German Marquez flashes elite potential in first start for Rockies

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German Marquez made his first career Major League start Wednesday afternoon against a potential playoff team in the St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis was on the verge of a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies, but Marquez had other things in mind in front of 26,099 at Coors Field.

“That was real good, wonderful,” he said after his historic win. “I was excited. My MLB debut was exciting, too, but it’s the same baseball. A lot of people told me that the ball can fly [at Coors Field]  but man, they have to hit it first, y’know?”

Solid reasoning.

Marquez, 21, was acquired in the offseason deal that sent fan favorite Corey Dickerson and Kevin Padlo to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Marquez and Jake McGee. Marquez was brilliant throughout the season in Minor League ball, earning Eastern League Pitcher of the Year for the Hartford Yard Goats, Colorado’s Double-A affiliate.

In 21 starts for the Yard Goats, Marquez compiled a record of 9-6, yielding just 43 earned runs over 135.2 innings pitched — good for an ERA of 2.85. Marquez also made five starts for the Albuquerque Isotopes, Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate, going 2-0 with an ERA of 4.35. Also worth noting, Marquez made three appearances out of the bullpen for the Rockies this month, giving up three runs in 5.1 innings while walking four and striking out three.

His first start was sure fun to watch, looking good all the while donning a black glove with purple laces. After getting ahead 0-2 on leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter in the first inning, who singled on an 0-2 pitch, Marquez dialed in on the very next batter, Aledmys Diaz. His curveball, sweeping in at 78 miles per hour, absolutely fooled the Rookie of the Year Candidate. At one point, Marquez fooled him on two straight curveballs, jumping ahead 1-2. Catcher Tom Murphy, after Diaz fouled off the next curveball offering, went with the fastball up and in, brushing Diaz off the plate while nearly grazing his chin. One thing I liked from Murphy — he called for the curveball immediately after that high cheese, leading to an off-balance swing for strike three.

“That was the gameplan before the game,” says catcher Tom Murphy, “They were taking advantage of fastballs in fastball counts and we adjusted to it. He goes out there with the same intensity and focus every game.”

“He has a lot of confidence it shows pretty well,” Murphy continues. “He’s not afraid to go in on anybody, he’s not afraid to miss, he’s not afraid to throw a certain pitch a few times in a row if he thinks it can work. To have that on the mound at his age, what he brings to the table, it’s incredible.”

Marquez jumped ahead in the count 1-2 in the second inning on leadoff hitter Jeremy Hazelbaker, but that was quickly washed away after miss-locating his fastball over the middle of the plate. Hazelbaker dumped the ball down the left field line, and would later come around to score on an RBI sacrifice fly by Kolten Wong — the lone run given up in the game by Marquez.

The third inning showed just how poised the 21-year-old was in his first MLB start. After going up 2-2 on Aledmys Diaz, Marquez plunked him on a 79 MPH curveball that simply didn’t bite. After a fly-out and a bunt that led to batter inference, Marquez attacked the zone on Randal Grichuk, striking him out swinging on a slider out of the zone to end the frame.

“I mixed my fastball in and outside and [was] getting down with my curveball for strikeouts,” says Marquez, still taking time to focus on where he needs to improve by adding, “I need to work on my change-up, because I need to throw it like a fastball.”

Marquez threw 14 out of 22 first-pitch strikes, he commanded the zone and worked ahead. The fifth inning, his last inning of work, could’ve and would’ve been a lot more interesting if it weren’t for the shift that the Rockies’ imposed. Shortstop Daniel Descalso snagged a screaming liner a few feet away from second base off the bat of Matt Carpenter, saving potential extra bases. With a runner in scoring position and two outs, Marquez finished his outing off strong, punching out Brandon Moss on a curveball in the dirt for his third strikeout. Not to mention, it was on a full-count.

Colorado will get a few more looks at Marquez, potentially two more starts, prior to the season coming to a close as Jorge De La Rosa is now out of the rotation. The fact that Marquez was able to command the zone and attack hitters to get into pitcher’s counts made his afternoon that much easier. In case you were wondering, Marquez’s next projected start is scheduled for next Tuesday on the road in San Francisco.