Before Thursdays game the team announced that the Rockies would return to the 5 man rotation adding Jhoulys Chacin to the mix. It was also announced that this doesn’t mean that the 75 pitch count would be lifted. On the contrary, according to Jim Tracy’s pre-game comments, it is believed that keeping the starting pitchers to 75 pitches makes them more efficient.
What’s abnormal about it? We just had a guy [Chacin] go out there the other day and complete six innings, and of the pitches that he threw, 51 of the 73 were strikes. In my opinion, that’s quality Major League pitching. Being average is not something that I’m real interested in, and I’m not interested in it for this organization either. In order to not be average you have to have a group of pitchers who go out there and understand what quality Major League pitching is all about. That’s the message we’re trying to instill here. If they go out there and do it right, they can pitch deep. I can promise you that.
I thought for sure that the pitching getting better would mean the team would be shaking hands and kissing babies and telling everyone it was the brilliance of the four-man rotation that made them look good…now that they are moving back to the five-man rotation it looks like they were just waiting to get five guys that could actually pitch past the third inning (today not withstanding)… I still feel this is a horrible injustice to the starters who rarely… Read more »
I find so much about this pitch limit confusing. Are we trying to teach the staff the importance of pounding the strike zone or are we doing what we must to save the arms of our poor pitchers who must endure the effects of pitching at high altitude? Both? If a pitcher is throwing a perfect game will he be taken out to protect his arm? Will any free agent pitcher ever come here again? Will a pitcher traded to… Read more »
The DP reports
“Jorge De La Rosa threw 55 pitches Wednesday and has not been ruled out from pitching in the bigs this season…”
Thoughts about the 4-man rotation for next season: 1. I hope they do it. Stats guys have been calling for the return of the 4-man rotation for a long time, mostly because 5th starters are generally so weak — shifting their work to other pitchers makes a lot of sense. 2. But if they do it, they better get the pitching roster in order to really do it. That means less money spent on starters, more money spent on middle… Read more »
Geez, Ag, you got me thinking Monfort may be right–O’Dowd is the smartest general manager in baseball. Sure would hate to eat that crow.
By the way, Carlos Torres fans — I don’t mean to rip the guy. He’s done nicely this year when opportunity knocked, and he may very well be able to parlay this into a major league career. I’m just using him as an example of a guy who may have a role, but it shouldn’t be a prominent role until he establishes himself.