Rockies add another veteran arm to their rotation

The Rockies were in such dire straits last season, they were forced to rush young arms into their major-league rotation well before they were ready. The result was a starters’ collective earned-run average that was the worst in the modern era of major-league history, yet another indignity in a wretched season piled with them.

Avoiding that fate means bolstering the depth of their major-league rotation. Stop-gap, short-term solutions are fine, so long as they allow the Rockies to avoid pushing developing pitchers into the big-league fire before they’re ready.

Last month, that meant bringing aboard right-hander Michael Lorenzen, an All-Star as recently as 2023. Tuesday, that manifested in the addition of Japanese right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano, who notched a 1.331 WHIP and a 4.64 ERA over 30 starts for the Baltimore Orioles last year in his only major-league season.

Sugano agreed to a one-year, $5.1-million deal. He takes the roster spot vacated by Kris Bryant; the Rockies moved him to the 60-day injured list due to his ongoing, persistent back problems.

The 36-year-old Sugano joined the Orioles after 12 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants of the Central League in Japan. For most of his time with the Giants, he dazzled, posting a 1.035 WHIP and a 2.45 ERA.

ROCKIES HOPE SUGANO CAN KEEP THE BALL IN THE YARD

In his only season with the O’s, Sugano’s trouble spot was the gopher ball. He surrendered an American League-leading 33 home runs, and his HR/9 rate of 1.89 was the fourth-worst in major-league baseball among 127 pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched.

He ended the season allowing at least one homer in six-consecutive starts, giving up 12 homers in those appearances. During those starts, his HR/9 rate ballooned to 4.21.

The Rockies will look for Sugano to try and recapture the form of his early-season work last year, when he posted a 3.04 ERA over his first 12 starts before struggling from that point forward.

Sugano notched 10 quality starts in his 30 appearances last year.

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