Jeff Hoffman feeling strong as he fights for roster spot

Jeff Hoffman may be on the outside looking in on the rotation battle, but he’s making sure he’s not forgotten.

The key return in 2015’s blockbuster Troy Tulowitzki deal has yet to cement himself on the Colorado Rockies’ 25-man roster, and will either be in the rotation or in Triple-AAA Albuquerque when the season officially starts on March 29. Barring an injury to another starter in camp, the latter seems more likely.

But, with two appearances under his belt thus far in spring training, he’s feeling well and trying to force his way into the conversation more.

Hoffman relieved Jon Gray in the third inning of the Rockies’ 5-2 to the Los Angeles Angels on Feb. 27, allowing his first hit and first run of camp after his no-hit debut on Feb. 23.

“I felt really good, especially coming back on four days,” Hoffman told members of the media in the postgame. “I felt better than I would have expected, I’m happy with that and I’m happy with the way I pitched.”

After four innings pitched in the Cactus League thus far, Hoffman has only allowed one hit: a Rene Rivera home run on a mistake fastball that caught all too much of the center of the plate. Outside of that, the only blemishes on his stat line are two walks he surrendered in his first game. For those keeping score at home, that puts his WHIP under 1.00 through his first couple sets of action.

As it stands, the rotation slates up as Gray-Tyler Anderson-Chad Bettis-Kyle Freeland-German Marquez. Hoffman and Antonio Senzatela are left competing for the first-man-out job. Senzatela could be converted into a bullpen, long-relief piece, but that might not be a habit they want the former top-prospect Hoffman to get into. With two option years left, getting Hoffman more innings by making him a starter for the Isotopes rather than relegating him to a limited spot-starter/long role as the 25-year-old continues to develop.

But, after a strong start to spring training and glimpses of his ceiling in 2017, this says more about the state of the Rockies rotation than Hoffman’s MLB-readiness. He still has things to work on, but manager Bud Black is confident in his young arm and knows where he needs to improve.

“With Jeff, it’s going to come down to commanding the fastball,” Black told members of the media. “If he can locate that fastball, he’s going to be just fine.”

It is not a coincidence that the only chink in Hoffman’s armor this spring is on a misplaced fastball. In 2017, hitters recorded a .311 batting average against the pitch as he relied on it 67 percent of the time. But, Black and the Rockies believe that the youngster has the ceiling that was promised and he can be a productive purple-pinstriper in 2018.

But for now, it’s just getting in appearances and trying to fight his way into the inner circle. If he continues to produce like this, the conversation might shift before Opening Day.