Could Rox pitchers echo past squads?

This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Rockies are betting on manager Bud Black developing a solid starting rotation once again.

Now, Black would be hard-pressed to repeat the starting rotation magic of his first two years, 2017 and 2018, which ended in postseason trips. The 2023 group won’t match the '17-'18 group in one key area -- durability. But members of the ‘23 staff are making the forward steps that could lead to development breakthroughs.

Since April 20, the start of the last road trip, the Rockies have gone 7-6 and their starters have a 3.94 ERA. That span has included four games in power-hitter-friendly Philadelphia and six at almost as homer-happy Coors Field. More important, the current run included:

• José Ureña’s final start before he was released.

• Germán Márquez’s 3 2/3 innings and three runs at Cleveland, before he sustained a right elbow injury that will require season-ending Tommy John surgery.

• Noah Davis’ two-inning, seven-run struggle at home against the D-backs -- the night before he went to the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation.

But this is a time for enjoyable bullet points for the Purple Pinstripes:

• Right-hander Ryan Feltner is 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA and 15 strikeouts in his last three outings, holding opponents to a .226 batting average.

• Lefty Austin Gomber has won his last two, holding the Guardians and D-backs to one run and a .162 batting average.

• Lefty Kyle Freeland, who broke into the Majors with Black’s postseason teams, is 3-3 with a 3.76 ERA, with four quality starts.

All questions aren’t answered, of course.

Friday night’s opener of three against the Mets features the return of righty Antonio Senzatela, who looks to rekindle the spirit of 2017-18. Senzatela’s season ended last August with a left knee injury, just when there were signs that he was grasping a pitching plan intended to break him out of an extended period of inconsistency.

With Davis mending, the Rockies have turned to Connor Seabold, obtained last winter from the Red Sox, who is considered a work in progress like Feltner and Gomber, only with less experience. Seabold’s first Rockies start (the seventh of his career) -- a five-inning, no-decision outing against the Brewers in which the only runs were three solo homers -- was a starting point for Black.

Early indications are Davis’ absence will not be an extended one. Additionally, the Rockies on Thursday recalled Peter Lambert, who debuted in 2019 but has had a long road back from 2020 Tommy John surgery. Depending on the health of the staff, Lambert -- who spent the beginning of the season gradually building his pitch count at Triple-A Albuquerque -- could fill the righty long role that Seabold held to open the season.

Important members of the Rockies’ coaching staff that ushered in the postseason rotations are still in place. Besides Black, current pitching coach Darryl Scott worked with the pitchers when they were in the Minors and was called in during periods of struggle. Steve Foster, then the pitching coach and now director of pitching operations, is still a resource.

Before this year’s trip to Philadelphia that started the turnaround, coordinator of pitching strategies Flint Wallace joined the team during a homestand to offer input, in much the same spirit that the Rockies used in ‘17 and ‘18.

With different pitchers and different circumstances, Black is offering the same steadiness he did in more successful Rockies times.

“These guys are in the big leagues for a reason, because they have talent -- they have Major League-quality pitches,” Black said. “Now it’s just performance, doing it between the lines.”