DENVER – R&D is an important part of Rockies right-hander Ryan Feltner’s pitching DNA.
Although Feltner is most comfortable starting games, he is embracing his role as a “piggyback” pitcher – coming into the game after the starter to handle multiple innings and possibly finish the game.
In Sunday afternoon’s 2-1 loss to the Mariners, Feltner relieved starter Tomoyuki Sugano, who gave up one run in the first five innings. Feltner yielded one run in his three frames before Jimmy Herget pitched the ninth. The previous two times Feltner was paired with a starter, he allowed no earned runs.
The Rockies are up for experimentation. Although Hunter Goodman’s one-out homer in the ninth started a potential comeback, Brett Sullivan struck out for the final out with two aboard, and loss No. 99 was in the books.
For Feltner, who has embraced advanced information and whose younger brother, Riley Feltner, is a pitching analyst for the Guardians, it’s a strategy at least worth considering.
“Communication is the main thing when you are trying a system like this, because when you’re dealing with starters – very routine-oriented people – you need to know at least what the general game plan is,” said Feltner, who has made 22 starts this season. “I think they’ve done a good job of that so far.”
Sunday showed that the piggyback is in the research phase as they develop strategy.
Sugano, who has been the Rockies’ most consistent rotation member this season, held the M’s to one hit. Dominic Canzone’s fourth-inning single drove in Randy Arozarena, who had walked and was moving from first on the pitch Canzone hit.
Sugano – who pocketed his split-finger and used off-speed pitches against the Mariners – struck out five against two walks, and left after 72 pitches.
“To be honest with you, I wanted to go longer,” Sugano said through interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “I wasn’t aware that I was going up to five innings today, so it was a surprise to me. At minimum, I thought I could have gone seven, or gone to the mound for the seventh.”
With the team in a trial-and-error period, there could be situations like Sunday’s, when Sugano felt the strategy could have been different.
With a new front office, new coaching on the pitching side and an expanded research and development department, the Rockies have said they are open to experimentation. Testing whether piggyback games can be incorporated formally into a season-long pitching plan is part of that.
Installing a piggyback system can be delicate.
For part of the 2012 season, the pitching-poor Rockies, under former general manager Dan O’Dowd and manager Jim Tracy, tried a more-formal, research-based paired pitching strategy – four starters limited to 75 pitches, with each pitcher having a scheduled pitcher behind him. Buy-in never occurred. The Mariners tried piggybacking earlier this season to accommodate uncommon pitching depth, but communication was found lacking.
Manager Warren Schaeffer was incorporating the pitching plan, but also reading the game situation.
Bullpen use has been heavy recently. Saturday night’s 5-3 victory required Schaeffer to extend Jose Quintana to four innings in his first start since sustaining a left elbow injury on May 24. Righties Nick Frasso and Juan Mejia worked two innings apiece, and because closer Jordan Romano was sick, lefty Brennan Bernardino worked a rare third straight game.
On Sunday, he briefly had lefty Mark Manfredi – also taxed recently – warm up, but was able to use Feltner to start the sixth.
The workload of Feltner, who went four innings and yielded one unearned run in a 3-2 loss at Atlanta on Aug. 30 and threw five scoreless in relief of Kyle Freeland in a 9-3 home win over the Padres on Tuesday night, was another consideration.
“[Feltner] is learning his body right now coming out of the bullpen,” Schaeffer said. “It’s a different feel for him, and he’s grinding for us.”
Even with the conflict that came with replacing a pitcher who was going well – “[Sugano] attacked the strike zone and he was ahead,” Schaeffer said – the strategy yielded solid work, according to Sullivan, the catcher who worked with both pitchers.
“[Sugano] did an amazing job – he knew what he wanted to do before the game,” Sullivan said. “He wanted to land off-speed early, and when he did that and got ahead, it opened up everything for him. The three times [Feltner] has come out of the bullpen, he’s been lights-out. He’s coming in and using his stuff right away, not trying to set up guys.”
Sugano, Quintana and Freeland (the scheduled starter Tuesday against the Diamondbacks) can become free agents at season’s end. Feltner, 30 and heading to his second year of arbitration, is part of a crew of inexperienced pitchers forming next year’s rotation candidates.
Any information will help with planning for 2027.