Everyone in the Rockies 2026 Opening Day starting rotation has had a chance to take the mound at least once. Kyle Freeland has had a second start but for comparison sake, let’s look at everyone’s first time taking the ball this season.
Process
The Rockies message to their pitchers this offseason couldn’t have been clearer: Make it difficult for hitters to guess which pitch you are going to throw, and then throw it in the zone.
Have they done so far?
- Kyle Freeland:
- Most used pitch: 27.2% Four Seamers
- Zone Percentage: 45.7%
- Michael Lorenzen:
- Most used pitch: 26.9% Changeups
- Zone Percentage: 44.1%
- José Quintana:
- Most used pitch: 37.2% Four Seamers
- Zone Percentage: 33.3%
- Tomoyuki Sugano:
- Most used pitch: 30.6% Four Seamers
- Zone Percentage: 48.6%
- Ryan Feltner:
- Most used pitch: 27.7% Four Seamers
- Zone Percentage: 51.1%
(Note: Zone% is simply the percentage of pitches in the strike zone regardless of batter swings. The league average for zone% fluctuates a little year to year but usually sits in the low 40’s.)
In terms of not relying on any one pitch, the Rockies do seem to be adhering to that rule. None of the starters used any pitch more than roughly a third of the time. The exact mix that they use will vary from start to start, and we won’t have a large enough sample size to know overall usage percentages for a while, but initial returns are promising.
In terms of filling up the zone, the only one who clearly didn’t meet the brief was Quintana. Historically, he’s been at or slightly above league average in Zone%, so I wouldn’t worry too much, but it is worth keeping an eye on as he gets more starts. Everyone else exceeded league average in terms of purely getting the ball in the strike zone.
Results
Going into the season, the hope for the new look rotation was just that they could be steady major league quality pitchers that didn’t let most games spiral.
Here’s how they fared the first time out:
- Kyle Freeland: 4.1 Innings, 5 Hits, 2 Walks, 2 Strikeouts, 2 Runs/2 Earned
- Michael Lorenzen:4.1 Innings, 7 Hits, 0 Walks, 4 Strikeouts, 3 Runs/3 Earned
- José Quintana: 4.1 Innings, 4 Hits, 4 Walks, 2 Strikeouts, 2 Runs/2 Earned
- Tomoyuki Sugano: 4.2 Innings, 2 Hits, 2 Walks, 4 Strikeouts, 1 Runs/1 Earned
- Ryan Feltner:3 Innings, 1 Hit, 1 Walk, 4 Strikeouts, 0 Runs/0 Earned
The first thing that stands out? These are all pretty similar lines. There were a few more hits against Lorenzen, a few more walks against Quintana, fewer pitches from Feltner (because he got injured), but overall they saw pretty similar results.
No one got blown away.
No one blew away the competition.
Feltner looked like he was on his way to a notably good start before being hit on the hip by a comebacker, but we can’t know whether he would have been able to keep that up to stand out if he hadn’t been pulled. It’ll be exciting to see if he can pick up where he left off in his next start.
What has been a little low is the innings totals. No one surpassed 4.2 innings, but that isn’t surprising for the first time out after spring training. Considering the disruption of the normal spring routine that the WBC presented for many of these players, I don’t think the limited innings are a long-term worry. This is not a rotation that is ever going to throw seven innings very often but, once fully stretched out, five to six innings most nights (like Freeland on Wednesday) is a perfectly reasonable expectation.
Conclusions
As with everything else this early in the season, there’s not actually enough data yet to make any meaningful conclusions. What can be said is that, so far, this looks like what the front office was aiming for: a professional on the mound each night that can avoid letting the game get out of hand by mixing pitches and filling up the zone.
The next challenge for this crew will be the same one that has faced every Rockies pitching staff since 1993: Will their process be able to withstand the thin air in Denver?
Feltner expected to make next start after ’26 debut curtailed by comebacker | MLB.com
Some encouraging news after Feltner had to get pulled from his first start of the season on Tuesday evening. As expected, it’s nowhere near as serious as the comebacker that fractured his skull in 2022 and Feltner is expected to make his next start.
TJ Rumfield Could Change the Narrative Surrounding the Rockies | SI.com
A quick look through what we’ve all been noticing since he came over from the Yankees this spring: Rumfield has looked great.
Here’s 1 must-visit Minor League spot from every farm system for 2026 | MLB.com
Benjamin Hill and Josh Jackson highlight a minor league affiliate for each MLB team that has fun amenities or general experience. I go to more Hartford Yard Goats games than anything else these days so it does not shock me in the slightest that they were called out as the Rockies affiliate folks should check out. A day at Dunkin’ Park is always a good time.
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