FanPost

Invest in Pitching

Really… the Rockies need to invest in pitching something fierce. It is something that us fans complain about perennially, and much to our dismay, management refuses to pay big money that it would take in order to get the kind of pitching needed to be seriously competitive.

I’m not saying that any of our pitchers are bad per say, simply that they aren’t the big name, lights out, shut down pitchers that other teams have.

We are currently playing the Mets, who (at full strength) have a frightening rotation. Cubs have Arrieta, who although isn’t on the steak he was late last season, early this season, is still not a pitcher to trifle with. There are also names like Greinke, Kershaw, Price, Bumgarner, just to name a few.

These are all pitchers who command instant respect when their names are mentioned. Rockies don’t have a name like that.

Still aren’t convinced that the Rox need to shell out some cash for some guys that can throw the ball? Let’s take a look at some numbers.

Arguably, the two best seasons that Colorado has put up, and definitely the best by looking at the win/loss column were ’07 & ’09 seasons with 90 and 92 wins respectively. Now, looking at the year prior to the ‘Golden years’ the year in between the two playoff runs, and the year following the final run, that gives us a 5-year window (‘06-10) to look at how the Rockies pitching did.

During this time period we had pitchers such as Jason Jennings, Aaron Cook, Kip Wells, and then in 2010 Ubaldo Jiminez entered the scene. Still not pitchers that are widely known, save Ubaldo. However, the pitchers were able to put up some pretty impressive numbers. In that 5 year stretch, the Rockies had the 3rd best pitching in the majors.

Sounds insane right? I know, I couldn’t believe it either. But it’s true. They went 415-396 for a win percentage of 512. They struck out 6.64 people per game, walked 3.32 per game, and gave up under 1 home run per game. A LOB % of 70.2, and a combined ERA of 4.42.

We had some pretty solid pitching, and as a result, we went to the dance once, and made it to the playoffs another time. And in the years surrounding those, we may not have made it to the playoffs, but still posted a solid season.

So what has pitching done since the 2010 season? Well, in the next 5 years (2011-2015) we have done absolutely nothing with pitching... that’s what. We traded away our best pitcher, arguably the best one in franchise history, and haven’t replaced him with anyone of substance.

As a result, we dropped from 3rd over all in pitching to 29th. During this time frame, the hurlers for the Rox managed to go 345-465 for a win percentage of a whopping 426. Somehow struck out more people at 6.93 per 9 innings, walked 3.41 and gave up 1.05 homers a game. The LOB percentage dropped to 69.8% (meaning we let more people cross the plate), and raised the ERA to 4.51.

If anyone remembers watching games in that time frame, they were ugly. Not fun to watch. Was part of that win / loss ratio on the offense? Absolutely. But good pitching will always beat good offense. The look at these two different times of pitching shows that perfectly. The first five years, we were in the top three in the league in pitching, and went to the playoffs twice, the next five years we were in the bottom three, and we have nothing to show for it.

So how about this season? Right now we are sitting at 13th overall for pitching, with 7.35 k’s per game, 3.22 walks, and 1.06 homeruns per 9 innings. Combining for a 4.83 ERA. We are middle of the road with the pitching, which could be why the Rockies are on pace for a 74 ish win season. We have a great offense, which has been sporadic (especially at home) but definitely has the ability to pour on the runs, but needs pitching to back them up.

We have several young guys, who look like they have a lot of potential, and only time will tell how they develop. But given the track record of the Rockies, once they become a good player, we will trade them away for next to nothing.

So will the Rockies ever invest in really good pitching? Doubtful, in my opinion. Right now our highest paid pitcher is de la Rosa raking in 12.5 mil. And for this, de la Rosa has gone 6-7 so far this year with a 5.72 ERA.

Historically Jorge has been a solid starter, but is definitely not on par with other stars in the league. And we will never get a good starting pitcher until the Monfort’s decide to pony up some cash, and pay someone the big bucks.

Which, by the way, will almost certainly never happen considering that:

1.) Dick Monfort himself said that ‘Maybe Denver Doesn’t Deserve A Franchise’ back in 2014. Whether he ‘meant to say that’ or not I will leave up to you to decide.

2.) He is one of the worst rated owners in the MLB

#2 is probably because he is more worried about his own checkbook that winning games and giving the fans something to cheer about. As was stated in another article on PurpleRow, He probably isn't the greatest owner ever. But he is what we have to work with for the time being.

So… the secret to winning baseball games? Turns out it isn’t a secret at all. Put together a good starting line up, like we have now. And then start a pitcher who can back them up.

#GoRox

Ay_See_Em

Pitching stats courtesy of FANGRAPHS

Eat. Drink. Be Merry. But the above FanPost does not necessarily reflect the attitudes, opinions, or views of Purple Row's staff (unless, of course, it's written by the staff [and even then, it still might not]).