Mid season assessment of the pitching staff of the 2012 Colorado Rockies.  


Starting Pitching: (Francis, Friedrich, Guthrie, Pomeranz)
Not sure where to start with this elephant in the room, so alphabetical order seems best.  Before breaking it down, this starting pitching staff has been very poor this year whether because of injuries or immature arms or poor coaching. Currently Jim Tracy is using a 4-man rotation limiting the starters to 75 pitches (give or take), then pairing the starters up with a middle-reliever who is also on a pitch count.  This method was brought upon Tracy out of necessity due to injuries, so all blame can't be directed at him.  Current "ace" on this starting pitching staff is Jeff Francis who returned to the Rockies after the Reds let him go.  His first outting was a disaster, and his ERA was over 21.  His second start began very omniously, but he settled down and has become the most reliable starter of the staff.  Removing the first start from his 2012 season, his statistics are pretty decent (2-1, 3.45 ERA over 31.1 IP).  Meanwhile, Christian Friedrich's performance during the 2012 season has been a violent rollercoaster ride.  Some games he will look like the next coming of Cliff Lee, and other games he'll pitch like Sara Lee.  When he's attacking the strike zone with command of his slider, Friedrich is amazing to watch.  Unfortunately that form only comes out about once every 3 or 4 starts.  His ugly days are just a matter of maturity; he has the tools to be a solid top of the rotation pitcher.  As Jim Tracy continues to give him starting opportunities, his development will become a huge part of the success of this team beyond 2012.  The opening day starter, Jeremy Guthrie, has had a season that he'd would rather forget.  Just a month ago, he was relegated to bullpen duty because he gave up so many runs, no- he gave up so many home runs.  In his first ten starts (56.0 innings), Guthrie surrendered 15 HRs with an ERA of 6.91.  Everyone knows those type of numbers are not going to work, Coors Field excuse or not.  His fastball command can be erratic, and even when he has good command, it has no action to it.  His secondary pitch is untrustworthy, so he tries to avoid it, and thus hitters sit back and wait for their pitch.  To his credit over his last two starts (both road games), Guthrie has been rather good, pitching 6 innings in both games, surrendering just 2 hits and 2 runs per game. May he continue that trend.  One of the young "aces" from the Ubaldo Jimenez trade is Drew Pomeranz.  When he arrived late last season, he looked really good his first few starts.  During the early 2012 season, he had flawed mechanics in his delivery, causing really poor command and hitters were just teeing off on him. Ultimately he was sent to AAA for a month or two and has since returned back to the starting rotation with amazing success.  In only two July games, he has given up 3 hits, 0 runs in 12.1 innings, and more importantly, he looks dominant and very confident.  Like Friedrich, Jim Tracy needs to give Pomeranz regular consistent starts to develop the mental approach to the game while maintaining his mechanics. 

Relief Pitching: (Belisle, Betancourt, Brothers, Chatwood, Ottavino, Reynolds, Roenicke, Torres)
For the most part, these guys have been the saving grace of this team.  Most nights, Jim Tracy can count on these guys to shut down the opponent for 3-4 innings, and keep the team in the game.  Matt Belisle has typically been the 8th inning setup man and has been really good.  Until the last game, he had a 14+ inning scoreless streak going.  His command is almost always dead on which makes his slider even more deadly as it drops off the end of the table.  Rafael Betancourt hasn't been closing many games this year, because the Rockies have rarely had a lead in the 9th inning.  He started the season really well, so the location and command that makes him an effective closer, but over the last few weeks, he's blown save opportunities and just not been himself.  The tandem of Belisle and Betancourt is a great luxury for Jim Tracy to have available, and he's best to make good use of it.  Like most of the young pitchers on this team, Rex Brothers has had his share of ups and downs.  Sometimes those ups and downs can come in the inning, not just game to game.  His strenght is his fastball which is usually 97+ and being left handed in this bullpen is a terrific asset for Tracy to manipulate around the Belisle/Betancourt tandem.  Early in the season, Belisle was picking up the 7th inning, Brothers the 8th, then Betancourt the 9th, giving opposing batters a righty/lefty/righty look from the mound.  Projected to be the closer in the future, Brothers needs to work on hiding his pitch until the last minute and maybe a second or third pitch. The return from the Chris Iannetta trade, Tyler Chatwood hasn't really pitched much this year (13.0 innings) to make a substantial assessment of his 2012 performance, but he hasn't been impressive.  Picked up off of waivers from the Cardinals, Adam Ottavino hasn't delivered consistently.  Some games, he is confident and in command of everything going on at the plate, while other games, he can't find the strike zone.  He's more of a strikeout pitcher than the other relievers, relying on a fastball to set up a nasty slider.  Similar to Brothers, Matt Reynolds is a lefty coming out of the bullpen.  Unlike Brothers, he relies more on the location and command of his pitches rather than velocity.  Some games it seems the batters can see the ball early coming out of his hand, and thus he tends to get rocked and his higher than normal WHIP (1.259).  Most nights he's pretty good though.  Because of the poor performance by the starters, Josh Roenicke has become the long middle relief man.  With 50+ innings, he has the most IP out of the bullpen pitchers.  He's not flashy or even solid, but he doesn't give up a lot of runs which is always a good thing.  His strikeout/walk ratio is high, almost 1:1 and his WHIP is rather high 1.460.  Nothing flashy about his pitching, just gets it done.  Recently called up from AAA, Carlos Torres hasn't pitched enough to allow a good feel for what he is capable.  As the season progresses, he'll most likely be sent back down to Colorado Springs at least once more. 

Injured pitchers: (Chacin, De La Rosa, Nicasio)
Normally this list isn't considered, but three starting pitchers are recovering on DL.  Jhoulys Chacin spent the offseason out of contact with the Rockies orginization, and his workout wasn't up to par for a MLB pitcher.  After 5 bad starts, he was shut down with nerve damage which affected his pitching.  Jhoulys is expected to return shortly after the all-star break, but will he be the pitcher he was in 2011?  After signing a two-year deal for $10M each year, Jorge De la Rosa threw his arm out early last season and required Tommy John surgery.  When he is working right, he's a really good number two or three pitcher.  His recovery timeframe was slated for the 2nd half of 2012, but setbacks have shelved him for the remainder of the year.  Even worse, Juan Nicasio can not catch a break.  Since recovering from a broken neck in 2011, Juan has not been very good and eventually aggravated a knee injury.  Slated for a return near the all-star break, he had a setback and had to have his knee drained of excess fluids.  Josh Outman wasn't hurt, but pitched so poorly he won't be expected back in the Rockies' rotation unless more starters get injured.  Some of the harshest criticism Jim Tracy has unleashed this year was commenting on Outman's approach to pitching.




Summation:
As bad as the starting pitching has been, the trio of Francis, Friedrich and Pomeranz has potential to be effective.  Ever since Bob Apodaca stepped down, the starting pitching staff has done a better job in general.  Maybe the credit goes to Bo McLaughlin, or Pomeranz's AAA stint, or the 4-man rotation, or just renewed focus, who can accurately say?  The young pitchers must develop over this season and beyond, so a strong pitching coach is a must.  Jeremy Guthrie most likely will be traded if the front office can find an interest.  Francis may return next year, but he's no longer a long-term solution, maybe a number 5 pitcher when all things are going well for the staff.
The bullpen is solid, and one of the bright spots on a team that is below average.  Maybe a couple tweaks are necessary (re: Chatwood and Torres), but all in all, Jim Tracy knows what he has, and uses it well. 
The injuries on this team are just out of control.  JDLR's injury could have been avoided if he hadn't lied to the trainer last year, denying any discomfort.  Nicasio is a walking band-aid, and Chacin's poor dedication to off-season workouts may have been the cause of his injury.  Even when completely healthy, this team's starting pitching staff is not up to par with other playoff contending teams, and that will have to be addressed.  

Hey, with such a poor 2012 season, the Rockies will have a high draft pick in the 2013 draft, right?  Maybe this time they won't draft another Greg Reynolds.