The education of Rockies rookie pitcher Chase Dollander: “Struggles now will pay off down the line”

Chase Dollander sat in solitude in the Rockies dugout Wednesday night lost in thought staring out at the diamond Out of sync from the beginning of his start the rookie right-hander squandered a lead giving up six runs on five hits and three walks He was pulled with no outs in the fourth inning after walking two and hitting a batter To add insult to his lousy evening the Rockies lost - to the Tigers in innings tumbling to - in a season that s on track to be the worst in franchise history Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black pulls starting pitcher Chase Dollander in the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals at Coors Field on April Rockies catcher Jacob Stallings watches the transaction Photo by Andy Cross The Denver Post Dollander commented afterward that he was not discouraged just frustrated It was another hard lesson in a big-league instruction that has been tougher than a great number of expected The next morning Dollander was in a reflective mood He might not like the early results but noted he came in prepared for the hard knocks of big-league baseball Required if it s been a tougher road than expected he replied No I felt like I was prepared and I still am I am just going through a little thing right now But it s nothing to worry about I m definitely going to come out of it on the other side It s going to be fine this year I promise you that After six big-league starts however Dollander s bottom line is ugly The -year-old has a ERA WHIP and has served up eight home runs By comparison lefty Kyle Freeland posted a ERA and a WHIP with one home run over the first six starts of his debut season But Dollander has experienced success too In Colorado s - win over the Braves on April at Coors Field he allowed just two singles struck out four and walked three over innings He held his own against Braves left-hander Chris Sale the National League Cy Young Award winner Dollander helped Colorado snap an eight-game losing streak embracing the role of stopper One-hundred percent reported Dollander who left the encounter with two outs in the sixth inning due to a bloody cracked fingernail on the middle finger of his pitching hand I prepared a lot for this start knowing I had to give the squad a good sparse innings But his next start mirroring the up-and-down nature of Dollander s rookie year was a different story on Wednesday Manager Bud Black and pitching coach Darryl Scott commented that his mechanics were slightly off and that Dollander was rushing his delivery Dollander offered his own explanation for his poor performance I definitely beat myself more than anything he reported I lost my attack mode when I got a little frustrated with how things were going I don t feel like they hit the ball that hard I just beat myself Dollander the ninth overall pick of the draft arrived in Colorado with mile-high expectations Farm director Chris Forbes commented the Rockies were building a top-of-the-rotation guy Dollander s talent tantalizes In his big-league debut on April vs the Athletics he unleashed a mph fastball the fastest pitch thrown by a Rockies starter since German Marquez s mph heater on Aug In Dollander s start against Washington on April his fastball topped out at mph the fastest pitch by a Rockies starter in the Statcast Era since Colorado Rockies Chase Dollander delivers a pitch to a San Diego Padres batter in the first inning April in San Diego AP Photo Derrick Tuskan The Tennessee product employs a four-pitch mix four-seam fastball cutter curve and changeup that gives him the best overall stuff on the Rockies staff He can blow a hitter away or twist them like a pretzel with his emerging ball but only if he properly locates his pitchers His walks were tied for the the greater part on the band entering Colorado s weekend series against the Padres What Chase has shown is the ability to get out of trouble with a strikeout Black announced He s got strikeout stuff But Chase is realizing now that the ability to throw strikes is key It s hard to work from behind in the count consistently He s realized that the location of the fastball is more imperative in the big leagues You can get away with fastball misses in the minors but you don t get away with it up here That s the thing that more than anything he s fast learning Of the eight home runs Dollander has given up seven have come on four-seam fastballs The other homer came off his cutter Right-hander Ryan Feltner at the moment on the injured list with a back strain has become Dollander s confidant The two frequently discuss pitching strategy mechanics and philosophy Feltner s a huge fan but understands that Dollander is still relatively raw Everybody knows he s going to have a long career and everybody knows he s got great stuff Feltner revealed And I think everybody believes in him as well But for Chase there are little intricacies to the encounter that don t show up in the minor leagues Things like knowing what the hitter might be looking for knowing what kind of hitter they are Failure was one of Feltner s best teachers Through his first career starts the right-hander was - with a ERA His ERA ranked as the fourth-highest in franchise history through a pitcher s first starts Feltner missed the majority of the season after suffering a fractured skull on May when he was hit in the head by a comebacker to the mound He yo-yoed between success and failure until he decisively discovered a winning formula in the second half of last season when he posted a ERA over his final starts One of the largest part central lessons he learned was to stay on the attack He s drilled that mantra into Dollander Colorado Rockies pitcher Chase Dollander reacts as he comes off the mound after pitching in the fourth inning as the Rockies took on the Athletics at Coors Field on April Photo by Helen H Richardson The Denver Post I ve recounted him to be aggressive in the zone early because his stuff is plenty good enough Feltner disclosed There are times when he gets a little bit too caught up with trying to be too perfect with location He doesn t have to be I have made that mistake time and time again He ll learn that promptly Ask Dollander about things he s learned since his debut and he ticks off a list I ve learned that I have to set up hitters in order to strike them out he mentioned I also know I have to feel settled throwing all of my pitches in all counts I m learning that when I get behind in the count I can t just try to blow the ball past guys with my heater like I did in the minors It s a matter of learning how to use my pitches to the best of my ability and be able to execute on a day-to-day basis Related Articles Rockies Journal questions for owner Dick Monfort How LoDo can Rockies go Padres blast five homers in - win at Coors Field Rockies GM Bill Schmidt backs Bud Black says club capable of doing better Renck Disappointed humbled Rockies Zac Veen back on right track in Triple-A Grading The Week Dick Monfort s Rockies almost made Kyle Freeland cry Join the club Surprisingly perhaps Dollander says he welcomes the hard knocks It s about getting peaceful being uncomfortable if that makes sense he mentioned I m grateful for all of the struggles I m in a good place with it I think it s going to make me a better pitcher down the line I d rather go through it now than later in my career As impressed as Feltner is by Dollander s pitching prowess it s the rookie s attitude that blows him away He has a spectacular balance between caring a lot and not letting it affect him Feltner He ll get beat up a little bit by a bad start because he cares But he flushes very quick and he s on to the next match He does that better than I did as a rookie so I m learning from him as well Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis