Colorado Rockies morning after: Chad Kuhl’s return to Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH – Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Chad Kuhl returned to the Steel City for the first time as an opposing pitcher after spending parts of five seasons in the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2016 through 2021.

It was not the best start of his career by any means but he battled through 4 1/3 innings, allowing just one run after throwing 104 pitches.

However, his return to Pittsburgh was not as successful as he hoped as his control eluded him (four walks) and the Rockies failed to muster much offense (one run).

Chad Kuhl’s return to Pittsburgh was not as successful as the Colorado Rockies would have liked

After Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Chad Kuhl spoke to the media, including Rox Pile, about his return.

“It was a little weird coming back to a place that means a lot to me,” Kuhl said. “It was a weird start to the day but once the game started, everything kind of fades out and it’s time to play.”

“It was just one of those nights that I felt that I wasn’t missing by much,” Kuhl added. “I was down in the zone a bunch but I just wasn’t getting the swings.”

Kuhl also said that he thought that he just needed some “minor adjustments” to help his control.

Manager Bud Black said that he was “a little erratic” but thought that Kuhl “made some good pitches when he really needed to” and “got some huge outs so that’s really good to see.”

“I really liked the battle from Chad Kuhl tonight,” Black said.

The bullpen also picked Kuhl up (3 2/3 IP, 1 R) but the Rockies offense, once again, struggled.

In the middle of their lineup (spots three through six in the lineup), they went 1-for-14 with two walks. The lone run scored by the Rockies was unearned and it came on a double play by Grichuk in the fourth inning.

The Rockies will face the Pirates in the second of the three-game series tonight at 4:35 PM M.T./6:35 PM E.T. as Kyle Freeland (1-4, 4.85 ERA in eight starts) will take the mound for the Rockies. The Pirates have not officially announced their starter but Roansy Contreras (1-0, 3.52 ERA in 7 2/3 innings in relief in the majors in 2022) will likely be the starter for the Pirates.