Colorado Rockies notebook: Five things we learned from Kyle Freeland and Bud Black today

Colorado Rockies left-handed pitcher Kyle Freeland and Bud Black spoke with the media, including Rox Pile, prior to tonight’s game in San Francisco.

Combined, the two spoke for nearly 50 minutes so there was a lot to dissect from them.

Here are the five biggest things that we learned from them today.

Kyle Freeland said he feels “great”

Prior to his bullpen session on Tuesday, Freeland spoke with media (and Bud Black was after) and before the bullpen session, Freeland said that he felt “great.”

"“I feel great, first and foremost,” said Freeland. “That’s the main thing I’m happy about. I’ve tried to stay as positive as I possibly can throughout this process … keeping a positive mindset about the whole rehab process, getting through it correctly and making sure that, when I’m able to come back, I feel 100 percent … (but my) shoulder feels great, body feels great.”"

He suffered the injury on March 23 against Oakland and it was diagnosed as a “left shoulder strain.” He also said that the only other time that he has experienced pain close to that was when he hurt his elbow in the 2014 season in the minor leagues.

He ended up missing the rest of 2014 and most of 2015 after having elbow surgery.

His bullpen session on Tuesday was “outstanding”

Rockies manager Bud Black provided an update on Kyle Freeland’s bullpen session later and he said it was “outstanding.”

He said that Brendan Rodgers, Yonathan Daza, and Ryan Vilade (more on him later) both “tracked” pitches in the batters’ box in the bullpen for the session (aka they stood in the box but didn’t swing).

Black said that Freeland “ramped up” from his last bullpen, when he through around 25 pitches at 85 percent effort. However, on Tuesday, Freeland only threw fastballs and changeups.