If you want to win baseball games, you have to pitch well. It’s that simple.
The Colorado Rockies have experienced a dearth of quality prospects in the starting pitching department ever since graduating the players who currently make up the MLB rotation.
And while they still don’t boast the high-end possibilities that the system contained back when it was filled with names like Jon Gray, Kyle Freeland, and German Marquez, they do still have a few standout candidates to improve their starting pitching over the next few years.
Atop that list stands another crafty lefty who may end up being more than the sum of his parts.
Purple Prospects Week
#2 – SP Ryan Rolison
Age: 23.7; Throws: Left
Acquired: 2018 MLB Draft, 1st Rd from Ole Miss
Boasting a big breaking curveball and a decent fastball that lacks overwhelming velocity (sitting 90-92) Rolison brought plenty of question marks with him upon entering the organization with the Rockies first pick in 2018.
Furthermore, the reports on his command out of Ole Miss were mixed.
Curveballs can be tricky at Coors Field and a change-up that still needs plenty of work have doubters wondering whether or not a he can succeed in Colorado.
Once he actually started pitching though, he started turning evaluators heads. He reduced his walk rate dramatically, posting a career-worst mark of 2.94 in High-A.
With his command on point, the fastball became much more of a weapon, and he has learned to dial it up for a little extra velo when needed.
He still works first and foremost with the curveball, which he uses both as an out-pitch and oftentimes even to get first-pitch strikes. He’s not afraid to throw it in any count and two showings at MLB Spring Trainings (against real MLB hitters) he has already proven that the pitch can fool the very best batsmen.
He will still need to develop the fastball and change in order to keep hitters honest but Rolison has also displayed an advanced feel for pitching and pitch selection that has evaluators and his coaches ecstatic on the possibility that he can reach his full potential.
That full potential still may not end up as a typical top-of-the-rotation, strikeout artist, ace-type guy. More than likely, he ends up in the middle of the rotation but there is certainly Feeland-esque potential in that arm.
Despite the fact that he hasn’t even played in Double-A yet, thanks in large part to the shutdown last season, Rolison is already on the cusp of making his MLB debut. He impressed Rox coaching so much that he nearly already did at the end of 2020.
With an injury to Freeland and a ton of question marks surrounding depth options like Chi Chi Gonzalez and Dereck Rodriguez, it seems like only a matter of time (and maybe not that much) before we see him in the Bigs.
What he lacks in experience and overall pedigree, Ryan Rolison appears to be making up for with smarts, hard work, and a curveball that gives hitters nightmares.
