SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — When German Marquez is on, there’s a swagger to his game. He glowers at hitters.

The right-hander can unleash a sizzling 97 mph fastball that sets hitters up for a knuckle curve that leaves them muttering as they trudge back to the dugout. Marquez practically smacks his lips waiting for his next victim.

But last season, the Rockies’ right-hander mislocated his fastball and misplaced his mojo, his swagger replaced by chagrin.

In a game against Texas in late August at Coors Field, Marquez gave up six runs on eight hits over six innings, leaving him with an unsightly 5.22 ERA.

“A game like this is frickin’ frustrating,” he said at the time.

For Marquez, an All-Star in 2021, there were far too many “frickin’ frustrating” games last season. Though he improved some in the second half his 4.95 ERA was the highest of his six full seasons in the majors, his 7.43 strikeouts per nine innings were the lowest, and the 30 home runs he served up the most.

But Marquez, 28, believes he can rebound. Colorado manager Bud Black believes it, too.

“We all know that German has talent,” Black said. “But for him to take it to the level that we think he can get to, his fastball command has to improve.”

In order to rebound, Marquez first had to explore what went wrong. He spent considerable time last season, and during the offseason, studying video and pouring over analytics.

“It’s all about my fastball command,” he said. “I have a pretty good fastball, right? But it’s kind of flat sometimes. And sometimes I threw a fastball and they just made contact. It was too easy for them.”

That was apparent in the opponents’ .260 batting average against him, the highest since 2017 (.270), his first full season in the majors. Marquez is a consistent strike-thrower, which is good. But hitters teed off on him last season because his pitches in the strike zone were too meaty.

In three of the four Baseball Savant’s attack regions — shadow, chase and waste — Marquez was about average. But when he threw pitches over the heart of the plate, Marquez got hammered. Of the 148 pitchers who threw at least 1,500 pitches last season, Marquez ranked 138th with a slugging percentage against him of .673 on pitches over the heart of the plate.

“My fastball was right in the middle and up and they got it pretty good,” Marquez said after that poor performance vs. the Rangers. “I can’t miss in that spot.”

In basic terms, Marquez said he needs, “more rise on the four-seam fastball and more sink on the two-seam fastball.”

Statistics also illustrate that he’s a more effective pitcher when he uses his sinker more. When Marquez pitched poorly last season, he used his four-seamer and sinker at about a three-to-two ratio, according to FanGraphs. When he pitched well, the usage of the two fastballs was about even.

Black, however, said that Marquez’s poor season was not just about pitch selection and poor execution. Last year’s labor lockout had an adverse effect on him, Black said.

“This is not an excuse for German, but the lockout and the inability to communicate with the strength and conditioning coaches, the trainers, the pitching coaches, and me, made it tough on German,” Black said.

This is a huge season for Marquez. He’ll make $15.3 million in the final year of his five-year, $43 million contract extension. The Rockies have a $16 million club option for him next season.

But it’s about more than just money. Marquez wants to prove that he can be an All-Star again and that his splendid 2018 season (14-11, 3.77 ERA in 33 starts) was not the high point of his career.

Marquez spent most of his offseason in his native Venezuela and reported to spring training in good shape, even though a slightly tweaked hamstring cost him a couple of Cactus League starts and prevented him from pitching for Venezuela in the first round of the World Baseball Classic.

“This year is different for German and he’s in a good frame of mind,” Black said. “He was building for WBC so his throwing program was accelerated a little bit. He’s in a spot where he’s ready to prove that he’s the all-star he was a couple of years ago.”

To that end, Marquez is working in bullpen sessions to produce more movement on his two fastballs.

“It’s not so much his grip on the baseball, it’s about the release point, how the ball comes off his fingertips and the spin that he creates,” Black explained. “That’s what he’s been working on.”

More than once over the past year, Marquez has said, “My best is yet to come.”

Black believes him.

“German has a lot of pride,” the manager said. “He knows what it felt like when he was named to the All-Star Game. It was a good feeling, he was confident.

“Last year that confidence was shaken. But the pridefulness that players have? He wants to return to that. He has a responsibility to this team. He knows that.”

Chasing 2018

Rockies right-hander German Marquez was an All-Star in 2021 but his best season was actually 2018 when the Rockies came one victory away from winning the National League West. Last year was Marquez’s worst, for a full season, in his career. Following is a comparison of his performance in 2018 and 2022:

Sources: Baseball Reference, FanGraphs

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