in the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Coors Field on July 03, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Since June 12, the bullpen has a FIP of 5.62 – almost a point lower than its ERA – but the park-adjusted version (xFIP) gives us 4.87! Meanwhile, the batting average for balls in play (BABIP) is a high and unsustainable .309. This is another suggestion that Rockies relievers have had brutal luck at home while being tortured in classic Coors slugfests.

And though some individual relievers have ugly stats since June 12, one or two disastrous appearances have inflated these numbers for many pitchers.

For instance, Chad Bettis – a godsend in middle relief – has a 10.45 ERA since June 12. But the ERA is misleading. Half of the runs he’s given up in the period came against the Dodgers on June 30 – his line was six earned runs on five hits and a walk in just 1/3 of a nightmare inning. He was also part of the rough outing against the Padres on June 14 – two earned runs on a hit and two walks in 2/3 of an inning – but otherwise Bettis is still the long reliever the Rockies need him to be.

It’s been a solid bounce-back season for Bryan Shaw, yet he sports an 8.00 ERA since June 12. Coors Field came for blood on July 2 – he gave up three runs on three hits against the Astros without recording an out, helping to blow the Rockies’ three-run lead. Before that, it was a decent stretch, the exception a two-run inning against the Padres on June 16.

DENVER, COLORADO – JUNE 29: Pitcher Wade Davis and catcher Tony Wolters #14 of the Colorado Rockies confer in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field on June 29, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

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The $18 million elephant in the room is Wade Davis. His ERA is 11.57 in 9.1 innings pitched since June 12. But much of that damage was done in his disastrous meltdowns against the Padres on June 14 and 16, when he was bitten by the same bug as every other pitcher at Coors Field. Since then, he’s given up zero earned runs in five of six appearances, the glaring exception June 27 versus the Dodgers when he gave up four runs and a three-run dinger to Kike Hernandez that sealed a brutal 12-8 loss.

Closers are always the victims of selection bias, and a few rough outings cratered Davis’s reputation among many Rockies fans. Davis is bound to blow another save, but expect him to be more reliable than not, especially if he can rediscover a small part of his once-lethal command.

And finally, look at the bullpen just a season ago. Rockies relievers went through an atrocious stretch from June 1-28, 2018, posting a 7.86 ERA, by far the worst in baseball. But after that, the bullpen recovered for a 3.65 ERA (and a more impressive 3.59 FIP), seventh in baseball and fourth in the National League.

Next. The Rockies three biggest first half disappointments. dark

That kind of bounce-back might be a lot to ask from this bullpen, especially as more is asked of relievers while the rotation struggles to turn in quality starts. But the bullpen will recover from another June Swoon and adjust to pitching on hot summer nights at Coors Field. Hopefully that means the team can address more pressing issues at hand.

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Colorado Rockies: The bullpen is nothing to worry about – yet

A month ago, the Colorado Rockies boasted the third-best bullpen by ERA (3.92) in the National League. While the starting rotation searched for answers, the bullpen – Mike Dunn and Seunghwhan Oh the glaring exceptions – was the squad’s stable force.

More from Rox Pile

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