SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Rockies are making their right-handed pitcher of the future -- MLB Pipeline No. 25 prospect Chase Dollander -- a part of the present. During Rockies Fest last month, veteran left-handed pitcher Austin Gomber and righty Ryan Feltner invited Dollander and several up-and-coming players to dinner in Denver -- a place aspiring players want to call home. It was a good gesture at a time when a young player’s head can spin. However, Dollander -- the ninth overall pick in the 2023 Draft out of the University of Tennessee, and the owner of a combined 2.59 ERA and 169 strikeouts in 118 innings with High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford in his first professional season last year -- is cool enough to know which way is up. Or at least, to know his way to the strike zone. “It’s exciting, for sure,” said Dollander, who had his first official Major League camp workout on Thursday. “But nothing changes. It’s still baseball. It’s 60 feet, 6 inches away. It’s definitely a different atmosphere. You’re out with different people. But I wouldn’t say anything changes. It’s the same game through and through.” |
In most cases, a player enters his first Major League Spring Training realizing it’s a get-to-know-you session before his Minor League ticket is punched and the apprenticeship continues. That might be the case with the 23-year-old Dollander. The Rockies have five veteran starters, and several other pitchers in camp have made big league starts. But manager Bud Black and general manager Bill Schmidt have said all offseason that Dollander can earn a Major League job if his performance warrants it. So he’s a guy folks want to know and should know. “I had good veterans around me when I was a young player that were very welcoming, very including,” Gomber said. “I hadn’t met a couple of the guys, so I wanted to be able to put a face with the name and create a little bit of a relationship before we came into camp. I want guys to feel comfortable coming up to myself and Kyle [Freeland] and ask questions, and [I] want to make sure that we’re here to help them.” |
In one particular case, however, sometimes less contact is better. Dollander said that he has met Black, but the two haven’t talked since players and staff began arriving at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Black said there is no need to hit Dollander with a torrent of pointers. “I want to get to know Chase and the other young pitchers that I haven’t really gotten a chance to know, but we’ll be around each other every day,” Black said. “We’ll be around each other every day -- morning, noon, when the game starts. There will be conversations. But I’m going to let him do his thing. I’ve got a lot of background from player development people. “But I don’t want to personally give him too much right now. He’s a really talented young man. I’m going to let him show it.” What does Dollander intend to show? “My fastball plays at the top of the zone,” Dollander said. “Curveball, slider, changeup. To me, all those pitches have gotten a lot better. I’ve shrunken everything and made them more consistent this year. I’m excited to get going.” |
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Lefty reliever Lucas Gilbreath underwent Tommy John surgery in 2022 and made it back after a long rehab, but shoulder issues that were hard to pinpoint limited him to three appearances last season. After the season, there were answers and an operation that left him with a scar on the left side of his neck but a feeling of relief. “We started chasing stuff around, and I ended up having neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, so they did an operation on that shoulder on Oct. 30,” Gilbreath said. “They took out two muscles. They took out scar tissue and then scraped a bunch of stuff to free up that nerve. “Honestly, that night I felt immediate relief.” The surgery Gilbreath undertook was less involved than the one that involves removing the top rib -- which former Rockies All-Star pitcher Aaron Cook underwent in 2004. Cook missed nearly a calendar year. Gilbreath finished 2021 with a 3.38 ERA in 47 appearances (46 in relief). He also appeared in 47 games in ‘22 and finished with a 4.19 ERA, but the elbow began bothering him late in the season. After all of his issues, Gilbreath began throwing in volume in December, and it was “night and day.” |
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The Rockies will have 27 Cactus League games under the experimental automatic balls and strikes (ABS) challenge system. Each team will start the game with two challenges and can keep them if successful. After the challenge, the result of the pitch will be shown graphically on the scoreboard, and results happen quickly. Otherwise, the determination whether a pitch was a strike or a ball will remain with the home plate umpire. “I like it,” Black said. “I saw it in the Arizona Fall League. It adds another element for fan engagement. It’s a little bit like replay. I didn’t know how replay was going to turn out, but it adds another element for the fan experience.” Various ABS systems have been used in the Minors, so it won’t be an adjustment for younger players. Rockies rookie catcher Drew Romo pulled off a successful challenge to earn lefty Carson Palmquist a strikeout during the Spring Breakout game against the D-backs last year. |
Usually, the hitter who believes a pitch missed or the catcher who believes a pitch is a strike makes the challenge. The pitcher is moving with such force that it makes it hard for him to accurately see where a pitch crosses the plate. Romo gave a preview of the strategy for using ABS challenges. “Different organizations made different rules for their teams,” Romo said. “Some teams wouldn’t let their players challenge until after the fourth or fifth inning, just to save it until the end of the game. Other teams save their challenges until two strikes, or runners on base. That way they prevent wasting them with nobody on base, when it’s not as important a pitch.” With an umpire’s ball/strike performance available to anyone with the computer, gone are the days when a pitcher or hitter can get favorable calls based on ability or service time in the sport. |
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