ATLANTA – On Sunday morning, Rockies pitcher Ryan Feltner said in a gravelly voice that a day of taking fluids helped pull him past the stomach turbulence that led to his being scratched from a start Saturday. But judging by his facial expression, it was going to take all his effort to pick up the scouting reports that rested on the couch beside him in the clubhouse.
It turned out Feltner was improving, and building energy. Not only did he make it to the mound for the final five innings of Sunday’s game against the Braves, but he’d have been a game hero had the Rockies garnered a bit more offense in the 3-2, 10-inning loss at Truist Park.
Feltner struck out six and yielded five hits but just one unearned run in four-plus innings. He took the loss when the automatic runner scored on Matt Olson’s walk-off single, but his performance gave the Rockies at least a chance to avoid being swept in the three-game series.
While Feltner was in the depths of illness Saturday, the Rockies’ bullpen carried the load admirably in a 2-1 loss. Rookie Mason Adams made his second career Major League start on Sunday and held his own – two runs in five innings. Then Feltner, the most viable option with much of the rest of the bullpen fatigued, took the remainder of the contest.
Truth be told, Feltner looked better after pitching in Southern humidity than he did before the game.
“I’m just tired,” said Feltner, who made it to the park late in Saturday’s game and might have pitched if the game had gone to extra innings and the Rockies needed him. “I’m glad I could make up for the work that I had the bullpen do yesterday and do my part today.”
The stomach problem, which Feltner described as “hard to diagnose, but it only lasted 12 hours, or 24, maybe,” made for trying circumstances Sunday. But when he made it to the mound, Feltner displayed the quality that has fueled the Rockies’ hopes that he can be part of the future rotation.
And Feltner didn’t have the brief lapses in location that show up periodically and are the reason his ERA is 5.84.
“I thought his changeup was really good, to both hitters – right-handers and left-handers,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Felt was awesome, no nonsense. He just went right at guys.”
The time spent hydrating and recovering was time not spent obsessing and overplanning.
“Not much of a plan,” Feltner said. “I did my normal scouting, but coming out of the bullpen is just a little different. I was just really following Sully [catcher Brett Sullivan] and what he wanted, and I thought he called a great game.
“I knew I wasn’t going to feel great, so I almost leaned into that with more intensity. I just made sure to turn up the dial as much as I could.”
The Rockies went 2-5 on a road trip to Washington and Atlanta. The sweep at the Braves’ hands featured a loss of two runs on Friday and one run each of the final two days. Each was winnable, but efficiency of execution showed why Atlanta has a seven-game win streak while Colorado dropped to a 52-85, tied with the Angels for the worst mark in the Majors.
“In the 10th inning, they execute, we don’t,” Schaeffer said. “That’s the difference. In the big moments we talk about, you have to execute to beat good teams. That’s why we lose.
“You can be as frustrated as you want, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to start getting the job done better to win ballgames. We don’t want to be in the basement forever.”
The Rockies have every reason to be sick of losing. They are assured of their eighth straight under-.500 finish. But Feltner, whose contract is under club control through 2028, has the same goal he had when the stomach queasiness felled him briefly – to get better.
“It’s hard to speak for the team, but for me personally, it’s a combination – you see light at the end of the tunnel, the quality of baseball getting better,” Feltner said. “Then, on an individual level, we’re always trying to get better. But we can also see how close we are.”