The slow decline in the prominence of the starting pitcher in baseball has been in full swing for decades. In the place of hurlers that would routinely throw every pitch of a game when called upon has come an increasingly large carousel of single-inning (or less) relievers.
The prevailing strategy throughout the league can be summed up like this: fewer pitches per pitcher, but more effort per pitch. Whatever you or I think about the aesthetics of this change, it has seen widespread adoption from MLB teams with the understanding that it gives them the best chance to win each game.
As behind the times as the Rockies have been in recent years, even they had adapted to this particular facet of modern baseball before the offseason front office overhaul brought in a new perspective on the sport. Some of what the Paul DePodesta-led front office was trying to change about the moribund franchises’ approach to pitching was signposted clearly (larger pitch arsenals, pitch suggestions from the dugout, and simply throwing the ball in the strike zone more often).
However, perhaps the most profound shift wasn’t noticeable until the season started.
At the start of play on Thursday, the Rockies have had 20 relief appearances that lasted more than two innings. Only the Washington Nationals with 18 such appearances come close to matching this total. The Rockies are on pace to feature a reliever going more than two innings in 120 games this year, which would break the previous record of 116 set by the fledgling 1977 Seattle Mariners (one of only four teams with over 100 such relief appearances).
Unsurprisingly, the Nationals (173.1) and Rockies (170.0) also lead the league in total relief innings pitched this season. At first glance, this would seem to indicate that both teams have similarly used bullpens, but there is something that separates the two: While the Nationals are middle-of-the pack in terms of total number of relief appearances, the Rockies are tied for the fewest in the league.
The Rockies are leaning on their bullpen as a group just as much as anyone, but the shape of that usage is different. They have specifically stacked their bullpen with long-relief arms that are pitching more innings per appearance, but making fewer appearances.
One could assume that this was purely a byproduct of Chase Dollander essentially being used as a starting pitcher without getting that designation officially because he was paired with an opener. The Rockies, however, have so far had five different pitchers throw more than two innings in a game that they entered as a reliever:
- Chase Dollander (six times)
- Antonio Senzatela (four times)
- Tanner Gordon (four times)
- Zach Agnos (four times)
- Valente Bellozo (two times)
That’s just the Rockies major league team. The same strategy is also being employed in Albuquerque.
Isotopes Keegan Thompson, Carson Palmquist (No. 19 PuRP), Gabriel Hughes (No. 12 PuRP), Parker Mushinski, Patrick Weigel, and Collin Baumgartner have had two-plus-inning relief appearances more than once so far this season. This means that if/when the major league pitching staff becomes depleted, either from injuries or trades, there is a surplus of longrelief capable arms ready to be called up.
It has become clear, based on comments made by DePodesta in recent weeks, that this was the intended plan coming into the season and not just a natural byproduct of the specific makeup of players in the organization he inherited. This may, in fact, be part of the workload management new bullpen coach Matt Buschman was starting to implement in spring training.
The thinking is pretty obvious: For a team that plays at elevation that lacks a rotation of aces able to go seven every night, the bullpen being composed of one-inning flamethrowers that empty the tank on every pitch leads to extreme second-half swoons. We’ve seen this exact story play out seemingly every year recently where the bullpen will come out the gates looking incredible in April, lead the league in usage, and then fall off a cliff by mid-summer. For evidence one need look no further than Jake Bird’s 2023, Victor Vodnik’s 2024, or Seth Halvorsen’s 2025.
By leaning into arms that pitch less frequently but longer when they do, the hope seems to be that the wear and tear of the same number of innings will be reduced. This could be through either more rest days or simply the idea that pitchers will naturally pace themselves and throw with less max effort if they know they are expected to be out there for longer outings.
Will this work? We won’t know until the grind of the season has had a chance to settle in on this new look bullpen. It is, however, just nice to see the organization genuinely trying new things instead of being content to fail in the same way every year.
The Isotopes keep raking. All of Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP), Blaine Crim, Charlie Condon (No. 1 PuRP), Chad Stevens, and Drew Avans had multiple hits including home runs from Stevens and Avans. Zac Veen (No. 9 PuRP) only had a single hit… but that was because he worked a walk in all four of his other plate appearances. On the mound no one truly stood out, the closest being Welinton Herrera (No. 17 PuRP) who struck out three in two scoreless relief innings, but as a group Erasmo Ramírez, Mason Green, Herrera, and Blas Castaño combined to only allow two runs on six hits.
This was the Dyan Jorge game as he reached base four times and stole two bases on three attempts. Otherwise the offense was relatively quiet other than a double and a stolen base from Roc Riggio (No. 14 PuRP). Blake Adams was the bulk reliever, coming in after the opener Sam Weatherly, and didn’t allow an earned run over 5.1 innings. Ultimately it came down to a sacrifice fly bringing home a zombie runner in the bottom of the tenth inning that sealed the deal for the Rumble Ponies.
A tight affair that ended with a walk off RBI single from Roynier Hernandez in the ninth. To start, Jordy Vargas (No. 21 PuRP) took the ball and set the town with 5.2 innings of one run ball before handing it over to Bryan Perez and Fisher Jameson to finish out the remaining 4.1 innings. Almost everyone in the lineup reached base at least once but it was Jacob Humphrey (two for three with a stolen base) and the aforementioned Roynier Hernandez (three for four with a walk) that were the difference makers.
The Grizzlies had an all around poor showing in this one. On the mound Austin Newton allowed six earned runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings and it only got worse after that when Manuel Olivares walked four and allowed three hits over 1.1 innings and Austin Emener “closed out” the game with another three runs over two innings. In terms of the lineup, while Carlos Renzullo had a nice day at the plate with two hits and a walk, the only runs were accounted for by a two run shot from Ethan Holliday (No. 2 PuRP) to go along with his three strike outs.
This is an in-depth piece by Eli Whitney that features a wide ranging interview with Karros. It covers everything from the differences between him and his dad, his love of third base, and his dreams of bringing October baseball to Denver. It’s a fantastic interview that I cannot recommend enough.
Chase Dollander’s hot start to the season is starting to be noticed by media outside of the Rockies direct orbit. Jim Bowden places him amongst young stars like Cam Schlittler and Jacob Misiorowski as one of the burgeoning aces throughout the league. The particular insights aren’t new to folks who frequent Purple Row, but it is nice to see this start to percolate to the general baseball public.
Thomas Harding talks to Juan Mejia about the adjustments he’s making that are leading to his success early in the season. It’s interesting to see the coaching staff be able to help him through the growing pains of competing at the major league level, especially considering Mejia is one of the few true max-effort short relief options in the Rockies current bullpen.
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