• This trade is not in the same ballpark — not the same universe — as the Arenado deal. They are totally different scenarios.
Bottom line: I think it was savvy trade by the Rockies, and much, much better than if they had done nothing.— Landon, Aurora In the 1950s and ’60s, team pitching staff personnel were comprised of players with various pitch specialties to disrupt batter timing and plate discipline on a daily basis during a home stand. That led to success rates like that of Rockies reliever Bret Sutter. It doesn’t seem like the approach is used in today’s game. If not, then why not? High spin rates and velocities do nothing to disrupt batters but instead increase pitchers’ injuries.
To recap, the Rockies recently lost three of their top pitching prospects to Tommy John surgery: Double-A right-hander Gabriel Hughes ; Single-A Fresno righty Jordy Vargas ; and Fresno righty Jackson Cox .