After a surge on offense on Saturday night, hammering at Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, the Colorado Rockies turned to their bullpen to close the door and once again, they slammed it shut.
Last season, the Rockies bullpen was a liability. So far in this young 2017 season, it has been a weapon.
The Rockies were 12-20 last year in one-run games, 26th in the majors as a team in that statistic. But a new year, under new leadership, has turned the page and the Rockies are finding strength in their bullpen, who have won their first five games this season by two runs or less, even amidst their starting pitchers averaging 5.2 innings a start.
“I know these games can be chaotic at times,” said manager Bud Black, who talked about his Rockies winning close games. “We’re pitching well. We’re playing great defense as you saw tonight with the number of great plays we had. We’re getting enough hitting through the course of these games to supplement our pitching, which has been really solid… It’s good to see these types of games won by our guys.”
It’s those types of games that the Rockies of 2016, generally didn’t win. That’s the past and this is the now. This bullpen is for real. A brand new pair of arms shooting life into the staff has the unit firing on all cylinders. The Rockies bullpen has faced 21 innings of work in 2017 and averages more than a strikeout an inning, with only four earned runs allowed.
Closer Greg Holland leads the league in saves. While all these impressive early numbers would lead you to think they’re developing a little bit of a confident swagger about them, the bullpen is staying humble and knows, they have to be consistent over a period of time.
Holland, the new anchor to the bullpen, spoke about his confidence. “I feel good. It’s still early in the season, but I like the start,” said the Rockies closer, who collected his fourth save in as many attempts.
Holland also talked about his arsenal, saying “I like to mix it up, for me as a reliever throwing three or four pitches, some days I will utilize one, some day I’ll utilize the other. That’s something that a lot of times you don’t know til you start warming up.”
Staying consistent as a unit is key and Holland touched on how they will do that.
“Keep the same mindset. Keep preparing like the way we have been. Keep expecting to perform at a high level,” said Holland, who struck out two Saturday night. “I don’t care how good your bullpen is. You’re going to go through stretches where collective, you struggle a little bit… You want to stay on that day-to-day mentality.”
Holland spoke highly about his defense behind him, as well as the offense in Colorado: “It’s part of the reason I signed here. You look at a team with a very talented line-up top-to-bottom, but also a really good defense, and as a pitcher, that’s what you want.”
The Rockies back-end anchor also touched on his manager Bud Black and how he’s helped the bullpen progress.
“He gives us that confidence as a whole in the bullpen,” said Holland, who spoke on his coaching staff keeping arms fresh and not burned out. “They’re very vocal, as far as guys needing days off, guys needing rest, especially early in the season, because you want to be at full strength in September and October.”
Newcomer Mike Dunn, who collected his second win of the season Saturday night, is a fan of how the bullpen is being handled.
“It’s awesome, it’s good to see how everyone is being used,” said the left-handed Dunn, who also talked about the need to stay consistent and his excitement for this team’s potential. “You’re going to go through rough patches here and there. You ride it while it’s hot, it’s going to be fun when this team gets clicking on all cylinders.”
Dunn struck out a batter in two-thirds an inning Saturday, bringing his total to seven strikeouts on the season in four innings of relief work.
Let’s call it like it is. The Rockies bullpen was bad last year. The Rockies will score runs on offense. We know that. Pitching however, particularly the bullpen, has always been the Achilles Heel in the past, keeping them from consistent success. If they pair a high-powered offense, next to a rebuilt bullpen that has made the transformation to a strength of the Rockies, we could see a strong year of success that this franchise has been salivating for. But can they stay consistent? That’s the last question only answered in time, however early results are very positive, and you can’t ask for more than that.