Colorado Rockies: Hunt for Rocktober depends on starting pitching
By Paul Ashley
The Colorado Rockies offense is usually the main reason for the team having success, however, the starting pitchers may have surpassed the offense in importance this season.
The top of the NL West division is currently a view of the Colorado Rockies as they have a lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks. Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado are each putting up seasons that will have them in the MVP conversation, but the collective group of the starting pitchers deserve a lot of credit in the hunt for Rocktober.
According to FanGraphs, the Rockies starting pitchers rank 19th in the MLB with a 4.31 ERA. Although this number may not look great, the starting pitchers are represented more appropriately in advanced statistics. They are 10th in the MLB with a 3.93 xFIP and 9th in the MLB with a 13.0 WAR.
German Marquez currently owns a 3.7 WAR, which has him tied with 2018 All-Star Blake Snell for 14th in the MLB. Kyle Freeland is 19th in the MLB with a 3.4 WAR and Jon Gray is 23rd with a 3.2 WAR. As the Rockies relievers are 16th in the MLB in both WAR and xFIP, the starting pitchers are a large reason for why the team is in first place in the NL West.
The numbers put up by the offense in Colorado often get discounted due to the altitude factor at Coors Field. Even though players like Arenado and Story would hit the same in any ballpark, their MVP worthy numbers are often not taken seriously around the MLB. Due to this stigma for the batters, the Rockies pitchers should get an added bonus for performing well at altitude.
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According to Spotrac, the Rockies starting pitchers are 27th in the MLB in payroll with a combined cost of only $4,534,498. Out of the current division leaders, the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians are the next lowest starting pitching payrolls. The Braves are 20th with a $14,389,012 starting rotation while the Indians are 14th with a $19,542,710 starting rotation.
Freeland has completed at least 6 innings in 21 of his 29 starts this season. He has also only allowed more than 3 earned runs in only 4 of his starts. He has also only allowed more than 4 earned runs once this season when he allowed five earned runs way back on April 18th.
Marquez has completed at least 6 innings in 20 of his 29 starts this season. He has completed at least 7 innings in 7 of his last 9 starts, which has allowed the team to not need to risk using many unreliable bullpen arms in his starts. In his last 9 starts, he has also only allowed 15 earned runs while striking out 83 batters compared to 13 walks.
Ever since a short trip to AAA between June 28th and July 14th, Gray has completed at least 6 innings in 10 starts. The Rockies are 8-2 in the games Gray has pitched since he return to the MLB level. He has also only allowed more than 2 earned runs in 3 of the 10 starts.
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After spending a large amount of money this offseason on the disappointing bullpen additions of Wade Davis, Bryan Shaw, and Jake McGee, the Colorado Rockies could not have asked for more from their starting pitching this season. Freeland, Marquez, and Gray should give manager Bud Black quite the formidable beginning to their post season rotation if the team is able to make it to the NLDS.