The Rockies have stalled as of late, and their ERA has continued to rise, but this doesn’t mean there’s no hope for getting hot again before the All-Star break.
On Wednesday, MiLB.com writer Tyler Maun joined Renaud Notaro and Dee White on Notaro and Big Dee to discuss what the Rockies can do to combat this slump.
“One guy to keep an eye on is Tyler Anderson, who was a first-round draft pick back in 2011,” said Maun. “He missed all of last season with an elbow injury, but this year, he pitched at AA, he is pitching now at AAA. He has been really effective.”
Since he started in the minors in 2012, Anderson is 24-11 with an ERA of 2.38. To put this into perspective, Tyler Chatwood is the Rockies best starting pitcher right now with an ERA of 2.99, and he is in the running for an All-Star bid this year.
What is most impressive, is how Anderson has kept his opponent’s batting average down to .219.
When asked if he thinks Anderson could be a late season call-up, Maun said, “I think he definitely could be. I don’t even know if its going to take that long. If he continues to succeed at the minor league level, and somebody like Chris Rusin continues to struggle at the major league level, it would not surprise me to see him brought up sooner rather than later.”
Rusin is 1-3 with an ERA of 4.75 so far this season, and has been performing at around the same level since his arrival from Chicago in 2015.
The Rockies farm is healthy, and there are many other prospects that have been catching the eyes of reporters and coaching staff.
“One of the guys who has really been impressive so far who is in Low-A, is Peter Lambert,” Maun said. “He was the Rockies’ second-round pick last season. Lambert went to Grand Junction last year and put up some really good numbers in rookie ball.”
This is good news that comes to a team who could use some help with their pitching staff, who currently ranks second to last in ERA, only ahead of Cincinnati.
Listen to the full discussion in the podcast below
https://soundcloud.com/milehighsports/6-1-16-notaro-and-dee-joined-by-tyler-maun-who-says-its-not-hard-for-rockies-tro-exceed-expectations
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