Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Colorado Rockies righty Juan Nicasio has electric stuff on the mound. When he is on, he can dominate hitters and make them look foolish.
Now he has to control it.
Nicasio has had trouble with a high pitch count through his four starts this season. In Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Nicasio couldn’t get through the fifth inning as his pitch count grew to 96 pitches with three walks. It was the first loss at Coors Field for the Rockies this season. Those numbers have been the norm for the Nicasio.
He is averaging 96 pitches per start, but only going an average of five innings in those games. Throwing almost 20 pitches an inning will not get the righty deep in ball games and will put a strain on the Rockies bullpen. He also has 12 walks and 12 strikeouts on the season — not a good ratio for any pitcher.
High pitch counts have plagued Nicasio since coming up to the big leagues. Last season where he was limited to only 11 starts due to injury, he average 5.2 innings a start with 92 pitches — better numbers than this season, but still not great for a pitcher with his stuff.
The Rockies are still counting on Nicasio to be an important part of their rotation this season. He worked during the offseason to develop a slider and changeup to go with his dominating fastball. His fastball reaches 96 miles per hour on a regular basis. Adding off-speed pitches could make Nicasio much more of a complete pitcher.
Several young pitchers for the Rockies have had the same problem as Nicasio including the inconsistent Jhoulys Chacin and Jorge De La Rosa, who has too many three-ball counts during a lot of his starts.
Colorado manager Walt Weiss is depending on these young starters to lead his pitching staff. If the starters can’t go more than five innings it will wear down his bullpen and could tire out the relievers down the stretch. Weiss and the Rockies need more innings from the starters.
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