This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding's Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Right-hander Chase Dollander’s first player plan meeting of Rockies camp had potential for intimidation.
Dollander entered a room with new pitching coach Alon Leichman, assistant pitching coach Gabe Ribas, bullpen coach Matt Buschmann and director of pitching Matt Daniels. The revamp of the Rockies’ pitching program brought in innovative minds in fields of strategy, pitch design, training and analytics.
Dollander showed up with first-round talent, but also a 6.52 ERA in 21 starts last year as a rookie. Such a scene could be a mismatch that could leave a pitcher feeling discouraged. Even worse, all those ideas could produce overwhelming confusion.
Yet so far in Spring Training, all the methods for improvement and the suggestions of new pitches -- a common theme of this camp -- have been palatable and actionable.
“They are all on the same page about everything, even though each of them are different,” Dollander said. “I’m sure they talk all the time about different things. They make sure before they have a meeting with somebody, there’s no overlap or miscommunication.”
As the Rockies went a Majors-worst 43-119 last year, starters posted a Majors-worst 6.65 ERA and the bullpen -- often overworked because of weak starting pitching -- had a Majors second-worst 5.18. But while there is a lot to fix, and many minds devoting much research in the search for answers, so far all is smooth and practical.
“It’s a mentally stimulating environment,” righty Ryan Feltner said. “But at the same time, they are able to simplify it. I feel very free, very opened up -- able to do what I’m capable of.”
The info is welcome for the pictures who endured those struggles -- young ones like Dollander, one of seven pitchers to debut last year (after seven debuted during a 61-101 performance in 2024), and 10th-year veterans Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela.
“There’s a lot of open-mindedness around here,” said Leichman, who arrived after stints as assistant pitching coach with the Reds and Marlins. “With all of us coming from different organizations, it’s just a new perspective. They want to know what they could be better at, and what they’re already good at.”
No one believes a few good meetings and suggestions of pitch additions have fixed the Rockies. Even the most important new feature -- the additions of experienced starting pitchers Michael Lorenzen, Tomoyuki Sugano and Jose Quintana -- don’t guarantee a fix. Pitchers fresh-faced and grey-bearded alike have struggled at Coors Field.
But Rockies camp is trying to establish a couple of guiding principles -- communication and diversity.
Under manager Warren Schaeffer’s revamped daily work schedule, the Rockies are being conscious to reduce the wear and tear that can creep into Spring Training. On days when it fits the schedule, there is a segment called “Coffee with Coaches,” where coaches enter the clubhouse and can socialize or strategize. Not just pitching coaches, but all of the coaches and Schaeffer can choose to have bonding time with players.
Pitchers, for example, feel they have time with the coaches without being pulled into a meeting.
It’s a fine balance, since traditionally the clubhouse is a hut of refuge for players.
“It’s nothing super-serious -- it’s pretty casual, pretty organic,” said right-handed pitcher Tanner Gordon, also a rookie last season.
Whether on the field or elsewhere, the analysis and communication should lead to one of the principles the Rockies are pushing -- an expanded pitch mix. The staff, expanded by one on-field coach and Daniels off the field, has encouraged adding pitches or adding new wrinkles to existing. Diversifying repertoires is a staple of modern pitching, but an area in which the Rockies had fallen behind after having success with four-seam fastball-based approaches.
“If you have more pitches, you have more weapons to go to when you’re facing Shohei Ohtani,” Leichman said. “If you have three pitches, everything is pretty easy for him. If you have more pitches, he needs to make more decisions. The more decisions a hitter has to make, the tougher.”
Feltner and Freeland have long tinkered and experimented. Senzatela, successful early in his career pumping fastballs but not as much in recent years, is adding a sweeper and sinker, and Gordon has added a sinker. Freeland said small actions, like experimenting with grips and foot positioning while playing catch, make it easier because the pitcher is prepared to be “more athletic and less robotic.”
The search for answers may start with ideas from coaches, but the pitchers have to be encouraged to think. Lorenzen, Sugano and Quintana come in having demonstrated pitching knowledge.
But Leichman describes the current good feelings as “la-la land” -- that time before the inevitable adversity hits. The experimentation is well and good, but it has to lead somewhere.
Why not sooner?
“I’m hungry -- everything is about winning,” said Quintana, who over his 14-season career has gone from a pitcher who didn’t care for deep numbers-diving to one who studies and understands advanced information. “This is a great opportunity to show that, to make an impact with these guys. I want them to see how you need to be prepared to win games.
“Our manager during meetings talks a lot about that. We need to be ready. We’re not here to just be better than last year. What happened in the past is past. We want to be ready to win games.”