DENVER – On Friday afternoon at Coors Field, all eyes were on the pitcher who should probably have his legal name changed to Denver Native Who Made His MLB Debut In His Home Town Kyle Freeland. Though, that could raise pragmatic mailbox problems.
With over 49,000 in attendance for what is traditionally the biggest game of the year at Coors Field, the day was a celebration from the start. Whether or not it was a celebration to the finish was ultimately left up to Jake McGee.
“I was siked to be out there. I had a lot of adrenaline; pitching in front of 50,000,” he said after the game.”
McGee was called upon to close because Greg Holland and Adam Ottavino were unavailable, but also because he has been one of the most dominant relievers in baseball at times, even grabbing 15 saves for the Rockies at the beginning of last season. Even so, he was never himself in 2016.
“I never got my foundation back in my knee,” he said. “As the season wore on, it just kind of wore me out. I’m a competitor and I try to pitch through it even though I wasn’t 100 percent. And I was able to pitch, just not what I was used to before.”
But in his first save opportunity against the Dodgers in which he struck out the side including popular MVP pick Corey Seager? “I was staying back,” he said. “I could push off my knee and throw the ball where I wanted to. It’s all about being consistent and being healthy for me. I’m able to vary my timing. I can push off, slide step and it’s 97 (mph) where last year it was 93-94 (mph) and my location is much better. Last year when my knee would dip, I would drop a little bit, I would get under the ball too much and I wouldn’t have good location. It’s still early, I’ve thrown two games, but I feel good.”
With Greg Holland looking very much like the guy who was once a consensus Top 5 reliever in baseball, Adam Ottavino throwing whiffle-ball sliders and 97 mph fastballs, Mike Dunn looking nearly untouchable early, and young Carlos Estevez emerging as a reliable workhorse, the return of Jake McGee to his best self could mean the Rockies have turned their biggest weakness into not only one of their biggest strengths, but one of the most feared units in the National League.
It’s best if you can have two closers instead of just one. The Colorado Rockies could have as many as six. In all
In all likelihood, they have three with Holland, Ottavino, and McGee.
Like McGee said, “It’s still early,” but it was also somewhat predictable that this group would emerge this way. We will have more on the bullpen as a whole later today but a healthy Jake McGee maybe the key to the Rockies simply having a world-class bullpen.
