Feltner unfazed by HR, rotation uncertainty in best start

DENVER -- The biggest lesson of Rockies right-hander Ryan Feltner’s five-start-old Major League career is that he can’t ease into games. The leadoff hitter homered in two of his first three starts. And these days, being an injury call-up, Feltner has to make the most of every pitch since he doesn’t know when his next one is coming.

Aggressive from the initial pitch, Feltner struck out six in seven strong innings while earning his first Major League win, 7-1 over the Marlins at Coors Field on Monday afternoon.

Feltner was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque after Antonio Senzatela sustained a back injury on May 16. Senzatela was in the clubhouse Monday and will be activated to start on Wednesday against the Marlins, which puts Feltner back in the spot of the sixth man in a five-man rotation -- unless something happens. Feltner, though, was pitching to win, and not thinking about security.

“You can’t avoid it,” Feltner said. “I know what's going on behind the scenes as far as injuries and whatnot, and the position I'm in. That's the role that I gotta fill right now. And I'm just filling that role to the best of my ability.

“It doesn’t really affect how I pitch.”

A confident Feltner not only controlled the Marlins bats with four- and two-seam fastballs and breaking pitches -- and without the changeup, his key Minor League pitch that simply isn’t there right now. He even shook off the two trouble spots -- a 496-foot Jesús Sánchez homer in the second, and leadoff walk to Jacob Stallings in the third.

Feltner, 25, went from Class A to the Majors last season, gave up an Ozzie Albies homer on his first pitch on Sep. 5 and went 0-1 with an 11.37 ERA in two wobbly starts. Called up on April 27 this year at Philadelphia, Feltner gave up a first-inning homer to Odubel Herrera, and four runs in the first three innings. But he threw up zeroes in the last two innings, walked off the mound with seven strikeouts and has kept moving forward.

In Senzatela’s stead at Pittsburgh last Wednesday, he struck out seven and gave up two runs and three hits in five innings.

“Today, he pitched great,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He was aggressive right from the get-go, some good fastballs.

“I thought his breaking ball today was sharp as I’ve seen it at any time that I’ve seen him pitch. He blew some guys up at the top of the zone.”

Feltner dueled with Marlins starter Pablo López (six innings, no runs, three hits) until his offense could ignite. Yonathan Daza’s three-run double in the seventh swung the game to Rockies.

Feltner’s quick path to the Majors last year -- after he didn’t pitch in the pandemic year of 2020 -- would be a problem for a pitcher with less aptitude. But Feltner’s uncanny focus has served him well.

When Feltner arrived in the Majors last September, he was at the end of a lengthy professional season, after a year of no pitching. His upper-90s velocity -- which he displayed Monday, with fastballs topping out at 97 mph -- was not there. Working at the top of the zone put him far ahead of hitters at Class A Spokane and Double-A Hartford. But he skipped Triple-A on the way up, and was greeted with much better hitters last September.

Feltner is matching those hitters now.

After last season, Feltner, an Ohio State product and fourth-round Rockies pick in 2018, and his younger brother, Riley Feltner, a solid pitcher at Kent State before injuries slowed him, devised a plan that included a trip to Driveline, a performance facility in suburban Seattle. Feltner arrived with better velocity, and a more efficient motion.

The focus was important, since club personnel could not have contact with players during the lockout.

“It's really cool to see with the work that he’s put in -- it's been a very focused work,” Rockies pitching coach Darryl Scott said. “Seeing how focused and how detailed the work was is a humongous credit. I'm sure a lot of people throughout baseball didn't really focus on the right thing coming into this Spring Training.”

The poise came into focus after Sánchez launched the longest homer in the Majors this season and second-longest in Coors Field history.

When you’re not guaranteed pitches, Feltner wasn’t going to be undone by one gone wrong.

“Sometimes pitchers have a tendency to get a little hesitant after things like that,” Feltner said. “I wanted to be in attack mode and stick with my game plan.”