Antonio Senzatela making Colorado Rockies history already

You have to go all the way back to 2016 to find a pair of Colorado Rockies rookie pitchers as exciting as Antonio Senzatela and Kyle Freeland. Way back then, it was Tyler Anderson and Jon Gray who were showing critics that it actually is possible to pitch at Coors Field and make you way as a rookie in MLB tasked with pitching half their games in the crazy environment provided by the transitions to and from altitude baseball.

But seriously folks, despite the fact that we do have a very recent precedent for young Rockies pitchers generating excitement and stealing headlines, the youngest of all these players to make his debut — 22-year-old Senzatela — is already joining Gray and Anderson by etching his name into the Rockies history books.

With his seven inning, one run performance against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night, Senzatela became just the third pitcher in franchise history to start his career 3-0 with a sub 3.00 ERA. Only Nelson Cruz and Joe Kennedy have managed that. Senzatela also became the first pitcher in Rockies history to begin his career by throwing at least seven innings in each of his first four starts. His 2.08 ERA is also considerably lower than those two players who were at 2.91 and 2.49 respectively.

“I threw a good slider tonight,” he said after the game. “I just tried to attack.” Senzatela went on to credit all the work he has put in at the gym to get himself into shape so that he can give his team as many innings as possible. It also helps that he just pounds the strike zone with a fastball that catcher Tony Wolters described to us as “lightning.”

“He pitched well,” said manager Bud Black. “The thing about tonight that I thought was different was the use of the breaking ball and the change-up. Again, very efficient. He’s growing as a major league starter.”

Senzatela’s inspirational story moves forward as he carries the title of most consistent guy in the rotation at the moment despite being it’s youngest member. The Rockies have yet to lose a game he has started.