SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — When the Colorado Rockies acquired left-handed reliever Jake McGee from Tampa Bay in January 2016 in exchange for slugger Corey Dickerson, the Rockies thought they were adding a flame-thrower to their bullpen.
Instead, they received a lukewarm performance from McGee, whose signature, high-movement fastball was slowed by a knee problem and lack of lower-body strength.
“I had lost some foundation in my knee strength,” McGee said Friday. “After I had surgery, I lost my strength and just never really got it back. So my goal all offseason was to build that back up.”
He believes he did exactly that.
According to McGee, his left knee, the one he pushes off when delivering a pitch, is 30 percent stronger than it was when he entered the offseason. Early results in spring training have been encouraging. He looked impressive in live batting practice Thursday, one of his fastballs jamming Nolan Arenado and breaking his bat. McGee will pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, so his throwing program is ahead of others in camp.
“He looked great,” manager Bud Black said. “Jake had a great offseason and worked a great deal on his lower half. He feels physical better than he has in a long time. With that, we expect his stuff to be better, his control and command to be better, and hopefully his performance will be better.”
Pitching for the Rays from 2012-14, McGee was one of the majors’ most powerful lefties, averaging 96.44 to 97.45 mph on his fastball (according to Fangraphs) and striking out 11.3 batters per nine innings. But he suffered torn meniscus in his left knee in August 2015 and had arthroscopic surgery.
McGee seemed healthy when he came to the Rockies and became the closer early last season, but he went on the disabled list in June with more knee issues and it became evident that the power he displayed with Tampa Bay was missing. His fastball averaged a career-low 94.01 mph as he finished 2-3 with a 4.73 ERA in 57 games. He also served up a career-high nine home runs in 45 ⅔ innings.
“It was hard, because you want to contribute to your team, especially a new team,” said McGee, 30. “So now I want to be able to show the pitcher I really am.”
The silver lining is that last year McGee was forced to use his breaking ball — a combination curve/slider — and he thinks it made him a better all-around pitcher.
“Maybe now I’m a better pitcher than ever before,” he said. “I have a much better feel for it. I’ll use my fastball more, again, now that my velocity will be back, but it’s good to have that breaking pitch.”
McGee likely will be used as a seventh- and eighth-inning reliever, but it’s possible he could be in the mix to be the closer if right-handers Adam Ottavino or Greg Holland don’t win the job.
Closing time
Black made it clear Friday that he will choose someone to pitch the ninth inning in the regular season after monitoring camp competition and Cactus League results.
“I think that works best, to have that one guy, because that sort of sets everybody else up,” Black said. “It’s fluid every night, but each guy, when the game starts, knows when they are probably going to pitch. … There is comfort in that.”
Following it up
Shortstop Trevor Story tied a major-league rookie record for April home runs by hitting 10 to open last season. He finished with 27 homers in 97 games before a thumb injury ended his season. Big things are expected of Story again, but Black wants to make sure Story doesn’t get caught up in statistics.
“He’s got to realize that every year is different and that years play out differently,” Black said. “If he doesn’t hit seven homers in the first week, not all is lost. He’s a young player. He’s still getting his feet down as a major-league player. Just continue to grow and his talent will show up in production.
“A lot of times, younger players, based on a previously good year, will get caught up in statistics. That’s a pitfall. We just need him to play like Trevor Story.”
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