Rockies taking their sweet time with No. 1 pick

GRAND JUNCTION – The MLB is nothing like the NFL, NHL or NBA. Prospects selected on draft day in baseball will not see a major-league stadium for several years, if they do at all, with seldom exceptions.

Even Ryan Rolison, the Colorado Rockies’ first-round selection of 2018 whom many touted as highly polished, mature and capable of advancing through the minor leagues quickly, is several years away. But, after reaching the Grand Junction Rockies, the MLB team’s Rookie-level affiliate, Rolison’s clock may have been slowed.

“He’s been throwing and throwing and throwing,” GJ Rockies manager Jake Opitz said. “So, we’re going to calm him down and then build him back up. So, [the] timetable for Rolison, we don’t really have yet.

After being drafted on June 4 and signing his contract on the 13th, Rolison has yet to throw a pitch in professional baseball, or even a bullpen session. He is stretching and working out with the team, but after pitching nearly 100 innings in his sophomore campaign for Ole Miss, the 20-year-old is being halted to allow his arm to recover from the break down that comes with being a collegiate ace.

This isn’t uncommon. The Rockies were also cautious with other first-round arms Jon Gray and Kyle Freeland, who both made fewer than 10 starts in their first professional season. What is surprising, however, is just how far the team appears to be going with Rolison.

“This year is not really a relevant year in his career, as far as the Rockies go, on the field,” Grand Junction pitching coach Doug Jones said. “He’ll get some innings in. He’ll get to experience professional baseball from the mound. But, it’ll be in a small way, small capacity, and it’ll be after a month of being here.”

Jones noted that the organization did not want to overwork his arm anymore at the Rookie level and break their new toy on the car ride home, where they really want to be able to play with him.

Again, this is nothing new for the Rockies. However, the Rolison situation does have potential to breach new territory in its extensiveness.

“I think the goal for me is going to be 15 to 20 innings,” Rolison said in his first press availability since signing. “Right now, trying to build a process and a routine for when I’m going to throw and keep my body healthy.”

Rolison confirmed that number to be his total projection for the season as well as his belief that he will be in Grand Junction for the entire season exclusively to BSN Denver. Jones went even farther, giving a range from 10 to 20 innings. This translates to as little as two starts this season, maxing out at five or six tops, with the necessity that each appearance only lasts around three innings.

This track is comparable to Gray’s and Freeland’s, who made four and five starts for Junction, respectively, in their rookie campaigns. The difference is both pitchers made several more starts in Single-A that season.

As the Rebels’ ace, Rolison started 16 games and threw 97.1 innings. For comparison, the Rockies innings leader right now is Chad Bettis with 86 but he has had the backing of an organization worth nine figures developing his diet and training regimen. Rolison, while certainly receiving gold-standard care at Ole Miss, is 20-years-old and hasn’t had the same level of support that MLB pitchers get over the years of their careers, even in the minor leagues. Having already committed just shy of $3 million on him, the team wants to be safe more than sorry.

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to work on being a pitcher during his time on the western slope.

“I’m trying to put the slider/curveball to the side this summer and develop really on my changeup. We have a perfect pitching coach for that. Doug Jones had one of the best changeups in the league. So, just picking his mind about a grip and just some mindset things, the way to throw a changeup. Really trying to develop a changeup into a good pitch for me, and also clean up some mechanics and get more directional toward home plate.”

In college, Rolison was famous for his curveball/slider pitch, which he would use even more than his primary fastball at times. But, to stick as a starting pitcher, the general rule of thumb is a third pitch is necessary. And, as far as changeup coaches go, he could have a worse option. Jones earned 303 saves in 16 seasons using only a fastball and pulling the string.

“We’ve started working on different grips,” Jones said. “He’s just got to find one that fits what he does. And it just takes time. It’s feel. Feel comes with time and experience throwing a baseball. So, we’re not in a big rush. We’re just experimenting with things, giving him a handful of tools to work with. But, he has to work it out for himself in that regard.”

For Rolison, at least in the short term, a lot of that “time and experience throwing a baseball” is going to come off the mound at Suplizio Field.

Opitz was quick to say that Rolison looks healthy and that there were no injury concerns.

For Rockies fans, this, at least for the short term, changes nothing. Rolison was not going to see Coors Field this year or next anyway. For a team overflowing with young starting talent, they want to make sure they don’t spoil one that could help extend their window of contention beyond the arbitration years of Gray, Freeland and German Marquez.