A lot has been made about the potential of the Colorado Rockies’ pitching. For the starters, they have a young young rotation, full of promise. That starts with blossoming ace Jon Gray. On Tuesday, he joined Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro during Afternoon Drive on Mile High Sports Radio to talk about how he feels going into the 2017 season.
“I feel confident,” Gray said. “The reason why, besides the pitching, is our offense. Our offense is awesome, it’s electric, there’s no weak sports there. Any time you’re pitching and you’ve got those guys behind you, you’ve got a good chance of winning.
Gray also feels good about his stuff. Already boasting an excellent fastball and power slider, his curveball is coming around as well.
“It’s different than anything I’ve done before,” he said. “It’s a ‘feel’ pitch, the curveball is. It’s something I’m trying to just harness right now and use it for multiple reasons. Last year, I used to just steal strikes with it. On a very rare occasion I would use it for a strikeout, but I feel like it’s becoming a strikeout pitch now and I’m getting a better feel for it.”
It helps having a former MLB pitcher as a manager. For Gray, he is soaking up all he can from new Rockies bench boss Bud Black.
“It’s awesome,” Gray said of working with Black. “He showed me the video, actually, of him pitching back in ’94 in Mile High Stadium. He’s been there and done everything that I’m going to do. He’s been in that same situation before, so I think it’s a good thing.”
Though the man he was impressed most with (Jeff Hoffman) was sent to the minors, Gray also gave his two cents on the back end of the Rockies’ rotation.
“You know, [Kyle] Freeland had a heck of an outing yesterday. He looked really sharp. I think he’s pitching for one. If we get a healthy [Chris] Rusin, he’s possible.
“It’s kind of up in the air right now. I’m not sure, but I know that whoever’s going to take that spot, I know they’re going to get the job done, so it’s a good thing.”
Listen to the full interview with Jon Grey, including his thoughts on the bullpen and his love of yorkshire terriers, in the podcast below.
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Catch Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro every weekday from 4p-6p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.