'Good lessons' and 'good signs' for Kauffmann in debut

ARLINGTON -- A good lesson.

That’s how Karl Kauffmann described his Major League debut on Friday night. The Rockies' right-hander looked like a savvy veteran early on, shutting down the Rangers’ potent offense for three innings before running into trouble in the middle innings in what became a 7-2 loss.

“There’s definitely some things to build off in there,” Kauffmann said. “You see some of the mistakes I made. I’ve got to get ahead better, attack guys early and try and create weak contact. I threw a few too many pitches, and guys were seeing me.

“I think just limiting the amount of pitches they see and trying to get ahead early, that’s going to be the key for me. Going forward, some good things to build off of. A good lesson for sure.”

Kauffmann could hardly have asked for a better way to begin his career. He struck out former All-Star Marcus Semien to open the game, then worked around a leadoff walk in the second and a leadoff single in the third.

In the fourth, though, Kauffmann couldn’t escape another leadoff walk. He issued a five-pitch free pass to Nathaniel Lowe, then left an 0-1 cutter up in the zone that Adolis García sent over the right-field fence to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

Kauffmann said he threw the same pitch twice to García in that at-bat, something he’d like to have back in hindsight.

“I just doubled up on two cutters up and away,” he said.

A promising sign was Kauffmann and the Rockies minimizing damage after García’s home run in the fourth. Texas third baseman Josh Jung tried to score on a two-out double by Ezequiel Duran, but Colorado had a textbook relay from center fielder Brenton Doyle to shortstop Ezequiel Tovar to catcher Elias Diaz to nab Jung at the plate.

That momentum was short-lived as things unraveled in the fifth.

Kauffmann saw the leadoff man reach on a throwing error by Tovar, then proceeded to give up a single to Semien and a two-run double to Corey Seager. The right-hander retired the next batter, Lowe, on a groundout, and his night was over with García due up again.

Kauffmann struck out four and was charged with five runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings.

“Overall, I think his stuff was fine,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He seemed to have some composure, which was good to see. The walk, then the homer came back to bite him. We’ve got to limit the walks as best we can, but it was good to see him out there competing, and he did it with some poise.”

At the end of the day, Kauffmann said he “left it all out there.” And despite the loss, the night ended with him being congratulated by more than 25 family members and friends who made the trip to Texas for his debut.

“This is kind of a celebration for them,” he said.

Kauffmann added that he felt he held his nerves in check fairly well. He acknowledged that pitching on college baseball’s biggest stage at the 2019 College World Series as a member of the Michigan Wolverines helped set the stage for his big league debut.

“[The College World Series] was definitely a good warmup,” Kauffmann said. “Being in a large setting like that, a very public game, I think that definitely helped. The nerves? I thought they’d be a little bit worse than they were, to be honest with you, so I was happy with the way I was. Some good things in there, but definitely a lot of things to work on."

It’s unclear if Kauffmann will remain in the Rockies’ rotation going forward. Black said that is a decision the team has to work through in the coming days.

But Black seemed pleased with some of the things he saw from Kauffmann. There is room for improvement, of course, but the three scoreless innings to open the game were impressive.

“The first three innings were solid. He got a couple of ground balls, got some strikeouts, looked under control,” Black said. “His challenge is he’s got to keep the fastball at the knees. He’s got to get the ball to the inside corner against the righties. He’s got to get in on some lefties. He’s got to pitch. I think we saw glimpses of that today, which was a good sign.”