Baseball is a funny game.
Two weeks ago, all Colorado Rockies fans could talk about was how badly the bullpen was being overworked because of the Rockies starting pitchers inability to get deep into the game. The starters were nibbling at the strike zone, walking way too many opposing batters, then being forced to throw pitches down the heart of the plate that ended up causing trouble. After a 5-2 victory on Saturday, things are looking much better.
Things took a drastic shift, however, when the Rockies went out west for a six-game trip against the Angels and Dodgers. When Jorge De La Rosa outdueled Zack Grienke, it seemed to set the tone for what has become a regular event for Rockies starting pitchers.
A night after Chad Bettis flirted with a no-hitter, fellow young starting pitcher Eddie Butler showed that he can also be dominant on the mound. The righty threw six innings, coming out only because he was pinch hit for in the top of the 7th inning when the Rockies had a chance to pad their lead.
In his six innings, Butler gave up just one run on four hits. He struck out three and walked one. The run came in the 1st inning when Butler gave up a double to Ryan Howard that scored Chase Utley. It was a situation where a young pitcher like Butler has a chance to take the next step and gain some maturity on a big league mound.
Oftentimes a young pitcher will find himself in a situation where they come out and have a tough inning right out of the gate and the game gets away from them. It is easy for a pitcher, especially a young one like Butler, to lose confidence and start wondering if their stuff isn’t going to be good enough that day. However, when a young starter takes the next step, they start being able to turn the page on a bad inning, or a couple of bad at-bats. Butler looks like he may have been able to take that step on Saturday.
The Rockies offense helped Butler have some breathing room. In the top of the 2nd inning, Nolan Arenado hit a solo home run, then two batters later Michael McKenry drilled one of his own to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead. With that slim margin, Butler worked five more innings before recent call-up Ben Paulsen, who gave the Rockies some breathing room on Friday night with a two-run homer, clubbed another two-run shot to give the Rockies a 4-1 lead.
The home run by Arenado was his 11th of the season, nine of which have come away from Coors Field. His play has been huge for the Rockies.
The Rockies haven’t lost a series since they were swept in Anaheim at the tail end of their 11-game losing streak. Since then they have split a four game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, something that isn’t easy to accomplish, then split a four-game set with the Phillies at home and split another four-game series with the defending World Champion Giants at home. They took to the road and beat the Reds two-of-three, and locked up the series victory on Saturday against the Phillies.
It was said early and often when people were talking about the Rockies and their recipe for success in 2015. Everything hinges on the ability of the young starting pitchers to do what they needed to do and to take the next step. The three main pitchers in question were Butler, Jordan Lyles and Tyler Matzek. While Matzek and Lyles haven’t exactly answered the bell, they have been picked up by recent starts from Bettis, a spot start by David Hale and even a positive start from Chris Rusin. The depth has been a huge plus for the Rockies.
After being pinch hit for when the Rockies needed another run scratched across the plate, Butler and the Rockies needed their bullpen to pull through. The combination of Scott Oberg, Boone Logan, Brooks Brown and John Axford ended up being enough to give the Rockies a victory. Rafael Betancourt faced two batters in the 8th and came out of the game with flu-like symptoms. Both batters that he faced reached base, which put the Rockies in a tough situation. The other relievers helped Betancourt out, despite a few nail-biting moments.
One thing lost in a seemingly tough season has actually been the fact that the Rockies have been very good on the road. Something that the Rockies, even when they have been good, have struggled with, has been their ability to win away from Coors Field. After the win on Saturday, the Rockies are actually a .500 (13-13) team on the road through the first two months of the season. If they were able to figure out their issues at Coors Field, the Rockies might actually be in a position where they feel like they could make a run.
The Rockies are a team that is in transition. They are trying to re-establish themselves as a respectable team. Games like Friday and Saturday go a long way to help that transition.
If the starting pitching continues to set the tone, the Rockies will be in decent shape.
