SURPRISE, Ariz. -- It came as no surprise to Ryan Feltner when he walked off the mound at Surprise Stadium on Friday night after surrendering five runs over 1 2/3 innings against the Rangers in a 5-0 Rockies loss.
Not because he expected those results, but because he¡¯s seen this movie before. It plays in the spring.
¡°It happens in most Spring Trainings for me,¡± said Feltner, who walked five and hit a batter. ¡°I feel out of whack for a little bit, and then it comes back and I feel good.¡±
¡°It,¡± in this case, is the timing in Feltner¡¯s delivery. He said it often gets out of sync during this time of year. The culprit has been variable -- sometimes it¡¯s the rhythm or tempo, sometimes it¡¯s his leg lift. Sometimes it¡¯s where he plants his front foot as he drives down the mound. Sometimes it¡¯s where his arm is at a certain point in the meticulously fine-tuned motion of a Major League pitcher¡¯s delivery.
While that sounds like a lot to figure out with Opening Day two weeks away, Feltner isn¡¯t concerned. If this was the first time, maybe. But he¡¯s been in this place before.
Take Spring Training last year, for example. In his first Cactus League outing of 2024, the right-hander tossed two scoreless innings. Then he surrendered five runs in one inning of work against the Giants in his second spring appearance.
From there, he righted the ship, yielding just two runs on nine hits while striking out 15 and walking three the rest of the way. He then opened the regular season with a 3.38 ERA over his first three starts.
A 3.38 ERA is what Feltner had over three starts in this year¡¯s Cactus League season entering Friday night.
¡°The past few Spring Training starts, my timing was good,¡± he said. ¡°Today, I reverted back to some not-so-good patterns.¡±
What Feltner and the Rockies want to see is more of what he did over his last 15 regular-season outings last year -- across 81 2/3 innings, he had a 2.98 ERA and opponents hit .227 against him.
If Colorado can get that version of Feltner again, it¡¯ll be a big boost for a starting rotation that is finally whole after Germ¨¢n M¨¢rquez and Antonio Senzatela combined for four starts in 2024 due to injuries.
Feltner knows what he has in his arm, and he¡¯s shown glimpses of what he might become if he puts it all together. Even with a rough start last year, he ranked in the 81st percentile among qualified pitchers for fastball run value. He also did a good job with limiting hard contact by opposing batters, ranking in the 74th percentile in barrel rate (6.5%).
His goal for 2025?
¡°Just to take what I did in the second half last season and try to do it for a whole year,¡± Feltner said. ¡°I think as far as the mechanics, it was very stable, very repeatable. The timing was perfect, and I just fell into a groove and learned a lot about how to attack hitters with my stuff, because having six pitches makes it intricate at times as far as what to use and when.¡±
With a four-seam fastball that was among the more effective in the game last season to go along with a slider, changeup, sinker, curveball and sweeper, Feltner has the weapons to blossom into one of the more formidable right-handed starters in baseball.
Now, it¡¯s just a matter of timing.
¡°I feel healthy, I feel strong,¡± he said. ¡°My stuff overall has been good, movement wise. It¡¯s just that the timing is off right now.¡±