Rockies fanned by more fastballs

On a windy, cold night at Coors Field, the Rockies faced their struggles with heat once again.

Giants' starter Jordan Hicks, who leads his arsenal with the league's third-fastest average fastball among starters, continued Colorado's trend of failing to catch up in an 8-6 loss for the hosts.

Hicks joined Dylan Cease, Luis Castillo and George Kirby as high-velocity arms that have contained the Rockies and their host of young hitters — many facing some of the league's top arms for the first time since making it up out of the minors.

They found success in the form of a season-high seven hits and three earned runs but struggled to find a rhythm most of the outing. Only one of the hits came against his fastball.

Manager Bud Black knows guys like Hicks rarely exist in the minor leagues, if ever. The reliever-turned-starter was another chapter of the team's baptism by fire. And the heat is melting them so far. The lineup produces the 24th-most run value league against fastballs, according to FanGraphs.

"He’s got a good arm, he’s got good stuff," Black said of Hicks after the loss. "He went to the fastball late when he needed it but threw a lot of breaking balls. We hung in there on the split finger and the breaker.”

The issue’s solution is complex and different for each player.

Brenton Doyle and others keep a notebook of details from each of their first times facing a pitcher. Kirby, for example, was a first for the outfielder and many of the Rockies. They knew his fastball was coming, but seeing it in person was a varied experience from video scouting.

“It can only benefit us to see them, but watching video and being in the box yourself are two completely different things,” Doyle said. “There are also certain pitchers who gameplan totally different when they throw here. Sometimes they can’t get their slider to move right (at altitude), so they’ll move to a changeup, stuff like that.”

The problem is made worse by the team’s struggles against breaking balls.

Colorado’s young hitters are still looking to find their footing, and it’s one of the league’s worst lineups in chase rate against breaking balls.

The focus has been cutting out the whiffs, and have the club keying on other things. When the high-velocity pitches come, the Rockies have been late — the balls have been fouled off or missed altogether with a smaller margin for error.

“A lot of guys have been chasing down and away, so that’s in the back of our heads,” Sean Bouchard said. “You want to see the off-speed up. But you think about it for that millisecond and it’s too late.”

As the chase rate rose, the momentum did the opposite.

It wasn’t enough to overcome a large deficit when Colorado found some Wednesday. In Tuesday’s loss, it never came as the Rockies collected just four singles.

The issues are multiple, and the solutions are, too. Catching the heat would be a good start.

Kris Bryant battling long-term issues, but inching toward a return. Kris Bryant’s back issues are a recurring problem, but the veteran hit in the cages on Wednesday, fielded, and ran in his process to come back from the injured list. He was placed on it on April 17 with a lower back strain.

Black indicated that his return will “most likely” come after a rehab assignment. Nolan Jones is expected to resume baseball activities this weekend, too.

The injury came after he dove into the right-field wall of Toronto’s Rogers Centre. The back injury had crept up earlier in the year on the team’s trip to Chicago but was exacerbated by the catch at the wall. It’s a long-term issue Bryant told reporters, and stems from aging discs in his back.

Bryant is in the third year of a seven-year, $182 million contract and has played in 13 games this year. In his three seasons with Colorado, he has missed 226 games since signing the deal.

He struggled mightily in limited action to a .149 average and one home run in 47 at-bats.

Giants 8, Rockies 6

What happened: San Francisco blitzed Peter Lambert and put seven runs on the board before the fourth inning to upend Colorado and continue the club’s franchise-worst streak without a series win to start 2024 (12).

On the mound: Lambert allowed seven earned runs on nine hits in three innings before being pulled. The Giants hung six on his line in the second inning, and he’s allowed at least four earned runs in three of his last four starts. Anthony Molina did the opposite and threw 3⅔ innings with one earned run. He’s allowed two across his last 11⅓ innings.

At the plate: Charlie Blackmon broke his 7-for-57 slump with his first multi-hit game since April 8. His two runs driven in tied Nolan Arenado for fourth in franchise history (760). Elias Díaz hit his third home run in the ninth inning. Sean Bouchard had a season-high three hits. Jordan Beck had his first two hits at Coors Field after he debuted on the road.

What’s next: San Francisco Giants (RHP Keaton Winn, 3-4) at Colorado Rockies (RHP Cal Quantrill, 1-3) at 1:10 p.m. on Thursday at Coors Field (Rockies.TV).