Colorado Rockies news and links for Friday, September 6, 2024
For the last three seasons, Colorado Rockies fans have been clamoring for the team to do two things: Be active in acquiring players and letting the kids play.
This year, the Rockies have definitely been promoting prospects. (Whether they receive adequate playing time is a separate question.) So far in 2024, they have debuted 11 rookies — that’s second only to the 12 prospects that debuted in 2016. On the trade front, they have been less active though this year at the deadline, they did send reliever Nick Mears to the Milwaukee Brewers for pitchers Yujanyer Herrera and Bradley Blalock.
Currently, Herrera (No. 33 PuRP) is with High-A Spokane, but Blalock, 23, bypassed Albuquerque and was promoted to the Rockies on August 12.
So far, he’s earned a 5.40 ERA with Colorado. In 26.2 IP, he’s earned an ERA- of 115, a 5.25 FIP, a 1.69 WHIP, and a 5.40 SO/9. Blalock is only 23. So although these are not Paul Skenes-esque numbers, they indicate a young player quickly learning to navigate MLB hitters in one of baseball’s most challenging pitching environments.
For Blalock, it’s all about learning and making adjustments.
Being traded — again — and to a tough pitching environment
The move to Colorado was not Blalock’s first trade.
Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 32nd round of the 2019 MLB Draft, Blalock was then traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2023 for Luis Urías.
That experience helped with the transition he made in July.
“It was a little bit easier the second time,” Blalock said. “The guys down in Hartford are easy to get along with, and up here, they’re pretty easy to get along with also, if not a little bit easier, so they welcomed me pretty quickly.”
In the same way that he’s adjusted to the Rockies clubhouse, he’s also not intimidated by pitching at Coors Field (elevation: 5280’), despite growing up in Conyers, Georgia (elevation: 899’).
“It’s not bad. The ball flies a little bit, but the guys here told me what to expect,” Blalock said. “Everyone knows about it, elevation. It’s a little bit of a challenge, but nothing that I can’t handle.”
Given that he’s only pitched six games, the data is still in small-sample-size territory, but his home-road splits suggest that Blalock is still adjusting. At Coors, he’s got a 6.52 ERA; that drops to 4.67 on the road.
Developing an arsenal
Blalock brings a five-pitch mix: four-seam fastball, slider, splitter, curveball, and cutter.
So far, he’s relying primarily on his four-seamer, but it’s worth examining his splitter, which has emerged as his put-away pitch (31.1%).
“I didn’t really have a pitch that fell off to the right going into 2022,” Blalock said. “I had TJ, and so coming back from TJ, before I could even start throwing with the Red Sox, I talked to some pitching coordinators about getting a pitch that went to the right and could get lefties out a little bit better.”
He also turned to the internet where he found Kevin Gausman’s split change and used that as a model for himself.
“So we went from there and never looked back, and it’s been a good pitch so far.”
Renee Dechert
Blalock liked the versatility of Gausman’s approach.
“You can use it on both sides to righties and lefties, so I was excited that we kind of took a little bit off my fastball deception. Iit wasn’t just a velo separator; it was a movement separator, too. So that was good, just to be able to have something that was a velo separator and a movement separator off the fastball.”
The curveball and cutter remain works in progress, however.
“The cutter, I’ve only thrown since probably about June, so that’s still a new pitch, but I like throwing it a lot,” Blalock said.
“And the curveball is always a work in progress because some days I feel like I have it, and some days I don’t. But just coming in and playing around with it every day and just being able to get out in front of it and kind of throw it there for strikes. But it definitely keeps improving, improving each day.”
Arriving in the Majors
Now Blalock will get to continue his development on baseball’s biggest stage.
He was nonplussed at Yankee Stadium where he struck out five and got his first win.
Blalock called the experience of pitching in the Bronx “sick.”
And one of his favorite pitches in the majors? That would be his first strikeout.
“My first strikeout to Joc Pederson in Arizona, that was pretty cool,” Blalock said, “because I remember watching him when he played for the Braves a couple years back. But yeah, it was pretty sweet throwing it inside and down to him to get the swing and miss.”
He added, “I was just excited. Got my third out of the inning. So just kind of a relief and a deep breath right there coming off the field.”
Closing thoughts
The big question, then, becomes how Blalock will fit into the Rockies long-term plans for the starting rotation.
Earlier this week, Skyler Timmins laid out the team’s 2025 options. Right now, Blalock is making his case for a spot.
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This week on the internet
Yesterday was Ryan Spilborghs’ 45th birthday. We here at Purple Row take those kinds of things very seriously, so we wish sent him our best wishes on Twitter. His answer was vintage Spilly:
Thanks for the birthday wishes! Got a haircut this morning, barber asked, do you want me to blend in the grays? Sure. Wife said, my present for you is a colonoscopy! Getting pampered today! https://t.co/kksAGrkaBf
— Ryan Spilborghs (@spillygoat19) September 5, 2024
This brings us to a Rockiesvision classic, “Staring Contest.” You’ll need to hit the 2:30 minute mark to go directly to the cut.
Hope your birthday was a good one, Spilly!
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MiLB scores
Here’s how the Rockies affiliates fared yesterday:
- Fresno 5, San Jose 4
- Everett 4, Spokane 2
- Altoona 3, Hartford 2
- Tacoma 4, Albuquerque 3
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Let the offseason speculation begin!
Why front-office changes for most underachieving MLB teams appear unlikely | The Athletic ($)
The Rockies don’t come up much in this piece, but the paragraph in which they do feels worth mentioning: “And yet, more trust-the-process blather likely is coming their fans’ way. Insular, sadsack franchises – the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies, to name four – belong in a separate category. Those teams barely even bothered to try.”
I would argue that the Rockies tried. (Look, the payroll provides some evidence of an attempt at winning.) The larger issue is with the results.
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