MVN - Most Valuable Network

Anemic offense can’t help Reynolds in so-so debut

With Matt Holliday getting the day off, the Rockies found runs hard to come by in the rubber match of this three game set against San Diego. Chris Young continued what seems like his perpetual domination of the boys from Denver, limiting them to a single run over six innings while improving to 5-1 lifetime against Colorado. The 6-1 loss has dropped the Rockies to 15-22, a far cry from what most expected after the National League pennant winning season in 2007.

However, the most important aspect of today’s game wasn’t necessarily the final score but rather the performance of Greg Reynolds, the 2006 first round draft pick of the Rockies. Chosen second overall (after Luke Hochevar and ahead of Evan Longoria,) the Rox have placed high expectations on Greg, pushing him through the minors faster than most other top pitching prospects. He’s shown a remarkable ability to pound the strike zone in his minor league stops, attacking hitters with his sinking fastball. His strikeout rate isn’t what you’d expect out of a guy chosen number two overall (which led to some criticism of the pick initially) but the Rox are confident he can become a consistent top of the rotation type by utilizing his ability to get ground balls instead of the K’s.

I didn’t get to watch the entire game today, but it looked like Reynolds wasn’t showing any jitters early, throwing strikes and keeping the Padres off the scoreboard until he allowed a solo homer in the fifth. The wheels came off a bit in the sixth when he allowed three runs, but overall he did a serviceable job considering it was his major league debut. Nothing overpowering, but nothing to be worried about either. We’re definitely going to need to see more groundballs than flyballs allowed in the future, but I suppose I should be glad he came out and pounded the strike zone after watching Reynolds’ fellow young phenoms Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales struggle with their control this year.

Starting in Petco Park against the Padres was a perfect situation for Reynolds to make his debut in, so it will be interesting to see how he handles his start on Saturday against the Twins at Coors Field. I’m looking forward to seeing more out of the tall, lanky right hander and I hope he continues to make strides in his development as he tries to prove that he belongs in this rotation for good.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 11th, 2008 at 7:35 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.