Rockies’ charge to pitchers: ‘Throw a lot of strikes’

It sounds simple for the Rockies’ pitchers, right?

Throw strikes.

But pitches over the plate at Coors Field too often end up being blasts toward the grandstands — or into the cavernous gaps that no outfield trio can adequately cover. Such has long been the conundrum for pitchers at the Rockies’ house of horrors, a quandary that the club has yet to consistently conquer despite three decades of effort.

So, under new management comes a new approach to pitching: Don’t try to nibble on the edge of the strike zone and get batters to flail and chase, knowing that the patient among them will watch, work the count and get on base with a walk, which has the added effect of driving up the pitch count on a staff already struggling to keep pace.

Instead, attack.

“I mean, we’re starting very, very simple — which we haven’t done in the past a lot — is, throw a lot of strikes,” manager Warren Schaeffer said on Dover and Cecil on 104.3 The Fan this week.

“We need to get ahead in counts. And it’s proven that when you get ahead in counts, hitters start chasing and swinging more often. And if you walk guys in Coors Field, it’s blatantly obvious that that’s when the big innings happen and the dink hits and the walks are way more detrimental to your team than the solo homers.

“So, it’s about competing in the strike zone — early in the count specifically.”

ROCKIES’ ROTATION LOADED WITH EXPERIENCE

Kyle Freeland will start the season opener, but the Rockies filled out the rotation with seasoned veterans they added in free agency — Michael Lorenzen, José Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano. Although Sugano’s HR/9 rate last year with the Baltimore Orioles was a concern, all have the experience to be able to shake off a bad pitch and, ideally, minimize damage.

That was a major part of the intent that went into adding the trio. Lorenzen is the youngest of the three at 34 years of age. Sugano is 36; Quintana is 37.

Their mission is simple: Don’t walk into Coors Field and flirt with running up the count. Instead, get ahead and dictate terms. And trust that the same forces that sent a solo home run into the seats can put one back on the board in your favor.

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