Lawrence, Bird refining form while sidelined

This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

DENVER -- There are more fun places for a pitcher to find his form than the injured list, but that’s where Rockies right-handed relievers Justin Lawrence and Jake Bird are. Once they are past the soreness, the best of both may come.

Lawrence had good and bad streaks last season while posting a 3.72 ERA and 11 saves in 69 games. This season has brought some solid runs but also some poor outings in big situations (two saves, three blown saves) and a 5.91 ERA. He was placed on the IL on May 27 (retroactive to May 26) with a right shoulder strain after giving up three runs in two-thirds of an inning against the Phillies on May 25.

“It’s a little bit mechanical,” Rockies bullpen coach Reid Cornelius said. “He’s feeling some things and trying to work them out. We’re going to do some digging while he’s on the IL, look at some comparison video. He may need a little bit lower load, maybe in the legs, and get a lower slot. He seems to be pretty good when he’s lower.”

Bird, who went to the team’s complex in Scottsdale, Ariz., after Colorado announced his right elbow soreness, has a 6.10 ERA this season, after finishing last year at 4.33 in a team-leading 70 appearances.

“The biggest thing is trying to keep him under control,” Cornelius said. “His stuff is so good that sometimes he tries to out-stuff people, rather than pitching. When you do that, sometimes you lose command.

“He just needs to stay within himself and within the strike zone and work down. It’s an elite sinker, and he’s got really good breaking stuff.”

The problems stem partly from the loss of closer Daniel Bard, first to a knee injury and then to season-ending right elbow surgery. The belief is Lawrence and Bird were pressing, and they aren’t the only ones.

“They both pitched very well for us last year, and maybe came in trying to do a little bit more,” Cornelius said. “It’s so easy to say, ‘Just relax and let it work.’ But there’s a threat at the plate. It’s a tough league. We try to remind them to calm down and let it happen.”