Momentum in baseball is a big thing. Within a game, momentum can change a game. Over the course of a few days, a week, or a month, momentum can shape a season. A losing streak can get into a team’s heads. On the same note, a few wins can build confidence and start a long streak.
Baseball is a game driven by numbers. Old traditional numbers are used and new more in-depth numbers are becoming more and more common. The funny thing is that no matter what numbers are used, they simply don’t tell the entire story.
Momentum is one reason why it is so difficult for a team that has been bad in years past to pick themselves up and become a good team. Teams like the Colorado Rockies are trying to redefine themselves. They are forced to build a team through their farm system. That isn’t a bad way to build a team, but it requires an immense amount of patience.
Eddie Butler was the Rockies top prospect in the farm system for several years. He pitched in the Futures Game three years ago. Everything about his talent suggests that he is capable of being a top-flight big league pitcher. That talent is clearly there.
On Friday, even when he struggled, he still flashes that talent. The 1st inning was full of great pitches in which Butler looked like he was going to start rolling and pitch a great game. Then, in the 2nd inning, things started to get out of hand. Much like his previous starts, Butler started to nibble at the strike zone. Instead of trusting his stuff and believing that he could get outs, he started to try and trick batters with his pitches and get called strikes on the corners.
For the Rockies, it’s going to take time for Butler to develop and become the type of pitcher that he is capable of being. That isn’t to say that he isn’t ready for the big leagues, it is saying that this is simply part of the process for him. A young pitcher has to find his way in the big leagues on a big league mound. If the team that is developing him wants to witness the success in their uniform, they must be willing to suffer through some of the bumps that are going to happen during that pitcher’s development.
In Greg Maddux’s first season in the big leagues, he posted a 6-14 record with an ERA of 5.61. That isn’t pretty. The next year he went 18-8 and began a career that landed him in Cooperstown.
For three years in the big leagues, Roy Halladay looked barely better than mediocre. He then busted out with a 19 win season.
The point isn’t that Butler is going to wind up in the Hall of Fame, but rather that the final stage of development is simply learning at the big league level. Butler is in that position right now.
For a great team, their version of Eddie Butler is most likely slotted in their fifth spot in the rotation. Teams that are contenders aren’t relying on that guy so much because they have three or four other pitchers who can take the ball and guide their team to a victory. The Rockies, however, are leaning on Butler to be a main cog in their rotation. That comes with expectations to be better than he is probably not capable of fulfilling at this point.
On Friday night, Butler put up a line that wasn’t pretty. He went 5-1/3 innings, giving up six earned runs on 11 hits. It was enough to sink the Rockies before the rain nearly sank Coors Field.
When a pitcher like Butler is being relied on, the likelihood of positive momentum being continued for an extended period of time is difficult to rely on. He may have a good start fairly often, but starts like he had on Friday can shift the direction of a homestand. If the Rockies get something going, Butler has to continue to pitch better than he is probably capable of pitching at this point in his career.
In the case of the Rockies, who are looking to build from within, are in need of some momentum to go their way for them to take the next step and become respectable, it is going to take overcoming some difficulties from Butler as he finds his way in the big leagues.
