Colorado Rockies open spring training with hopes their pitching rotation can lead turnaround

Feb. 15—SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Rockies manager Bud Black stood in front of his pitching staff on the first day of official workouts and delivered a clear message: they must be better.

There was no fanfare, no exaggeration and no sugarcoating. The position group expected to be their strong suit in 2022 instead was their Achilles heel, despite losing only one member of their 2021 staff. They stayed healthy for the most part — needing only eight starters to get through the year — but performed well below their expectations. The rotation finished with a 5.22 ERA, the second-highest in the league, compared to 4.77 from the year prior.

"I thought the starting pitchers would be a strength of our team," Black said Wednesday in his office at Salt River Fields. "We fell short of our standards. I think all those guys are ready to set the record straight about our rotation. ... I think those guys are all in a better place mentally and confidently and with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder to perform like they are very capable of."

A new season carries a clean slate and renewed hope their staff can turn things around. Kyle Freeland and Germán Márquez once again will be at the top of the rotation. Neither had a disastrous 2022 season, per se, but they weren't thrilled with their performances, the broken lights in the Rockies' dugout physical evidence of Freeland's frustration.

Freeland finished with a 4.53 ERA, Márquez with a 4.95 ERA. They were the only two starters to finish below 5.00.

To get back to his best, Freeland is re-working his slider, trying to get away from the cutter shape it tends to take. He is also once again tweaking his changeup, aiming to get the right rotation to create the most depth and action without changing his arm action and causing a potential tipping situation.

"I'm always tweaking my changeup," Freeland said. "That's going to be a pitch that I'm always messing with and trying to improve because it's a pitch I've struggled with for a really long time because it took me a long time to understand how that pitch is going to work for me."

As for Márquez, the team is hoping that a stable offseason — the first since 2020 — will do the trick. The 2021 offseason still had COVID restrictions and 2022 had the lockout. Márquez began last offseason working out at the Rockies facility with team officials but had to stop once the lockout went into place, interrupting his training.

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There is still an added complication this spring for Freeland and Márquez, however, as both will pitch in the World Baseball Classic beginning March 11. Freeland, representing the U.S., will play in Phoenix, while Márquez, representing Venezuela, must travel to Miami.

They'll treat their starts in the WBC just like they would a spring training game, following the pitch counts and directions the Rockies carefully layout for them.

"We're just prepping right now like it's a normal spring training, and we are just moving us a little bit quicker to make sure we are prepped and ready for whatever is thrown at us in the World Baseball Classic," Freeland said.

Slated behind Freeland and Márquez will be José Ureña, Ryan Feltner and Austin Gomber, who will be moved back to the rotation after being bounced to the bullpen in 2022. Antonio Senzatela, recovering from an ACL tear, is expected back in May if all things stay on track.

The team also should have Peter Lambert, who has missed the majority of the last three seasons with complications from Tommy John surgery. Ryan Rolison, once their top pitching prospect, has also spent the last three years on the injured list. He is still about a month away from beginning his spring training after having shoulder surgery last year.

The rest of their depth is where things get a little tricky. Noah Davis and Connor Seabold are entering spring training as starting candidates but aren't expected to compete for an opening day spot. Jeff Criswell, acquired from the A's in the offseason, has a future as a major league starter but will likely start the year in Double-A.

"I think we are better a year ago than we were in terms of depth," general manager Bill Schmidt said Wednesday. "I think we're in a better spot coming into camp."

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