With 2016 wins leader Chad Bettis dealing with issues much bigger than baseball, the bottom of the Colorado Rockies’ rotation is in a state of flux. Jon Gray, Tyler Chatwood and Tyler Anderson all have solidified their positions as starting pitchers, leaving two spots open. ROOT Sports’ Jeff Huson joined The Afternoon Drive with Les Shapiro and Shawn Drotar to explain why he believes Colorado native Kyle Freeland has locked up a spot in the rotation and why the last spot is an open competition.
“There’s two spots that are open, and there are three guys going for it,” Huson said. “I think Kyle Freeland’s got one of those locked up.”
The other two pitchers vying to become regular starters are German Marquez and Antonio Senzatela. Fans should be relatively familiar with Marquez, as he made three starts for the Rockies late in 2016 and also appeared in three games as a reliever. Senzatela is slightly less recognizable due to his lack of any MLB experience, but is currently listed as the Rockies’ ninth best prospect according to MLB.com.
“Both of those guys are young guys,” he said. “Marquez probably has the better off-speed pitches right now, doesn’t have the fastball Senzatela has.”
While Marquez has the experience and off-speed advantages over Senzatela, Huson’s opinion is that Senzatela has the best opportunity to earn the right for a spot in the rotation.
“I really don’t think you can go wrong with either one of them, but I’m with you, I really like Senzatela a lot,” he said.
Rockies Manager Bud Black needs to make his decision quickly, as the Rockies regular season slate begins April 3 in Milwaukee.
Listen to the full interview, including Huson’s thoughts on Nolan Arena’s recent sub-par play, in the podcast below.
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Catch Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro every weekday from 4p-6p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.
