Saturday, August 02

KANSAS CITY -- Since being selected in the first round in the 2018 Draft, Rockies left-handed pitching prospect Ryan Rolison has seen his path to the Majors blocked by multiple injuries -- especially left shoulder injuries that wiped out most of 2022 and ’23. Now he is healthy and on a new road.

Rolison, 27, made it back to the mound last year as a reliever at Triple-A Albuquerque, and this year he has shone at the same place in the same role -- entering Thursday, he was 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA with 16 strikeouts against five walks in seven appearances totaling 12 innings.

The early part of Rolison’s career served as a cautionary tale of the pitfalls of the Rockies’ draft-and-develop philosophy. Injuries to prized picks can set the program back, and that’s especially true of the Rockies because free-agent pitchers avoid them.

But sticking with such a player can pay off. In his new role, Rolison has put himself on the Major League radar. The bullpen is a place of opportunity. Since Sunday, right-handers Jaden Hill, Zach Agnos and Juan Mejia have been called to the Rockies.

“It’s impossible to ignore, with guys going up left and right,” said Rolison, a standout starter at Ole Miss before the painful start to his pro career. “So the challenge is to stay as present as I can, stay with my routine and be ready if my name is called. If my name is called to go to the big leagues, that’ll be a dream come true.

“It’s been a helluva road for me. I’m finally healthy again. I think everybody in here has tried to play general manager and we’re probably 0-for-1,000. This is my eighth year in pro ball and I’ve seen a lot of transactions, so I know better than to look into roster moves.”

Rolison underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left labrum on Aug. 29, 2023. He returned last season for 11 Minor League innings.

“I pitched reasonably well but my stuff wasn’t all the way back and I was fighting through some tightness,” Rolison said. “I was like, ‘Get to the offseason when I’d have a little more time to heal.’ This year the numbers are showing that my stuff is pretty much back. My fastball is 2-3 mph faster than it was last year, and all my breaking pitches are good.”

A 1.08 ERA in six Cactus League appearances foreshadowed his strong start at Albuquerque. He has increased his fastball velocity to the 92-93 mph range, close to where it was earlier in his career.

“His arm feels healthy for the first time in probably three years,” Rockies pitching strategist Flint Wallace said. “That helps with his confidence in his ability to attack hitters again. When your attention is divided on whether or not this pitch is going to hurt when or whether you’re going to execute the pitch, you’re not 100 percent on execution.”

Rockies player development director Chris Forbes said, “Obviously, it's not been a linear recovery, but him getting back to being able to get the fastball in on righties and land his breaking pitches has come into play. He’s put himself in conversations, and that's all you can ask.”

It beats feeling forgotten. Removed from the Major League roster at the end of 2023, Rolison was not invited to Major League camp this year.

“I felt like my back was against the wall, that maybe some people had written me off,” Rolison said. “I was coming in to make my case that I was a first-round pick for a reason. I take a lot of pride in that. I know what I can do when I’m healthy.”

Hill, the Rockies’ No. 18 prospect, had a strong Spring Training but didn’t get an Opening Day roster spot. But Hill used the time at Triple-A to work on his changeup, which could complement his fastball and slider. A key for a hard thrower like Hill is to return to the changeup even when the result isn’t exactly what he wants.

“We were at home playing against Salt Lake and it was in the ninth,” said Hill, who was recalled Sunday as the 27th man for the doubleheader against the Nationals, but stayed with the club after that. “J.D. Davis is a really good hitter. I started him off with a changeup. He hit a really deep fly ball to center field and I thought, ‘Maybe that’s not the pitch today.’ I got away from it, and they ended up scoring a run, and they ended up winning the game later on.

“But I went back and looked at it, and thought that was a well-executed pitch. Then we went to Sugar Land, and I was able to throw that pitch. Just by showing the pitch, it opened up the other side of the plate. So I learned that I just needed to trust it.”

Mejia, who earned a 40-man roster spot with a big performance in the Arizona Fall League in 2023, was called to the Majors for the first time on Thursday, as the 27th man. In nine innings over the five previous games at Albuquerque, Mejia pitched nine scoreless and hitless innings, with 17 strikeouts against three walks.

Mejia was returned to Albuquerque after appearing in the Rockies’ 6-2 loss to the Royals in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader. He gave up one unearned run on one hit and struck out one.

Overall, Mejia had a 5.40 ERA in eight games, with much of the damage done in the April 1 home opener when he yielded five runs (four earned) without managing an out.

“It was on a cold night and he got sped up a little bit,” Forbes said. “We were able to have some conversations. It’s pretty cold in Denver. If you can’t pitch in the cold, you know? How did you do it in [Double-A] Hartford? We just explained to him that he’s on the 40-man now and those nights can’t happen.

“But he’s on a heater right now. It’s a league that’s not pitcher friendly and it’s definitely not a pitcher-friendly ballpark. And he put himself in the conversation.”

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