'I felt good': M¨¢rquez achieves goal with increased pitch count

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez accomplished a goal of increasing his pitch count on Sunday afternoon against the Mariners. But because of MLB Pipeline No. 20 prospect Colt Emerson and star Julio Rodr¨ªguez, it didn¡¯t exactly happen as planned.

With two out in the second inning of the Rockies¡¯ 6-1 Cactus League victory at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Emerson drove the at-bat to 14 pitches, the last of which hit him. M¨¢rquez ended the inning with two on base by forcing a grounder to short from Rodr¨ªguez to end an 11-pitch at-bat.

The Rockies scheduled M¨¢rquez for three innings, but manager Bud Black pulled him after Emerson and Rodr¨ªguez were chiefly responsible for running his pitch count to 48 through two.

None of this was a bad thing. In the trivial category of a Cactus League game, M¨¢rquez didn¡¯t give up any runs. The meaningful aspect of Sunday was M¨¢rquez, who has made just one Major League regular-season start since undergoing Tommy John right elbow surgery in 2023, held his pitch quality and emerged with no undue pain or fatigue.

¡°I was prepared for three innings today,¡± M¨¢rquez said. But ¡­ two batters, 25 pitches. But I was executing my pitches and I felt good.¡±

M¨¢rquez faced pressure the whole time. Rodr¨ªguez doubled the opposite way to the right-field corner on the first pitch and M¨¢rquez walked Randy Arozarena with one out, but he fanned Luke Raley and Mitch Haniger.

¡°Those were two great at-bats by the young shortstop and Rodr¨ªguez, but he kept pounding the strike zone,¡± Rockies manager Bud Black said. ¡°I liked the fastball, liked the delivery.¡±

M¨¢rquez has pitched well enough to hold the Rockies¡¯ career strikeouts record with 986, with the record being set last July 14 in his lone Major League start. He has pitched for the Rockies¡¯ last two postseason teams (2017 and '18) and he has been an All-Star ('21 at Coors Field). But he also knows that Coors Field is as tough a place to pitch as anywhere, so Sunday amounted to a good workout.

Even while straining just to get the guy out of the batter¡¯s box, M¨¢rquez could appreciate Emerson, an infielder who was the Mariners¡¯ 2023 first-round pick as a high school hitter.

¡°I tip my hat to that kid,¡± M¨¢rquez said. ¡°He can recognize the strike zone pretty well.¡±

So that's what the Player Development folks were talking about
Patience at the plate was a key attribute assigned to second baseman Adael Amador (Rockies' No. 5 prospect at the end of 2024) when he was considered the team¡¯s top prospect heading into last spring. But an oblique injury at Double-A Hartford, and impatience during a brief Major League trial while he played through the injury, didn¡¯t allow him to show the trait. But Sunday he drove in the go-ahead run on a walk from Hagen Danner.

¡°He swings at strikes and takes balls for the most part -- that will never leave him,¡± Black said. ¡°The trick for him when he gets to higher levels, when pitchers are more competent to throw the ball in the strike zone, whether the hit tool is going to show up. We think it will.¡±

Kyle Karros (Rockies' No. 18 prospect), the Northwest League Most Valuable Player for champion Spokane last season, followed with a two-run double. Karros is 8-for-17 (.471) in his first Major League camp.

¡°There are situations where some of the younger guys with bigger, longer swings can get themselves in trouble, but Kyle has shown a little bit of a more compact swing with some thump,¡± Black said.

Something more to celebrate
Non-roster righty Jefry Yan¡¯s leaping split strikeout celebration is the bright story of the spring. He was able to do one on Sunday. But another trait made Black happy on Sunday after Yan¡¯s clean inning.

¡°I was impressed by the breaking ball,¡± Black said. ¡°His slider was good. It had some depth to it and also had some good spin, and the bite was good.¡±

Quiet pickup ready to make noise
Righty Jimmy Herget, a waiver claim from the Cubs during the offseason, yielded three runs against the Diamondbacks in his first outing. But Sunday¡¯s two-strikeout outing gave him three strikeouts in three perfect outings since. Herget, 31 and out of Minor League options, is a bullpen candidate.

¡°He pounds the stroke zone, he¡¯s got some movement to the fastball, he throws a nice breaking ball with a couple of different arm angles,¡± Black said. ¡°His Major League track record is pretty good.¡±