Smith Has Time on His Side
With only 19 days remaining before the season starts, left-hander Greg Smith was finally feeling good enough that he could take the mound and pitch two innings in a minor-league game.
It’s not where the Rockies had hoped Smith would be in his bid to claim the fifth spot in their rotation.
Smith, however, is still very much alive in the battle to make the Rockies roster.
While a lengthy battle with the flu threw him a curve, Smith has two allies in his roster bid – nobody else has had a dominant-type spring that has locked the job up, and the way the regular-season schedule shapes up the Rockies don’t actually need a fifth starter until April 21.
The Rockies have three scheduled days off in the first 11 days of a season that opens with a three-game visit to Arizona on April 6. As a result, they can give each of their four other starting pitchers three starts – one on an extra day of rest – before that April 21 game at Arizona when they will need Smith or whoever else might win that fifth starter battle.
Given that time frame, it’s not out of the question that Smith could even make two starts in the minor leagues to test his arm strength before he would be needed at the big-league level.
Smith, however, is going to have to make up some ground in a hurry. There were encouraging words off his effort on Wednesday – four strikeouts in two perfect innings. But it was only his third appearance this spring, his first since March 3.
During Smith’s absence, the Rockies made one decision. They officially eliminated Jason Hirsh from the rotation battle, sending him to the minor leagues with the hopes that putting him into a regular rotation turn every fifth day for Triple-A Colorado Springs will allow him to regain the velocity and confidence in his fastball that he needs to be successful in the big leagues.
Not much else has changed.
Aaron Cook, Ubaldo Jimenez and Jason Marquis remain set in the top three spots in the rotation.
Jorge De La Rosa’s strong showing against the Dodgers on Sunday in Glendale helped ease fears of a pending meltdown and allowed him to maintain his tenuous hold on the No. 4 slot, although a late surge from Smith and a continuing improvement from Franklin Morales could put pressure on De La Rosa to run off a series of strong late spring performances if he is going to keep the job.
Morales has been the most consistent of the remaining contenders for the fifth spot in the rotation.
Matt Belisle is in the running in theory, only. Early spring arm problems have limited his work load, and make it more likely that if he does not start the season at Colorado Springs, which is now the expectation, he would fill the bullpen opening created by Taylor Buchholz’s sore right elbow.
Greg Reynolds has thrown more strikes this spring than he did in his big-league call ups last year, but command in the strike zone is still an area the Rockies would like the former first-round pick out of Stanford to improve before counting on him every fifth day.
Josh Fogg is in camp more off the strength of his personality than the belief he will open the season in the rotation, although he, like Belisle, could avoid the anticipated season-opening trip to Colorado Springs because of the Buchholz injury. With lefty Glendon Rusch filling the long-relief, spot-starter role, however, there wouldn’t seem to be room for Fogg right now.
That leaves Smith as the primary competition for Morales. And Smith is the one candidate the rotation with whom the Rockies are least familiar. He came over from Oakland in the trade of Matt Holliday, along with reliever Huston Street and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. It was the second off-season in a row he had been dealt, having been part of a package that also included Gonzalez that Oakland received from Arizona for Dan Haren.
Given a chance to be a member of the A’s rotation, Smith showed potential despite a 7-16 record, which in part can be blamed on the A’s scoring one or no runs in 18 of his 32 starts, averaging 2.88 run support for him, lowest for a starting pitcher in this decade.
His earned-run average was 4.16. He worked 190 1/3 innings, and allowed only 169 hits, and picked off 16 base runners, equaling the most for a pitcher since 1987, and one more than the total for the Rockies entire pitching staff in 2008.
He, however, walked 87 batters, an alarming number for any pitcher, but particularly for one who relies on his command to get hitters out, not overpowering stuff.
That ability to throw quality strikes, in addition to stay healthy and build up arm strength, is what the Rockies will be monitoring in the next two weeks.
Tracy
Thanks for the great perspecitve on the battles, I do have one question though: Does Jaun Marrillo have a chance at the last bull pen spot at least while Buchholz is out?
Jim, Morillo and Speier were the primary candidates for the final bullpen job when camp opened, and now that Buchholz is sidelined Morillo’s chances have improved. All Morillo has to do is throw strikes. So far, so good. It’s apparent the Rockies want to keep him in less pressure situations, which isn’t all bad. It’s about allowing him to build confidence. To be honest it’s not too much different than how they helped Buchholz devleop into the key pitcher he became last year.
I’d like to see them start stretching him back out as a potential starter again. The switch to reliever seems to have helped his wildness but his stuff is too good to just be a 7th inning guy. There are plenty of those types of people in the big leagues. At this point, what do they have to lose? He’s not being groomed as a closer and quality big league starting pitching is a huge need in the system now.
Any discussions that you have heard about that happening, Tracy?
If Morillo’s going to be stretched back out to be a starter again, it’s not going to be by the Rockies, imho, for one simple reason. He’s not going to be a starter at the MLB level, and he has no options left. So there is, practically speaking, no way for the Rox to take Morillo down this path, unless he successfully passes through waivers. And with his arm, there’s no way that happens.
The Cowboy will have his own thoughts, but I suspect the Rockies’ best hope right now is that Morillo makes the roster out of spring training (with Speier), and that both impress enough during April to have some trade value for when Buchholz comes off the DL, and the Rockies can trade one of the two for a RH outfield power prospect of some sort.
I don’t see Morillo in a starting situation. The command and lack of a third pitch are issues that led to him being put in the bullpen. I don’t know that you can say he won’t eventually become a closer. What we know right now is the key is to get him confident in throwing strikes. Once that is mastered he can be worked into situations. Closers emerge more often than not, like a Brian Fuentes. That pitch well and are given more challenging situations and the next thing you know they are being asked to get the 27th out in a victory.
As far as what happens when Buchholz comes off the disabled list — who knows. The best case scenario is that Morillo and Speier both pitch well and a decision is forced on the Rockies to create roster space, which could inlcude keeping both of them. There also is the chance that another injury could devleop. It is why, so often, managers and general managers say they aren’t going to worry about tomorrow or next week. They have to make decisions based off what is best for today.
Nice to find my baseball mentor again! An insight you always bring that is different from others is from the minor leagues up. Many of us depend on you for the knowledge of our lower leagues.
Kind words are always appreciated. Heck, any words are welcomed.
The scouting and player development aspects have always facsinated me, which was part of the basis for helping Alan Simpson create Baseball America.
Jack Etkin is one of those people with an undying hunger in that area, too. He can’t write enough about the development of a player.