For 24 years the Colorado Rockies have been looking to bottle and store the secret to what limited success they’ve had on the pitching mound. Now, in year 25, when their starting pitching seems to be the best it’s ever been, Rockies catcher Tony Wolters says there really is no secret to the current staff’s success.
“There’s no secret. Our pitchers work hard, and they feed off that,” Wolters told Les Shapiro of Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7.
Through 59 games, the Rockies are 36-23 and in first place in the National League West. Of their 36 wins, 20 belong to rookie starters.
Antonio Senzatela leads the club with seven wins. He’s never made a Triple-A start in his career, but he’s tied for the NL lead in wins. Denver’s own Kyle Freeland is 6-3 with a 3.53 ERA. German Marquez has won four of his last five starts, and Jeff Hoffman has been lights out in three spot starts.
All that might come as a shock to fans and even folks around baseball, but not Wolters.
“I’m not surprised at their success. All the pitchers, they’ve worked their tails off,” Wolters said. “Spring Training, during the year, every day, day in and day out they come in early, they’re looking at scouting reports, they’re working on their delivery all the time. It’s business. They’re working hard and I’m proud of all of them.”
Wolters is no stranger to hard work. He made his way onto the Colorado roster through grit and determination in 2016, now he’s an integral part of Bud Black‘s lineup.
Wolters wasn’t even a true catcher coming up through the ranks, but he was willing to give the position a shot and it has paid off. He had to grind to stick on the big-league roster, but that’s the perfect mentality for this young Rockies pitching staff.
“I really like how Freeland has been grinding,” Wolters told Shapiro. “His mindset up there – there were a couple times up there where he didn’t have his best stuff but he grinded through some games and it was cool to see. I got to catch him, and it’s good to catch guys when we have to grind like that. Just knowing how to get through games and finding the pitch that they feel the best with. But, Freeland’s been grinding and I think he’s been doing really well.”
Of the rookies, only Hoffman has been even a slight surprise to Wolters.
“Hoffman’s been doing a pretty good job coming up here and pitching and keeping it simple. He’s going to be up here [full time] soon, and he’s going to keep working hard and keep getting better.”
Working hard and getting better. That’s what the Rockies young staff has been doing all season long, so their continued success should be no real surprise. It won’t be to Tony Wolters.
Listen to the full interview with Wolters, including which pitcher on the Rockies staff he has the most fun catching, 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.
