Broyles' AFL work may earn him chance in '18

DENVER -- The Rockies love right-handed pitching prospect Shane Broyles' confidence and his fastball, and hope his work in the Arizona Fall League helps him develop the other finer qualities necessary for him to be a factor in the Majors in 2018.
Broyles, 26, a 14th-round pick out of Texas Tech in 2012, has three saves, a 1.29 ERA and seven strikeouts in seven innings for the Salt River Rafters. This is on the heels of 23 saves and a 1.81 ERA in 47 Minor League games, all but one at Double-A Hartford (the other was at Triple-A Albuquerque).
After struggling as a starter early in his career, Broyles has leaned on a fastball -- averaging around 93 mph and dependably spotted to the outer part of the plate -- to find success in relief. Continued success against the Minor Leagues' top prospects in Arizona could persuade the Rockies to add him to their 40-man Major League roster by Nov. 20, the date teams must declare which players are protected from being selected by another club in the Rule 5 Draft in December.
• Rockies' 40-man roster
"I'm trying to pitch to my strengths," Broyles said. "If that happens to be their strength also, we're going to see who wins."
The Fall League is an experiment in how far his fastball will take him.
When Broyles arrived at Class A Asheville in 2013, he saw a right-field fence just 297 feet from home plate and began pitching inside to right-handed hitters in an attempt to avoid cheap home runs. After going 1-9 with a 6.21 ERA in 22 games, including 15 starts, he was sent to Short-Season Class A Tri-City and converted to relief.
"That's when it hit me," Broyles said. "I've got to get it together. Guys don't stick around doing what I was doing. If I'm gonna get beat, I'm gonna get beat with my best pitch."

In 181 appearances since that demotion, all but three in relief, Broyles has 334 strikeouts vs. 130 walks in 263 innings pitched, mostly thanks to his fastball.
Hartford manager Jerry Weinstein has nudged Broyles to develop his off-speed pitches -- a curveball that he manipulates between a looping pitch and a pitch with tighter downward movement and a changeup -- in case he needs them.
"Maybe his fastball outside is so good, maybe he'll end up like Rafael Betancourt and spot the fastball away," Weinstein said. "But we want him to have those other pitches in his tool kit."
In the Fall League, Broyles has thrown the four-seamer on 54 of his 70 pitches, a heavy usage rate, though not as heavy as during the Minor League season. His off-speed stuff has also been effective.
"It's not something I'm scared to do," he said. "These are better hitters, so I'm not always going to throw three fastballs past them."
When the Rockies promoted righty reliever James Farris (also in the Fall League) to Albuquerque, Weinstein and Hartford pitching coach Dave Burba summoned Broyles, knowing a guy who unabashedly attacks hitters the way Broyles does won't lack for confidence.
"They said, 'Who do you think should be our closer?'" Broyles said. "I said I want to be closer.
"It was nice to know if I get three outs, we're going to win."
Even with the new wrinkles, Broyles knows he'll ride the fastball as far as it takes him.