SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Rockies manager Bud Black trusts Bryan Shaw to find his form by the regular season. Shaw trusts himself. The Rockies' fans? Well, they’ll have to wait and see.

After five years with the Indians, during which he became one of the Major Leagues’ most durable and trusted pitchers, Shaw signed with the Rockies for three years and $27 million -- then promptly struggled in 2018. After going 4-6 with a 5.93 ERA in 61 games and not being included on the postseason roster, Shaw spent the offseason diagnosing and refining.

Early Spring Training has not offered evidence of the project’s success. Through four appearances covering 3 2/3 innings, Shaw has a 9.82 ERA with seven hits, three walks and two strikeouts.

The problem is that Shaw’s Cactus League history is littered with ERAs of 6.75, 6.23, 8.64, 17.61, 9.00 and, last year when he joined the Rockies, 9.82.

“I think I’ve had only, like, one good Spring Training in nine years, so I’m not too worried about it,” Shaw said. “It’s more about getting myself ready, getting my arm ready, getting my body ready, mentally ready. Get everything ready for the season.”

But is there reason for concern? In his latest appearance, Wednesday against the Angels, Shaw allowed one run on one hit (Kole Calhoun’s double) and one walk.

Those stats will be forgotten when the regular season starts, but two factors must improve:

• Just eight of Shaw’s 15 pitches landed as strikes. This spring, it’s 39 strikes in 71 pitches, with the most efficient strike-zone performance being seven in eight pitches against the Dodgers on Feb. 28.

• Shaw used the cut fastball, the pitch on which he built much of his success with the Indians, 11 times at an average of 90.4 mph. In 2017 with the Indians, when he led the American League with 79 appearances, the pitch averaged 94.3. Last year, the cutter averaged 93.5.

Black said he wants to see Shaw begin to approach regular-season form toward the end of camp. For now, he is seeing a healthy pitcher and trusting from there.

“He feels good physically,” Black said. “I think he’ll grow this spring into his stuff a little bit better. He hasn’t been real sharp in his couple outings. That’s why we keep running guys out there. He’ll get eight, nine, 10 outings.”

Shaw went to Driveline, a baseball performance center in the Seattle area, toward the end of last season to gain information on his pitches and how to fix them. He feels confident he is on the right track, but there has been experimentation.

“The first game, even [Wednesday], I was trying to do a little too much -- trying to try a little too much stuff -- mechanically,” Shaw said. “Things were not quite there yet. I was a little jerky with some of my motions.

“Now we’re getting a little more smooth and in rhythm, which will hopefully allow me to dial in a little bit better -- instead of being jerky this time and lined up right, then the next time a little less jerky but not quite lined up right. You miss your spots a little more when you do stuff like that.”

Shaw said the key is having the pressure on top of the ball, which gives his cutter downward movement rather than lateral spinning. He feels Black and the coaches trust him. But, as Black showed when Adam Ottavino (now with the Yankees) struggled in 2017, and when Shaw had his difficulties last season, he’s not afraid to remove a struggling pitcher from big situations at important times.

Right now, though, it’s March.

“There is a track record that you believe in, and that’s obviously why we signed him -- because his performance and, obviously and more importantly, what we think he can do,” Black said.