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It is too easy to get excited with false hope about spring training pitching stats, especially when it is only the first half of spring training. There are small sample size issues, pitchers only going through a lineup once or twice, pitchers being farther along than hitters since they report earlier, etc. The same is true about worrying about bad numbers as veteran pitchers tend to work on this as they progress through spring instead of focusing on getting outs. With all of that said, the Rockies starters have been very productive so far and is the focus of today's article.
| Player | W | L | ERA▲ | G | GS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | AVG | WHIP |
| Chatwood, T | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 1 | 4.2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.125 | 1.07 |
| Nicasio, J | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.130 | 0.57 |
| Lyles, J | 0 | 1 | 1.13 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.267 | 1.13 |
| Hernandez, P | 0 | 0 | 1.29 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.310 | 1.43 |
| Anderson, B | 1 | 0 | 1.80 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.263 | 1.10 |
| Gray, J | 0 | 0 | 2.25 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.250 | 1.25 |
| Morales, F | 2 | 1 | 3.68 | 3 | 3 | 7.1 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0.300 | 1.50 |
| Butler, E | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.167 | 1.00 |
| De La Rosa, J | 2 | 0 | 5.87 | 3 | 3 | 7.2 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0.300 | 1.70 |
| Friedrich, C | 0 | 1 | 7.36 | 2 | 1 | 3.2 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0.389 | 2.73 |
Of the eight pitchers the Rockies have used in starting roles (and the two SP prospects Gray and Butler), the only pitcher to really struggle has been Friedrich. Jorge De La Rosa has a high ERA but that is due to his first start of the spring when he gave up four runs in less than two innings. Since then, Jorge has given up one run in six innings. Both Tyler Chatwood and Juan Nicasio have yet to give up an earned run and Jordan Lyles is showing the talent that has made him a major league pitcher the last two years despite only now being 23 years old.
The most impressive statistic to me is the 46 strikeouts compared to 19 walks by the group. Franklin Morales, in particular, has been on point with nine strikeouts in his 22 outs this year with only two walks. This may make him a strong candidate to pitch in the starting rotation until Jhoulys Chacin gets back.
Which leads me to Chacin. The fact that these numbers are being put up by the team without arguably their best pitcher also says a lot. Assuming he is able to continue his rehab and only miss two to three starts at the beginning of the regular season, this group gets even better. For a group that was Jhoulys De La Chatwood then pray for rain last year, there seems to be a lot less question marks, at least at the half way point of spring training. Let us hope that this trend continues.