The announcement of LHP Austin Gomber to the injury list with a stress fracture to his lower spine placed a large question mark on the identity of Colorado’s starting pitcher against Atlanta on Sunday.
It didn’t take long for the Rockies to announce RHP Ryan Feltner would be added to the 40-man roster and given the ball tomorrow for his major league debut.
“This is everything I’ve ever dreamed of. This is awesome. This is an incredible park and I’m excited to get after it,” Feltner said in the dugout before Saturday’s affair.
Despite landing in Denver just hours earlier and barely having an opportunity to greet manager Bud Black and the coaching staff, the 25-year-old was taking the big moment in stride, especially considering he was making the leap from Double-A Hartford.
“It was out of the blue,” he said of the promotion to the majors. “But I feel prepared and I’ve had talks with our pitching coaches before about this and I think everybody’s confident that this is the right move.”
Drafted in the 4th round in 2018 out of Ohio State, Feltner becomes the first from an ever-improving crop of the purple prospects that could help take the big league club out the doldrums of missing the postseason for the last three seasons.
After impressing in the altitude of the Grand Junction Rockies with a 0.88 ERA in 30.2 innings and an other-worldly 10-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, he encountered a hiccup at Low-A Asheville in 2019 before the world came to a stop in 2020.
“It was perfect actually for me to have that to be able to work on some things at home during quarantine. I think that was a blessing in disguise for me, personally.”
Feltner worked on the necessary mechanical changes required for success at the higher level thanks to the efforts of the entire Rockies’ pitching department, from his Hartford Yard Goats pitching coach Frank Gonzalez to those versed in analytics thanks to newer technical improvements made by the organization.
The Florida-born, Ohio-raised righty kept sharp during the pandemic by playing catch with his brother, Riley, and working out in a makeshift gym within the family’s garage. Focusing on being looser on his gloveside and having a shorter arm action, the improvements began to show during the instructional league last fall and at the start of his 2021 season.
In seven starts at High-A West Spokane, he was first in the league in ERA (2.17), tied for first in pitcher wins (4), 4th in strikeouts (45) and batting average against (.191). A promotion to Double-A in June allowed him to make 14 starts to show his progress was legitimate. Pitching to a 2.85 ERA over 72.2 innings put him in a tie with Germán Márquez for 6th best earned run average in Yard Goats history.
“I really appreciate all the faith that they have in me and that means a lot,” he shared ahead of the biggest and brightest day of his professional career.
By skipping past fellow 2018 draftee and top pitching prospect LHP Ryan Rolison, a curiosity arises about whether more young players can exceed projections often associated with the franchise currently.
Until those players emerge, let’s enjoy the Feltner’s culmination of a lifetime dedicated to baseball.
