PHILADELPHIA -- When Rockies hitters step into the batter’s box against the Athletics’ Osvaldo Bido in Friday's home opener, the sight should be familiar. This will be the first season that Colorado will be using the Trajekt Arc pitching machine, a state-of-the-art training tool that can use data and video to allow hitters to “see” a specific pitcher throw to them a specific pitch that acts like it would in an actual game. The Rockies started using the Canada-based Trajekt Arc in Spring Training at their performance lab, before the machine was moved to Coors Field. “I love it, man,” said third baseman Ryan McMahon, who said he saw immediate benefits in terms of good Spring Training at-bats. “If I’m up with runners in scoring position, sometimes it may take the first two pitches to get accustomed to everything. This takes that out and you’re ready to go from pitch one.” The Rockies will be happy to meet up again with Trajekt Arc, since they need the help. They batted .196 and had a 33 percent strikeout rate as a team while going 1-5 on their season-opening road trip against the Rays and the Phillies. |
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There are as many methods for training as there are players. “Some guys choose to just track pitches, which helps them see the pitch a little longer,” center fielder Brenton Doyle said. “But if I’m going to have to try to hit it in a game, I’m going to try to hit it in the cage. That’s the mindset I have.” The counterpoint would be to simply track pitches and not swing at balls the virtual pitcher doesn’t want you to hit, and save swings for the confidence-building exercise of batting practice. “You would think that with a projection of a pitcher you should be in there all day,” first baseman Michael Toglia said. “But in my opinion it’s easy to wear my feels out and swing myself into a funk.” |
Hitting coach Hensley Meulens, who was with the Yankees when that team installed machines at all its affiliates a few years back, said there are ways to manipulate it as a teaching tool. This spring, No. 17 prospect Sterlin Thompson was repeatedly missing a pitch. Then, Meulens tweaked the pitch slightly. After that, Thompson had a visual of when the pitcher threw too good a pitch to swing at, and when he made a mistake. Last season, MLB approved the use of such technology during games. A hitter could dash to the batting tunnel, face the other team’s pitcher, then rush to the on-deck circle and face him during the game. Now, 26 of the 30 teams have entered lease agreements with Trajekt Sports -- which has partnered with Rapsodo, a sports data company that all teams use. “There are other machines out there that do spin rates and different things, but this one adjusts and you get a visual image of the pitcher,” said Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt, who pushed the decision to bring in the machine. “The guys have enjoyed it so far.” It’s not feasible for the machine to be taken on the road because of its size and the need to recalibrate it if it is moved. The Rockies are calling for a requirement that each team that has a machine must also provide one for the visitor. |
The forecast for Friday’s home opener calls for temperatures to be right around 40, give or take a couple of degrees, with snow possible by evening. It’s not the most comfortable baseball climate. But Ryan Feltner, the Rockies’ scheduled starter against the Athletics, has pitched through much worse. The right-hander has thrown in even gloomier temperatures than the Rockies-record 27 degrees that greeted the team on April 6, 2018. Feltner did his collegiate pitching at Ohio State. “We were playing at the University of Iowa,” Feltner said. “I don’t know exactly what the temperature was -- it must have been 25 -- but the wind chill was in the negatives. I think that we had already canceled the game before or something. There was some type of intricacy that I don’t exactly remember, but we had to get the game in. “I did OK when I settled in a bit. But that was the only game where I didn’t actually get warm on the mound. Typically, I don’t feel the weather but I felt it the whole time during that one.” |
Behind the breaking news that surrounds a player’s unexpected departure from one team and sudden move to another is a human story. In outfielder Mickey Moniak’s case, his new wife, Sophia, swung into action to make sure they and their new dog had a place to live. “I have an awesome wife,” Moniak said. “When the news happens, you talk to your agent, get an idea where you’re going to end up and start making plans. It’s a lot of talking to your realtor, trying to get out of leases, packing up everything.” And sometimes it’s good fortune. His wife’s family is from Centennial, Colo. “Her mom flew out, packed up my car with a bunch of stuff, then they made the drive, all 14 hours,” Moniak said. “We were lucky to have a place to stay while we get everything else figured out.” |
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Strong defensive shortstop play has been a Rockies tradition. Past watched present on Tuesday, when Neifi Perez -- who in 2000 became the team’s first Gold Glove shortstop -- was at Citizens Bank Park watching Ezequiel Tovar against the Phillies. Perez won the Gold Glove Award in 2000, and felt that he could have won the following year. “It means a lot to me,” said Perez, who lives in Santo Domingo and works for the consulate of the Dominican Republic. “Gene Glynn [a former coach with the Rockies and several other teams] helped me out, and when I got to the big leagues, I had a lot of confidence in myself. “I didn’t get a chance for the second one because I got traded [to the Royals]. I remember I had two errors the whole first half.” |
Perez was close with Hall of Famer Todd Helton. Perez honored Helton by wearing No. 17 with Kansas City, and Helton wore Perez’s wristbands after the trade. Perez received a special call last summer. “David Ortiz called me from the Hall of Fame, and put Todd on, so I got a chance to congratulate him, and it was great,” Perez said. Of Tovar, Perez said, “He’s got some skill -- I hope he can get another Gold Glove.” |
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