Volquez ‘great’ after two spring starts, but why does he think stadium radar gun is ailing?
The lineup the Colorado Rockies hauled out to Surprise Stadium on Monday won’t be confused with the Blake Street Bombers from the mid-1990s and early 2000s.
The Rockies, in fact, really pushed the limits of the rule that requires four MLB regulars at all spring road games.
Right-hander Edinson Volquez couldn’t control which hitters he faced in his second spring start for the Texas Rangers, but it’s not like they were just pulled out of the stands to face him.
He could control trying to get them out, and over two scoreless innings he retired six of the seven batters he faced. His fastball velocity again hit 97 mph on the stadium radar gun.
Two post-Tommy John starts, two healthy, encouraging performances.
“It was better than the first one,” Volquez said. “In the first one I was worried about throwing hard and seeing how my arm was going to work. Today I decided to pitch a little bit better, using my breaking balls even behind in the count.”
When reminded that he did throw hard he said, “That’s not right.” But he acknowledged that his velocity has been up, and he’s surprised by that and by how well he has felt so far this spring.
Volquez allowed four runs last week to the Chicago Cubs in one inning but had no issues recovering and sticking to the every-fifth-day schedule.
“I’m feeling great right now,” Volquez said. “In my first one, you don’t know how it’s going to be and how your arm’s going to react. The way I’ve been working and the way I’ve been feeling, everything’s been pretty good.”
This story was originally published March 4, 2019 at 4:23 PM.
