PORTLAND, Maine -- Timing up Double-A Hartford left-handed pitcher Sean Sullivan, the Rockies’ No. 10 MLB Pipeline prospect, has been a frustrating exercise for hitters. It’s even tough to find an era where Sullivan fits best. On July 8, Portland hitters spent the early part of the evening unable to wait for a slider and changeup that seemed never to get there. Just when they thought they were on time, Sullivan’s fastball -- often below 90 mph -- either beat their bats or left them frozen. And just as hitters sped up, he slowed down. Seven strikeouts in seven innings -- with the final inning all strikeouts -- of a 6-1 victory was the result. “As you go up, execution is so key,” Sullivan said afterward. “It’s the name of the game. That seventh inning, I definitely toned it in a little bit. I knew I was going to have to make some pitches to get out of there.” Sullivan, a second-round MLB Draft pick (No. 46 overall) from Wake Forest in 2023, celebrated his 23rd birthday on Tuesday night by striking out nine in 6 2/3 innings of a 4-2 victory over New Hampshire at Hartford. |
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This season, Sullivan’s performance has been a celebration of either an old-time, soft-tossing lefty or a post-modern display of pitching to the analytics. After winning the High-A Northwest League Pitcher of the Year Award last year with Spokane, Sullivan underwent surgery to correct a right hip labrum problem. The Rockies invited him to Major League camp but kept him on a slower pace. Since he joined the Hartford starting rotation in early May, Sullivan is 8-4 with a 2.78 ERA in 12 starts covering 68 innings. His ERA would lead the league, but he’s just shy of enough innings to qualify. “Sean’s special in a lot of different ways,” Hartford pitching coach Dan Meyer said. “One of them is he’s not going to light you up on the radar gun, but he’s deceptive. The ball moves.” |
To dust off the baseball writer language of nearly a century ago, “portly portsider” best describes Sullivan. “Portly” as in the archaic definition -- “of a stately or dignified appearance and manner.” The “portside” is the left side of a ship or boat, facing forward. Sullivan, fittingly, concerns himself with what’s necessary. Concerning himself with the velocity on the scoreboard is so undignified. “I’m not too huge into numbers,” Sullivan said. “I like to look at stuff like first-pitch strikes. You’re trying to execute pitches, get ahead of hitters, put hitters away as quickly as possible. I try to give my team a good chance to win the ballgame.” But Sullivan stacks up well by important numbers. Sullivan’s lengthy stride and sweeping arm angle combine to give him close to 7 1/2 feet of extension (the point at which he releases the ball). Being that much closer to the plate gives hitters less time to determine the spin of his offspeed pitches, and the reduced distance makes the fastball appear faster. |
“All of a sudden, that 86 [mph] has some good run to it, it looks a lot harder and he elevates at the top of the zone really well,” Meyer said. “And he’s got two average-to-above-average offspeed pitches.” How quickly can Sullivan advance? It’s like his pitching: Not too fast or slow. He was able to develop a solid between-starts routine, and the hip has been healthy enough most of the time to allow him to maintain it. “That was the reasoning behind the extra month in Arizona,” Sullivan said. “We’ve had a couple hiccups here, but I have been able to get extra treatment and a little extra time here and there. I’ve come up with a good routine here with the training staff on how to attack it.” |
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Righty reliever Jake Bird’s past two appearances, both scoreless, are an indication that he is on the other side of a four-game slump during which he yielded 10 runs (nine earned) in 2 2/3 innings. Bird has a 3.96 ERA in 52 1/3 innings, tied for fifth-most relief innings in MLB and second on the team to Jimmy Herget’s 53 innings (with a 2.89 ERA). “Lately, guys have adjusted to my plan a little bit, so now it’s time for me to make an adjustment to combat that,” Bird said. “That’s the beauty of baseball. Hopefully, I can make that [adjustment] and have the same kind of success I had early on the rest of the way. “There are some ideas we’ve talked about, but the most important thing is executing stuff in good locations. When you have a good pitch but you’re executing in really bad areas and throwing it a lot, it’s going to get hit. That’s the first and foremost.” |
Bird, 29, said he blocks out Trade Deadline speculation, which exists because teams are evaluating whether to acquire him for late-innings work. For now, he is happy that the Rockies are 4-2 coming out of the All-Star break and improving. “You hope things are headed in the right direction,” he said. “Just getting experience helps you develop, improve and learn something about yourself. That’s where I am in my career, and that’s where we’re headed as a club.” |
Rockies No. 11 prospect Carson Palmquist, who made seven Major League starts (0-4, 7.63 ERA), surfaced Tuesday in the Triple-A Albuquerque bullpen with two perfect innings and four strikeouts at Salt Lake. Bullpen work is not new. At the University of Miami, Palmquist pitched in relief in 32 of his 48 appearances, and earned 14 saves. The Rockies wanted to see how far Palmquist could go as a starter when they drafted him in the third round in 2022, but they kept in mind his history of bullpen work and an unusual arm angle. Palmquist had success in the Minors as a starter, but his work in the Majors pointed toward the bullpen. During his first time facing an opponent in a game, Palmquist held hitters to a .222 batting average and .619 OPS with 14 strikeouts in 63 plate appearances. The second time through a lineup, in 63 plate appearances, he allowed a .319 average and 1.149 OPS with seven strikeouts against eight walks. The OPS ballooned to 1.571 the third time through, and he only had 21 such plate appearances. “I’m excited about it -- it’s where it all started back in college,” said Palmquist, who said he can adjust his pitch mix as needed. “It’s just good to be able to show I can be versatile if that’s what’s needed.” Colorado pitching coach Darryl Scott said, “It just opens opportunities. We don’t have a lot of left-handed depth in relievers, and with the starters we have, relief work is a better window for Carson.” |
Rockies No. 2 prospect Cole Carrigg, a Hartford outfielder, has tied a club record with 36 steals in 42 attempts. Rosell Herrera stole 36 in 2016. In 373 plate appearances, Carrigg is slashing .247/.342/.407 with 10 home runs, 12 doubles, five triples and 44 RBIs. Carrigg also has 14 outfield assists, including 12 from center field. |
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