Kyle Freeland's struggles culminate in trip to Triple-A

DENVER – At the end of last season, no one would have predicted we would hear the news that the Colorado Rockies announced on Friday.

Kyle Freeland, the Denver native who placed fourth in NL Cy Young voting a year ago and dazzled the nation with his phenomenal Wild Card performance, has been optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque.

This marks the second consecutive season that Colorado has come into the year with the most confidence in one pitcher who was eventually sent down.

With Jon Gray in 2018, he came back after just a few minor league appearances and was solid for five starts before running out of gas by season’s end. He seems to have gotten back to a good pace so far in 2019.

With Freeland, the Rockies will hope a full recovery doesn’t take quite as long, but it is clear he was in need of something and with the precedent already set, the club can feel confident that he can get himself right and do so in a less pressurized environment.

As has been the procedure this season, the Rockies have not yet announced who will get starts in his place and have, in the meanwhile, activated Chris Rusin off the IL to take his roster spot.

With Jeff Hoffman already in the rotation for Tyler Anderson, it is unclear if Colorado would call on another young home-grown talent in Peter Lambert or Ryan Castellani – neither of whom have been spectacular in Albuquerque – or explore other options.

Freeland just hasn’t had his command all season, posting a whopping 7.13 ERA this season punctuated by 16 home runs allowed.

A finger blister issue sidelined him briefly but he is healthy and still getting movement and velocity on his pitches. If he can get back to painting the edges the way he did last season, he could come back as strong as ever.

But whatever he needs to figure out to make that happen, he will need to do so while the Rockies look elsewhere for MLB wins.