Colorado Rockies Young Starting Pitching is to Thank for Their Hot Start

By Djack

When you think of the Colorado Rockies, names like Nolan Arenado, Carlos Gonzalez,  and Trevor Story start getting thrown around. That's their core group of guys in the lineup, throw in Charlie Blackmon and D.J. LeMahieu, and this lineup is pretty deadly. The lineup is filthy and at Coors field they're even filthier, yet it's not the reason for their amazing start to the 2017 season like many of you would think. If you remember last year the Rockies had this same lineup essentially, players got hurt here and there, but for the most part the group of guys I listed above were in the lineup. At no point last year were the Rockies considered a real threat, however now they most definitley are.

The difference between this year's Rockies team and last year's is the starting pitching. Rockies starting pitching hasn't been stellar, although it has been much better. The Rockies have two rookie pitchers that have taken the league by storm and look like they could be the faces of this pitching staff for years to come. Antonio Senzatela, the 22 year right hander has been phenomenal. No one expected him to come out and pitch this well, but he has, posting a 4-1 record with a 2.84 ERA. That's ace material, especially for Coors field, hopefully now he just maintains this. Also, Kyle Freeland, the 24 year old left handed rookie, has been phenomenal as well. Freeland has posted a 3-1 record with a 2.65 ERA. Great stuff from two very young pitchers, if they can keep this up the Rockies have a brighter future than I could've ever expected. Throw in Tyler Chatwood, who has proven he can give you real quality starts here and there, and Tyler Andersen who has struggled early, but is capable of much more, all the sudden this rotation is stacked. Oh yeah, how could I forget the team's ace Jon Gray will be back any week now. Colorado is brewing something special in the Rockies and it's not a Coors Light.

The Rockies lineup can go toe to toe with any lineup in the league, no one will debate that. The pitching staff has always been the concern for this team. Now, it seems like they've finally got a decent staff moving forward, as long as they stay healthy I don't see why they can't be poised for a playoff run. The bullpen still has some question marks, but if the starting pitching is good and the lineup does what they're capable of, the lead at the end of the game shouldn't be in question very often. Rockies went on that run in 2007 out of nowhere when they made it all the way to the World Series, maybe they'll repeat that since it seems to be the formula in Colorado. Come out of nowhere and go for it all, then break the entire team down. Must be tough being a small market fan knowing there's no way they can keep this squad together. Anyways, bright things ahead for the Colorado Rockies, it'd be a mistake to sleep on them with all this proof right before your eyes.