Rockies rookie starters making history

DENVER – There’s no secret to the success the Colorado Rockies have experienced thus far in 2017. “Starting pitching is a critical part of a team’s success,” manager Bud Black said somewhat tongue-and-cheek with a tinge of frustration considering the last two performances on the mound.

Tyler Anderson and Tyler Chatwood were knocked around the last two games but they’ve also both been the primary reason for a number of wins this season. They have not, however, been the anchors of the rotation that most expected. The oldest pitchers in the Rockies starting rotations — at 27-years-old — Anderson and Chatwood have been inconsistent but that hasn’t cost the Rockies much in the standings with the extraordinary production from the rookies.

Antonio Senzatela, Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, and Jeff Hoffman — all who qualify as rookies, two who made their MLB debuts at the age of 22 this season — have combined to go 12-3 in May. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, they have joined the 2006 Florida Marlins as the only team in the last 80 years to have that many wins recorded by rookies in a single month.

At one point, the rookie pitchers went on a 9-0 streak, the longest such stretch in franchise history.

Senzatela leads the pack with a 7-1 record despite having barely pitched at the Double-A level before this season. He has been nothing short of a revelation for the Rockies. He doesn’t strike a lot of guys out (5.37 K/9) but he doesn’t walk a ton of guys either (2.61 BB/9) and has shown remarkable poise, confidence, and maturity, especially when it comes to making mid-game adjustments. This is why he also leads the team in ERA with a 3.19 mark.

Right on his heels in terms of run prevention is the 3.43 ERA of Denver-native Kyle Freeland. His 5-3 record isn’t quite as sparkling and is both indicative of not getting as much run support as Senzatela but also giving up a few poorly timed home runs. He also has a more troubling 4.06 walk rate but has been a master at inducing weak contact, spending most of the year in first place in all of MLB at inducing groundballs.

Marquez had an inauspicious start to this season, beginning with being stashed in the bullpen without use before being sent back down to Triple-A. Then, he made his season debut to the rude awakening of the Washington Nationals who were hotter than the face of the sun at the time. He gave up eight earned runs over just four innings in that game.

Since then he has gone 4-1 with a rough loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks where he gave up five runs, but even including that game has posted a 2.21 ERA over that span while striking out over eight and walking under three per nine innings. The standout performance was, of course, his eight inning, three, hit shutout against the Chicago Cubs.

Hoffman has made just two spot starts for Colorado this season but they’ve both been dominant. He’s 2-0 with a 3.29 ERA and is striking out a whopping 11.20 per nine while walking a minuscule 1.32. He has been a little bit shaky in a handful of his Triple-A starts, though the PCL is arguably the hardest league in all of baseball to pitch in, but the Rockies seem to be comfortable getting a few MLB wins out of him here and there but still keeping him at lower stress levels so he can be relied upon later in the season.

The question remains as to how the Rockies will manage these young players and the wear and tear on their arms so early in their careers. Furthermore, the league is going to start making adjustments, these guys won’t be a secret for long. Come to think of it, the secret is probably out.

So will they adjust back? Can they find effectiveness again after setbacks or interruptions to their schedule if the Rockies do indeed get creative in the rotation at some point? These questions don’t need to be answered yet. But they will need to be answered.

For now, the Rockies are just enjoying the moment with four rookie pitchers who have anchored the most impressive start to a season in franchise history.