If I knew how to solve the Colorado Rockies franchise-long pitching woes, I would have passed that information along by now.
Much has been written and debated both inside and outside the walls of Coors Field about how to tackle this issue. There are a myriad of issues that increase the challenge of pitching at 20th and Blake and no one-size-fits all solution.
It’s hard to know where to even begin.
The dimensions in the outfield are massive. So maybe target groundball pitchers to limit cheap hits? Certain breaking pitches don’t move as much. So maybe target high velocity arms? The wear and tear of going to and from altitude can be extra brutal on the arm. So maybe target high-endurance guys? Many who have attempted it will tell you that the biggest trick to pitching at Coors isn’t any of these things but a mindset. A short memory. The ability to get over the fact that you will give up runs. So just target guys with mental fortitude.
So just get guys who work up in the zone with high velocity but somehow manage to get a ton of ground balls without wearing out their arms while constantly remaining zen.
Problem solved
While Rockies Braintrust gets to work on finding those aliens, I thought it would be fun to build a kind of monster robot. In other words, I thought it might be interesting to think on how we might build the “perfect” Rox pitcher from scratch.
Of course, for this exercise to have value, it needs parameters. It would be easy to make a pitcher in a video game that can throw every pitch the best it could possibly be thrown and call it a day. We need some limits. And no limits make more sense than Rockies history.
The fact is we can’t know for sure what Justin Verlander or Clayton Kershaw would have looked like if they had to spend most of their careers dealing with the toughest environment in modern MLB history. The only players we can be sure of their abilities to succeed at Coors are those few who have actually done it.
So let us Frankenstein them together to build a pitcher with the four best individual pitches in Colorado Rockies history.
4-Seem Fastball: German Marquez
With apologies to Ubaldo Jimenez, who we will get to in just a moment, the best four-seem fastball in franchise history belongs to German Marquez. The all-time leader in strikeouts and second all-time in strikeouts per nine (to Jon Gray) Marquez was a K machine at his height. His fastball was effective in all quadrants of the zone.
While there are some in franchise history who have a bit more velo, nobody threw their fastball with more consistency than Marquez.
There are relievers who use max effort to maximize the effectiveness of individual pitches. Think of Seth Halvorsen on the current roster. He can sit in triple digits. But his inability to harness that power has seen him get inconsistent results in MLB.
Marquez’ fastball, again at its best, maintained and often even improved over the course of a long game. So it is the perfect anchor to build the rest of our Frankenstein pitcher around.
Take a look: Germán Márquez’s Pitching Repertoire
2-Seem Fastball/Sinker: Ubaldo Jimenez
Now we get to Jimenez and offer our apologies to Aaron Cook. Cook’s sinker was truly one of the most effective pitches in franchise history. It even changed the way they think about pitching for a while.
But it’s hard to look past the sheer insanity of the movement and velocity on Jimenez’ 2-seemer. At one point, he even had Tim Kurkjian calling this pitch better than Mariano Rivera’s cutter. He would later recant that statement but still.
Having six-to-eight inches of armside movement and the ability to touch triple digits, it truly was one of the most monstrous weapons in recent memory. Tunneling in on righties and working hip side against lefties, the 2-seemer was the final pitch Jimenez threw to clinch the only no-hitter in franchise history.
One specific version of this pitch was even widely considered one of the best pitches ever thrown. What a time to be alive.
Take a look: Jimenez strikes out 13
Change-Up: Jorge de la Rosa
In my opinion, the single greatest pitch in any arsenal for any Colorado Rockies pitcher was Jorge de la Rosa’s split-finger changeup.
It was an absolute equalizer that allowed him to have a nearly 75 percent winning percentage at Coors Field. Few have managed to make the change a real weapon at altitude for for JDLR it was his go-to putaway pitch.
Even watching the highlights of it today I can’t help but wonder why more time and energy hasn’t been spent trying to replicate this pitch. Maybe this specific type of splitter is something that only a few guys can do but everyone who puts on a Rockies uniform should at least try it out in Spring Training.
Falling off the table with incredible grace, it was almost impossible to stay on lay off this pitch while also guarding against a top rail fastball. At his peak, de la Rosa also had some great breaking pitches but it was this split-change that allowed him to have one of the unlikeliest careers ever.
ATL@COL: De La Rosa strikes out seven over six frames – YouTube
Sweeper: Adam Ottavino
The best breaking ball in franchise history belonged to Adam Ottavino. Even to some extent popularizing the term “sweeper” over “slurve” because that is exactly what Otto’s pitch did. It swept. It swept all the way across the plate. And it swept away a lot of very good hitters.
With intense vertical and horizontal movement, this pitch is essentially two and one. It could mimic the classic slider. Work away from righties and onto the back foot for lefties. But it could also operate more like a traditional curveball, starting low in the zone and disappearing into the dirt.
He could throw it for the swing-and-miss but he could also bring it in the back or front door to steal a strike. Truly one of the more versatile pitches in Rockies history, Ottavino used it to max impact in 2018 when his expected ERA and batting average against numbers were in the 99th percentile.
Beware For I Am Fearless, Therefore Powerful
So what have we created? Theoretically, a pretty good pitcher. Of course, we still don’t know anything about this pitcher’s mental makeup or any of the other things outside of “stuff” that can lead to success.
But it is interesting to note that we have built something resembling Chase Dollander.
Frankly, the four-seemer at times has been even better than Marquez’ though once again consistency will tell the tale. His sinker doesn’t move quite as much and Jimenez’ or come in quite as hot. But it’s close. His sweeper isn’t Ottavino’s but it’s the closest thing we’ve seen out of a starter and a real weapon.
The biggest difference is that, to this point in his young career, Dollander has not shown an effective change-up. But what if he could learn one? What if he could specifically learn a JDLR inspired split-change?
Anyway, it’s fun to wonder. Time to get back to the lab.