PHOENIX — The Rockies claim they don’t have a hangover from Thursday night’s 16-1 loss to the Diamondbacks, but there were lessons learned for starter Kyle Freeland.
Lesson No. 1: Find a way to throw a more effective changeup, which the left-hander hopes will be a big weapon for him this season.
To recap the season opener at Chase Field, Freeland was ripped for 10 runs on 10 hits in just 2 1/3 innings, including a two-run homer to Lourdes Gurriel in the first inning. The 10 runs Freeland surrendered were a career-high. The third inning was 34 minutes of batting practice for the D-backs, who sent 18 batters to the plate and scored 14 runs, the most in an inning on opening day for any team since 1900. Freeland was charged with eight runs in the inning, and rookie reliever Anthony Molina was charged with six.
Freeland acknowledged his poor pitch location but credited Arizona’s aggressive hitters.
“They put the ball in play,” Freeland said Thursday night. “That’s what hitters are paid to do — put the ball in play, create action on the basepaths — a lot of singles, and/or doubles, balls hit soft, seeing-eye ground balls. It was just everything that they were hitting.”
Before Friday’s game, manager Bud Black said that a video review of Freeland’s career-worst performance revealed some clues as to what went wrong.
“I suspected that there were some locations missed, and that was the case,” Black said. “If I was going to pick on any particular pitch, I would think that the changeup was a bit too hard. There were some 88 and 89 mph changeups. The (Christian) Walker double, 89. The (Ketel) Marte groundball up the middle that (shortstop) Ezequiel (Tovar) almost had, 88. During spring training, Kyle was trying to get the changeup down to 85-86.”
Freeland changed the grip on his changeup during the offseason and said during spring training that he was getting comfortable with the pitch. He admitted, however, that the changeup can be problematic for him.
“That changeup has always been a pitch that’s kind of been a bugaboo,” he said during camp. “You find it, then you lose it and you’re searching for it again. My confidence is definitely back on that pitch.”
Maybe so, but command of all of his pitches deserted him Thursday night.
“Last night, (there was a lot of) adrenaline, his arm felt good, an extra day’s rest — all of those things,” Black said. “The changeup was just coming in too hot. Too much velocity. And the location of all of his pitchers was not Kyle-like.”
Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland pauses on the pitcher’s mound during the third inning of the team’s baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
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Left-hander Austin Gomber, who’s scheduled to start against Arizona on Saturday, said putting too much weight on Freeland’s ugly outing would be a mistake.
“You have to have belief in yourself,” Gomber said. “If you don’t, you shouldn’t be here in the big leagues. There are bad days, we’ve all had them. Everybody is going to have the worst day of their career. That was Kyle’s.
“Kyle has the track record and the experience to bounce back from that game. I don’t care who you are, there are days when you are going to get your (butt) kicked. If one day is going to affect you that much or affect the way you go about your business, then this game’s not for you.
“This is my fourth year with Kyle. I’ve seen him have bad games and bounce back. Five days from now, he has a chance to be great. That’s one of the best parts of this game.”
Saturday’s pitching matchup
Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (9-9, 5.50 ERA in 2023) at Diamondbacks LHP Tommy Henry (5-4, 4.15)
6:10 p.m. Saturday (MDT), Chase Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Gomber got off to a bad start last season, going 0-4 with a 12.12 ERA over his first four games before he settled in and began pitching more effectively. The Rockies hope this is the year he puts together a season full of strong starts. The lefty had made 83 appearances (67 starts) since joining the Rockies in 2021 as part of the Nolan Arenado trade, going 23-25 with a 5.22 ERA. Gomber is 3-0 with a 5.35 ERA in 10 career games (six starts) against Arizona and his 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in three career outings (two starts) at Chase Field.
Henry, who won a spot in Arizona’s rotation late in spring training, has only faced the Rockies twice, but he dominated them both times, going 2-0 with a 2.92 ERA. On May 31, 2023, he shut out Colorado for seven innings at Chase Field, yielding just two hits, striking out seven and walking two.
Pitching probables
Sunday: Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (2-4, 5.82) at Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (3-9, 5.72), 2:10 p.m.
Monday: Rockies RHP Dakota Hudson (6-3, 4.98) at Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga (7-5, 2.66 ERA, in Japan), 12:20 p.m.
Tuesday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (0-1, 38.57 in 2024) at Cubs RHP Javier Assas (10-5, 3.05), 5:40 p.m.
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