GRAND JUNCTION — When the Colorado Rockies drafted Riley Pint in the first round, a single phrase, often punctuated with an emphatic question mark, began to emanate from the minds and lips of prospect evaluators everywhere: “A 102 mph fastball?”
In the immortal words of Kurt Angle: It’s true, it’s true.
BSN Denver was in attendance for the Grand Junction Rockies final series of the year and caught up with Pint a day after his final start. It was a crazy game with playoff implications where both teams ended up in double digits — that’s Coors Lite Field for you — but it was the feeling leading up to the game that will stick with Pint.
“It’s good to get that competition and you’re not just going out there for just another game,” he says. “I felt good, came out with the lead, it was a crazy game, anything could have happened in that game, but it felt good to pitch with something on the line.”
His results in the game and on the season won’t blow anyone away. He ended with a 5.35 ERA over 37 innings pitched, which is pretty good for an 18-year-old in that ballpark. (Remember that both Jon Gray and Kyle Freeland had experienced multiple years of college ball before slaying GJ competition.)
The more important thing is the Pint feels healthy and is making progress because his right arm is a gift from on high that regularly challenges the ballpark radar gun that only goes up to 99 mph. Some asking around reveals that Pint has reached triple digits in every game he has pitched and touched 102 on multiple occasions this season.
Pint says progress has been made and he can already feel himself getting better. “I think we’ve done a lot of stuff mechanically that’s really helped me throughout the season,” he says. “I’m just going to keep working on that throughout the offseason and I it’ll be really good next year.”
After showing off what he can do during the course of his first professional season, the next step for Riley Pint is to do what he can at his best more often.
“Yep. Get everything consistent,” he says. “Get everything tuned up and that’ll be pretty much the way it’s gonna go. I feel great. I feel like I progressed on a lot of things throughout the season and I’m just looking forward to getting back next season.”
He hadn’t quite left the field for the last time in 2016 and he’s already thinking about how to get better for 2017. The Rockies have drafted themselves a special kid with a special arm. And now the wait begins.
