The focus for the Colorado Rockies in the offseason was made clear quickly when general manager Jeff Bridich landed Bryan Shaw, big-fish free agent Wade Davis and re-signed Jake McGee, spending on a “super bullpen” that hopes to contribute towards something the Rockies have never accomplished in franchise history: Back-to-back postseason appearances. To do that, it will take a strong season from what reliever Mike Dunn believes can be one of the best pitching staffs in baseball.

Dunn joined the Rockies’ bullpen last offseason and quietly led the team in appearances as a left-on-left specialist in 2017. His five wins out of the ‘pen matched Chris Rusin and Carlos Estevez for tops amongst Rockies relievers last year, contributing to Colorado’s 87 wins overall and Wild Card berth.

Dunn sat down Tuesday with Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro of Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 inside the Rockies’ clubhouse at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick to discuss the reinforced bullpen and the remarkable growth of the Rockies’ young rotation.

Dunn believes experience will do wonders for the young arms that anchor the club’s starting rotation.

“It’s learning from what they did well last year, and learning from their mistakes as well,” Dunn said. “It’s repetition; you can’t perfect something if you’re not out there doing it.”

“Every pitch that they throw, every inning that they get, they’ve got to continue to be learning and trying to get better, which this staff that we have, these guys really push each other and they’re trying to get better on a daily basis, which is what you want to see, and none of them are content with where they’re at right now,” Dunn said. “It’s experience; the more times they’re out there, the more you can learn.”

Dunn also said that, based on the growth of the staff as a whole, the Rockies can do something special this year.

“Yeah, most definitely. I’ll throw our starters in there, with the way these guys have prepared and the way they looked last year, I think we can be one of the best pitching staffs in the game.”

The Rockies’ inspiring playoff run — and brief appearance there — have given the team a hunger that they didn’t possess before.

“It definitely fuels you. You got to the playoffs and it was one game; it was must-win and we lost,” Dunn said. “It’s a bad taste at the end of the year that we had in our mouths, and we want to use that as fuel to move us forward.”

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