SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A first-inning sequence spoke volumes about Chase Dollander‘s impressive and much-anticipated Cactus League debut.
After striking out LaMonte Wade Jr. and getting Willy Adames to ground out to third, the Rockies’ prized right-hander fell behind in the count and served up a long homer to Jung Hoo Lee.
Next up was Giants All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman. Dollander’s fastball got away from him, sailed behind Chapman’s back and struck Chapman’s bat for a lucky strike. Dollander responded by fanning Chapman with a wicked slider.
“(Chase) was actually smiling after that pitch (that got way)” Rockies pitching coach Darryl Scott said after the Rockies and Giants finished in a 2-2 tie on Monday at Scottsdale Stadium. “Chapman was smiling as well. But Chase was like, ‘Ah, all right, whatever.’ Then he came back and made the next pitch.”
Dollander, 23, is projected to be among the best starters in Rockies history. He said he was unfazed by giving up a first-inning homer.
“One hundred percent,” he said. “That’s really important. … You’ve got to flush it and move on when that happens. I went back on the attack. You can’t get scared.”
He pitched two innings Monday, yielding one run on two hits with three strikeouts and zero walks. He threw 37 pitches, 28 for strikes, and was 6 for 8 on first-pitch strikes.
“I did everything I wanted to do,” said Dollander, who mixed a 98 mph four-seam fastball with a baffling curveball. “I misexecuted that pitch to Lee, but this is the big leagues; they are good hitters. I just had to stay on the attack.”
Scott was impressed.
“I thought he looked great,” he said. “The only hiccup was the home run, and that was just a young kid falling behind and (throwing) what was more like a strike pitch instead of staying aggressive with it.
“But he controlled himself really well. He came in from the bullpen really controlled. His delivery held. I thought it was a really good first outing for him.”
Memorable, too.
The Giants started veteran right-hander Justin Verlander, 42, who will almost certainly be elected to the Hall of Fame. Dollander knew he was matched against baseball royalty.
“That was awesome,” said Dollander, selected out of the University of Tennessee with the ninth overall pick of the 2023 draft. “Someone told me (Verlander) debuted in 2005. I was 4 years old at the time. So that’s pretty cool to be able to do that.”
Last year, in his first professional season, Dollander posted a combined 2.59 ERA with 169 strikeouts in 118 innings with High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford. He averaged 12.9 strikeouts and 3.6 walks per nine innings.
The Rockies love his maturity and the polish of his pitches, but he admitted there were butterflies before Monday’s game.
“I would say a little bit,” he said. “It was a little bit nerve-wracking when I was warming up in the bullpen, but once I got between the lines, it was the same game: 60 feet, 6 inches.”
Scott was thrilled with how Dollander handled his first big-league test.
“That first game, he’s amped up, but you could see in the bullpen that there was a very distinct effort to slow himself (down) and make sure things were under control,” Scott said. “(In the game) he was landing those curveballs early. His fastball command was good. For me, that was a really good first outing.”
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