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| Tyler Matzek was good again on Tuesday night. |
In the midst of all of the negative, a few things positive might be coming out for the Colorado Rockies.
On Tuesday night at Coors Field, Tyler Matzek proved that his recent success wasn’t simply because he was facing bad teams. The rookie went 5-1/3 innings, giving up just two runs. He gave up 11 hits, but was good enough to wiggle off of the hook and only give up the two runs, both of which came in the 6th inning.
Matzek continues to shine. The Dodgers team that he kept off balance is one that is likely to cruise into the postseason. They have four outfielders capable on starting on the majority of big league rosters, but simply can’t find them all enough playing time. They also have one of the emerging forces in big league baseball in Yasiel Puig. However, Matzek wasn’t shaken.
While Matzek once again had impressive numbers, what he did when he wasn’t dominating is what stands out the most. In the 5th inning, the first two Dodgers to the plate reached base. After a fielder’s choice from Dee Gordon, Los Angeles had runners on first and third with one out. The Rockies were only winning 3-0, so a big inning could easily have propelled the Dodgers.
Instead, Matzek settled in. He struck out Puig on a full count pitch for the second out, then worked Adrian Gonzalez into a full count before getting him to line out to center field. It was a moment that Rockies fans have to hope is a sign of things to come for the young lefty.
Many rookies would have let things get out of hand. The inning would have snowballed and the Rockies lead would have evaporated. However, Matzek remained cool and worked his way out of the jam. That shows maturity and confidence, especially against a playoff-bound team like the Dodgers.
Matzek has been impressive, but strangely enough, in a season where the pitching has done the Rockies in many times, there have been quite a few impressive starting pitchers. Everyone is aware of Jorge De La Rosa’s ability to pitch, especially when he is on the mound at the most impossible place to pitch in baseball, Coors Field. However, take a look at the young starters for the Rockies and there might be a slight reason to believe that this team can win on more than just days when De La Rosa pitches.
Twentieth-round draft choice Christian Bergman has shown the ability to get outs at the big league level. His sample size is small because of the broken hand he sustained in June, but in his limited appearances, he has looked like a serviceable member of a rotation.
Jordan Lyles, acquired for Dexter Fowler from the Astros, has also been impressive. He was the Rockies best starter for six weeks before sustaining his own hand injury. With ups and downs along the way, he has been someone who the Rockies can walk away from a miserable season and feel good about.
Those three starters, Matzek, Bergman and Lyles should be duking it out for the last two spots in the rotation next spring. With De La Rosa back in the mix, a healthy, and hopefully more focused Jhoulys Chacin back on the mound, and the most likely situation of an Eddie Butler or Jon Gray cracking the starting rotation as well as Tyler Chatwood returning sometime around the All-Star break, the Rockies might actually have some depth in their rotation.
That might sound too optimistic for the fan who is tired of watching the losing, as everyone is, but the issue in 2015 might not be the starters.
Make no mistake, no one is penciling in the Rockies as World Series bound with that rotation, but it certainly sets up better than the rotation that included Franklin Morales to start the season in 2014.
The Rockies will get another look at Butler on Saturday. If he can pitch as well as Matzek has down the stretch, it will be a great sign for a team hoping to improve greatly in 2015.
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8 Comments (5 conversations)
I'm not sure Bergman's in the mix for the 2015 rotation. His H/9, K/9 and BB/9 ratios are all pretty poor, but he'd be decent if an emergency start is needed.
I want to know why Matzek was pulled with a 5-2 lead in the 6th inning. Was he up against the ridiculous 100 pitch limit? With the team 31 games under .500, what do you have to lose leaving your starter out there another inning or two. Let him work out of a jam. Let him learn how to pitch when tired, learn how to dig down deep and get out of an inning. If this stupid pitch limit rule the geniuses in the front office have imposed doesn't go away next year, the bullpen will be much of the same. The Rockies ask too much out of the bullpen. Their starters should be expected to go at least 7 innings each outing, regardless of how many pitches they've thrown.
In reference to Richard Bergstrom's comment….check the K/BB ratio for Jorge De La Rosa. It is poor. That stat alone tells a lot about why he is terrible on the road. The Rockies made a mistake giving him that big contract. Matzek is a better option that won't cost them much. They should have let him (DLR) walk or even tried to trade him. That mistake leaves the Rockies with around $60 mil next year tied up in three players. Given their payroll will be around $100 mil next year, having 60% of your payroll going to three players is a good way to have another 90 loss season. Incompetence continues at 20th and Blake. Hoping for 9 more loses this year before 3 more wins.
Are the Rockies really only 31 games under .500? I would have guessed 60. Long year.
What I see in this article is a bunch of 3-4-5 pitchers and some unproven pitchers with potential. I dont see a number 1 or 2 starter in the group, someone who can stop a 3 game losing streak (consistently) from becoming a 5 or 6 game losing streak. And as the article does mention, starting pitching may be ok in 2015, but that bullpen is like putting gasoline on a fire.
Absolutely agree…certainly is not a top flight rotation, but should at least be far better than what was trotted out there this year.
I'm still convinced that the Rockies need to blow up the very idea of a five-man rotation. Home-road platoon is the only way that they can solve the big long-term pitching problems – difficulty of finding pitchers for Coors, difficulty of getting ace-types to play here, and difficulty salvaging any trade value out of pitchers.
Of course, they also need to blow up everything else first
4:59 – "the Rockies need to blow up the very idea of a five-man rotation."
Re – During the "piggyback" disaster of 2012, I outlined elsewhere how tweaking it may work while providing extra rest for the starters. The pitching staff would be 3 'regular' starters, 6 long relievers (2 piggyback pairs, 2 bullpen) and 3 to 4 setup/closers. Excluding days off, the starters would pitch every 5.5 days and piggybacks every 4.4 days in a 22-day cycle;
A B 1 C 2 – A 1 B C 2 1 — A B 2 C 1 – A 2 B C 1 2
(Letters for starters, numbers for piggyback days)
This averages an extra half-day of rest compared to the '12 piggyback or regular 5-man rotation. Long relievers could be promoted to piggyback, p'backs to starter at any time if needed. When an off-day falls on a p'back start, they'd be skipped and instead take the load off the 'pen arms.
Crazy idea? Perhaps, but no worse than the crap we've seen in Denver.
I would like to see the 12 million dollar option exercised on Brett Anderson. I think he is worth the gamble. .