Well-studied Rolison ready to make 'impact'

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Rockies left-handed pitching prospect Ryan Rolison found out for himself during his first bullpen session at Coors Field last summer. At least the lesson wasn’t painful.

“Going to my curveball and really trying to throw it like I usually do, hard, it was just kind of spinning up,” Rolison said. “The more I tried to throw it harder, it was just spinning out of my hand.”

In a normal season, Rolison’s first time throwing at Coors would have been either days before his first Major League game, or, under emergency circumstances, in an actual game. But with no Minor League season, Rolison spent the year at the alternate training site.

He learned to make his pitches act the way he wanted. He compensated for the Mile High atmosphere's effect on the curve, for example, by “hanging on to the ball a little bit longer.” And because he was not in games, pitches that went wrong were not recorded as negative statistics. Rolison also spent time with those who were pitching for keeps, like Kyle Freeland, another left-handed former top Draft pick.

The Rockies resisted throwing him into a Major League game at the end of a lost 2020. Instead, the experiments and education carried into instructional ball in Arizona. On Sunday, the Rockies will offer a peek at Rolison. He is scheduled for two innings -- after No. 1 starter Germán Márquez throws three -- against the White Sox in Glendale, Ariz.

No matter how eye-popping Rolison -- Colorado's No. 2 prospect -- may be in Cactus League games, the Rockies are steadfast in not rushing him to the Majors -- although it’s possible last summer will allow him to skip Double-A and start the year at Triple-A Albuquerque.

“I’m just trusting the coaches here and what they see,” said Rolison, who posted a 4.40 ERA and struck out 132 against 40 walks at two Class A levels in 2019, and ended up throwing 80 competitive innings last summer and fall. “Even feedback that I’m getting from big league hitters -- talking to them about what they see, what I can get better at with my pitches, being able to tunnel better -- everything I’m hearing, the way I feel and the confidence I have, I’m as ready as I’ve ever been.”

Last year, when the big league club was in town, Rolison learned from pitching coach Steve Foster, who said the summer brought “learning -- a feeling of belonging,” and Freeland, who noted Rolison’s “good head on his shoulders.” Much of his throwing was spent with Minor League instructor Frank Gonzales, who lives in the Denver area, and then-pitching coordinator Steve Merriman.

Rolison and Gonzales connected quickly. Not only is Gonzales left-handed, but he was intimately involved in the development of a talented Major League lefty -- the Mariners’ Marco Gonzales, his son.

“He’s all about improvement, all about trying to figure out how to be efficient and yet competitive all at the same time,” said Gonzales, assigned to Double-A Hartford this year. “There are a lot of similarities to what we grew up with, having Marco at home. Ryan is that kind of kid.

“He got a better understanding of how he moves physically, and the ability to repeat his delivery from the ground up. He was adamant about his routine -- he’s very routine-oriented. His key is he knows he’s going to be in a good place to throw a baseball with his delivery, and when it comes out, he trusts it.”

Rolison, taken 22nd overall out of Ole Miss in 2018, possessed fastball velocity in the low-to-mid 90s, with his strength being the ability to hit spots with it on either side of the plate. The curve is his out pitch, and in small snippets last spring and in Summer Camp he showed a feel for the changeup.

He didn’t stop after his innings in Arizona. Rolison joined Rockies pitchers Chi Chi González and Tommy Doyle in Jupiter, Fla., to train at a center directed by Eric Cressey, an expert in developing “overhead” athletes. Rolison also has studied and targeted spin rates for his various pitches, and paid attention to making sure his release points offer deception.

Not that he needs the reminder, but Freeland said he likes to tell Rolison the call to the Majors “could happen in a hiccup.” So Rolison wants to be well schooled.

“My body feels better than it ever has, I’ve done a lot of work cleaning up some mechanical delivery things, and I feel my stuff is ready to play in the big leagues and I'm confident in my stuff,” Rolison said. “I’m ready to make an impact.”