Rockies Journal: Bullish on the bullpen, despite Colorado’s awful record

The Rockies are a weird and flawed association They ve stumbled and bumbled their way to a - start as they entered their weekend series vs the Mets at Coors Field Their starting pitching has been mostly a train wreck Starters have a combined ERA of worst in the majors and more than a run higher than the Marlins The offense continues to scuffle at an almost unbelievable rate considering that the club calls Coors Field home The Rockies rank last in the majors in batting average and OPS while ranking worst in strikeout rate Their home runs rank th and their stolen bases are th In other words the Rockies don t hit for power or average strike out too much and can t run Colorado s defense purported to be a strength before the season began has the majors worst fielding percentage and second-most errors OK now here s where it gets weird Their bullpen is pretty good And it s been very good lately No I haven t been drinking purple Kool-Aid And yes I realize that Colorado s bullpen ERA is the second-highest in the majors But hear me out Now that the relievers roles have been sorted out and specific of the young talent is gaining confidence the bullpen has been sturdy On the just-completed nine-game road trip through Chicago New York Mets and Miami relievers allowed one or fewer runs in all nine games In Colorado s sweep of the Marlins the bullpen allowed zero runs over innings Still skeptical You say that the wind was blowing in at Wrigley Field You say that Miami s loanDepot Park is a pitchers paradise and the Marlins are awful You say that when the weather heats up at Coors the bullpen will melt down I get it Colorado s current eight-man relief crew has a combined ERA of and that includes veteran right-hander Tyler Kinley s ERA But Kinley he of the magical vertical slider has posted a ERA over his last appearances A month ago his ERA was and I thought he was washed up But the exit velocity against him is mph well below the league average of MPH Kinley s hard-hit percentage of is well below the league average of He s inducing a lot of weak contact Middleman Jake Bird is one of the best relief pitchers in baseball Through appearances the right-hander has a ERA with strikeouts in innings Middle relievers don t make All-Star teams but Bird has been sensational Former manager Bud Black communicated me over the winter that rookie right-hander Zach Agnos had the right stuff and the right mentality to be a big-league closer Agnos is now the Rockies closer and he s thriving Related Articles Rockies lose heartbreaker to Mets in the ninth inning on Francisco s Lindor s clutch double Rockies call up Ryan Ritter for MLB debut place Ezequiel Tovar on IL amid flurry of moves Rockies Hunter Goodman thriving behind the plate and emerging as All-Star Match candidate Rockies sweep Marlins behind masterful Kyle Freeland red-hot Hunter Goodman Hunter Goodman homer lifts Rockies over Marlins snaps -series losing streak It s a small sample size but Agnos has a ERA over appearances innings with four saves in four chances His WHIP is a minuscule and teams are hitting just against him In the age of mph fastballs Agnos doesn t blow away hitters with heat but his mph fastball is hot enough and he knows how to command it Plus Agnos is a four-pitch pitcher who generates a lot of weak contact Still he ll be tested in the coming month as teams get a book on him Right-hander Seth Halvorsen brings the firepower His four-seam fastball averages mph Over his last two outings he threw of pitches MPH or faster Still Halvorsen s been inconsistent He has three saves and two blown saves a ERA a WHIP and an walk rate Those numbers will improve if the right-hander commands his fastball split-finger change and slider better Right-handers Jimmy Herget ERA Juan Mejia and Victor Vodnik have given Colorado particular quality depth Who knows how long I ll remain bullish on the bullpen Like I commented the Rockies are flawed and they re weird It wouldn t surprise me to see the offense heat up in June July and August while the overworked relievers start getting scorched But during this Rockies season of discontent the bullpen deserves credit for the job it s done Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis