It’s almost that time again. Baseballs and bats are out of the bag, as the pitchers and catchers report to Arizona. For the Colorado Rockies, the group’s first official workout was on Tuesday, but many have been at it for some time now.
“Frankly, guys have been been here since Nov. 1,” Thomas Harding of MLB.com told Gill Whiteley on Mile High Sports Radio. “The old thing about pitchers and catchers report, and everybody shows up and glad-hands, that’s kind of out the window.”
For some, its working themselves into game shape, for others it’s working back from injury, for others still, it’s working to find a place on the big league roster. The Rockies have a combination of all of the above.
As opening day nears for the Rockies, they’re looking for their guys to have closer mentalities in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
It was an issue the Rockies faced many times last season. Jake McGee started out as the closer for the Rockies and notched 15 saves, but a knee injury landed him on a disabled list from June 1 to July 1; and he was far from consistent. He finished the season 2-3 with a 4.73 ERA.
Closers are a high priority in the league, and the teams that are usually the strongest have great ones. The Rockies will need better late-inning performances from the likes of McGee, Adam Ottavino, and newly-acquired Greg Holland. Harding feels in order to be an elite team, a strong bullpen filled with solid closers is a must.
“They have to be able to,” Harding said. “If you look at the teams that have won, Kansas City, then Cleveland getting in there last year and also Chicago going out there and getting a closer in addition to what they had.”
Harding also feels newly hired manager Bud Black will do a good job of strengthening and reinforcing the importance of a strong bullpen. Still the question of whether their bullpen will improve will have to wait until the season is underway.
“It’s nice to have a manager that reinforces a pitching mentality,” stated Harding, “What you hope is you have the pieces that can do it.”
Listen to the full interview with Thomas Harding, including his thoughts on the Rockies’ catcher situation, in the podcast below.
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