Last fall, Colorado Rockies southpaw Kyle Freeland finished fourth in National League Cy Young Award voting on the strength of an impressive season. He had managed a 2.85 ERA (164 ERA+) over 202 innings, fanning nearly 2.50 batters per walk along the way. Freeland even appealed to more traditional voters thanks to a 17-7 won-lost record; he was, then, good in the eyes of any judge.
The opposite has been true so far in 2019, as Freeland has been a mess. On Friday, he paid for it: the Rockies demoted him to Triple-A as the headliner in a series of moves.
Through 12 starts, Freeland has a 7.13 ERA (72 ERA+) to show for his efforts. His hit, home-run, walk, and strikeout rates have all worsened -- to the extent that he's nearly allowed as many home runs this season as he did all last year … in less than a third as many innings.
The main culprit for Freeland's struggles appears to be a less effective fastball. He hasn't lost velocity or swinging strikes -- and he's actually gained spin -- yet batters are hitting .295 on his heater with a .602 slugging percentage. Last season, for comparison, batters hit .248 and slugged .384 against the fastball.
Blame Freeland's fastball woes on command, the juiced ball, bad luck, or some combination thereof, but clearly it wasn't working -- and clearly he wasn't inching any closer to an answer. Over his last three starts, he'd averaged less than three innings per while giving up 21 hits and 15 runs. Yikes.
The Rockies have to hope some time in the minors can help Freeland get back on track. Given the alternative, it can't hurt.
It's not apparent who will replace Freeland in the rotation. Ryan Castellani is on the 40-man roster, but top prospect Peter Lambert has outperformed him this season. The Rockies recently had to insert Jeff Hoffman in the rotation after Tyler Anderson was announced as needing knee surgery.