Eddie Butler continues to struggle as Colorado Rockies swept in New York

Eddie Butler is the reason that people are so skeptical when teams tout young starting pitching.

Two short years ago, Butler took the Citi Field mound with the world in the palm of his hands. Pitching in the Futures Game, which highlights the best players in the minor leagues who will be making an impact quickly. It is amazing how things can change so quickly in two short years.

On that same mound on Thursday, the story was much different for Butler and the Colorado Rockies.

The Rockies in previous years would tell fans how excited they should be about the future because the farm system had young pitchers who would be arriving in the near future. One of the headliners for that model was Butler. The young right-hander was a supplemental first round draft pick. He dominated the minor leagues and was quickly on the fast track to the big leagues.

After his Thursday start it is probably safe to say that he needs some additional time figuring things out in the minor leagues. Butler watched his record go to an abysmal 3-10 on Thursday after he barely got through the 4th inning. He gave up seven earned runs in those four innings, on seven hits. The worst part is that the offense staked him to a 2-0 lead before he took the mound in the 1st inning after DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado homered off of Noah Syndergaard.

Butler walked to the mound and promptly gave up the two run lead, allowing the Mets to score three runs of their own. At that point, the Rockies may as well have hung it up and headed for the airport to come back to Colorado after what turned into a miserable road trip after starting so well in the nation’s capital.

The reality is staring the Rockies in the face. The Butler situation isn’t one where a young kid is working out some issues on the mound and trying to figure himself out. Instead, Butler looks like a deer in the headlights. He looks like a guy who doesn’t believe that he is good enough to actually pitch at the level that he is pitching at.

Every now and then, a guy like that can be in that situation and figure it out. The problem is, it is extremely rare. Baseball history is riddled with extremely talented pitchers who lost confidence and flamed out before they ever reached anywhere close to their potential. Butler is still very young, but confidence is a shaky thing and the Rockies must figure out how to get him to grow without completely shattering their young starters mental makeup.

There are a few options for the Rockies. They could remove Butler from the rotation and send him back to Triple-A for the remainder of the minor league system. With the Pacific Coast League wrapping up at the end of the month, Butler could potentially get in three or four starts, then return to the big leagues when rosters expand in September.

The other option is to move him to the bullpen and see if he can square things away and build some confidence while pitching in just one inning. If he can focus for just three outs instead of figuring out how to pitch to batters for a second and third time through the order, he might be able to figure out how to get outs and regain his belief in himself.

The fact of the matter is, there is no reason to give up on Butler. The jury is certainly still out on him. Judging a starting pitcher in the big leagues before he has pitched a full season simply isn’t fair. There is arguably no bigger jump in the game then for a starting pitcher to jump from the minors to a big league rotation. Butler certainly hasn’t had the chance to adjust.

The issue, however, is that Butler cannot be excused for his starts. It isn’t about his stuff, it is about his frame of mind. The Rockies cannot afford to let Butler continue to go out on the mound every fifth day and get his ERA blown up and hope that he magically figures it out. The time right now is critical for this team to infuse confidence into him. Their job is a difficult one. They must make the right decision, whatever that decision is.

Whatever the decision, the club needs Butler to be successful, and the path that he is on right now is not leading to the kind of growth that the Rockies need to see.