SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Feltner hoped 2023 would be his breakout season. In the blink of an eye, a 92.7 mph line drive to his head shattered those plans.
Undeterred, the Rockies’ 27-year-old right-hander enters spring training in the best place of his career, confident he can earn a spot in the starting rotation.
“Everything happens for a reason, so I’m framing it in my mind that maybe it’s a good thing that everything happened the way it did,” Feltner said Sunday after a morning workout at the club’s complex at Salt River Fields. “I faced a big hurdle, overcame it, and now my stuff is better than it was before.”
Listen to veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland and manager Bud Black and they’ll tell you that Feltner possesses the tools necessary to thrive in the majors.
“I’ve been with this organization for 10 years now,” Freeland said. “I think the two pitchers with the best raw stuff I’ve seen are (German) Marquez and Feltner. They both have that explosive fastball that sets up their other pitches.
“Ryan worked out with us here in Scottsdale this offseason and he looks great. He’s worked incredibly hard and he’s so committed. He’s got a chance to be in the rotation, for sure, and to have a big season.”
The first three spots in the rotation are locked up by newly acquired right-hander Cal Quantrill and the two veteran lefties — Austin Gomber and Freeland. Competing for the other two spots are newcomer Dakota Hudson, along with Peter Lambert, Noah Davis and Feltner. Colorado’s rotation will be without Marquez for at least the first half of the season and will likely not have Antonio Senzatela at all. Both right-handers underwent Tommy John surgery last year.
During spring training, Black will be looking for indications Feltner can master an arsenal that includes an upper-90s fastball, slider and curveball, as well as a resurrected changeup.
“The thing that stands out about Ryan is the potential of what he could be, based on his stuff,” Black said. “It’s a good, live fastball and he has a feel for his secondary pitches. You can project success just on what we have seen in flashes.
“Now, the challenge for Ryan is the consistency — game to game. You can break it down even further, inning-to-inning and pitch-to-pitch. What has troubled Ryan is the bigger inning that cost him pitch counts and cost him being taken out of the game because he couldn’t stop the bleeding.”
Feltner’s statistics illustrate his inconsistency. In 32 big-league games (31 starts, 147 innings), Feltner is 4-14 with a 6.06 ERA and 1.524 WHIP. He’s averaged 4.2 walks per nine innings vs. 7.8 strikeouts per nine. That’s not going to get the job done.
Ironically, a nasty twist of fate allowed Feltner to reset. He’s looking at 2024 as a fresh start and is relishing a chance to emerge as a power pitcher.
First, he had to deal with that scary moment last year when it looked, for a time, that Feltner’s career might be in jeopardy. On May 13 at Coors Field, in the third inning, Philadelphia’s Nick Castellanos scorched a line drive toward the mound. Feltner had just enough reaction time to avoid getting hit in the face, but the baseball struck Feltner in the back of his head, just above the right ear. He suffered a concussion and fractured skull. Symptoms of dizziness lingered for about a month.
The head injury kept Feltner off a major league mound for almost 19 weeks, but, remarkably, he came back. He pitched well in his return on Sept. 19 at San Diego, blanking the Padres for five innings and striking out five. In that game, his fastball was noticeably hotter. In the first inning, he struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. on a 98 mph fastball, about 4 mph faster than his career average fastball velocity.
“I should average about 96-97 mph and there is potential to reach triple digits,” Feltner said. “I won’t do that in spring training, but my fastball can go up a few ticks if I need it to.”
Feltner entered 2023 relying heavily on his two-seam sinking fastball and a slider. This year, a four-seam fastball and a changeup will be his bread and butter.
“I used to think my sinker was better than my four-seamer,” Feltner said. “Now, I know I’m a power pitcher.”
He’s also been working overtime to master his changeup.
“The changeup has come a long way for me, and I’m getting more comfortable with it in bullpen sessions,” Feltner said. “It’s a pitch that I grew up throwing. I was a fastball-changeup guy, then I went to the minor leagues and I discovered how to spin the ball better, and I relied on those pitches more. I lost my changeup for a few years but now it’s back.”
Feltner, who was drafted out of Ohio State in the fourth round in 2018, says he’s not come close to reaching his potential, in large part because he’s been trying to figure out what kind of pitcher he is.
“I just keep reminding myself that I’m going into my fourth year but I only have (31) starts and I’ve kind of flip-flopped my game plan a few times within those starts,” he said. “But I’ve worked with our staff and we’ve really honed my arsenal to what it needs to be.”
Projecting the Rockies’ 2024 starting rotation
With right-hander German Marquez out until after the All-Star Game as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, the Rockies are trying to rebuild an injury-ravaged starting rotation that last year posted a 5.91 ERA, the highest in the majors and the second-highest in franchise history. Here are the candidates for the rotation:
LHP Kyle Freeland: The veteran needs more consistency, a better changeup and more zip to his fastball. A little more run support would be nice, too. Freeland went 6-14 with a 5.30 ERA in 29 starts last season.
LHP Austin Gomber: The lefty went 9-9 with a 5.50 ERA over 27 starts. That ugly ERA is misleading because he had a 12.12 ERA through his first four starts. He pitched much better after that until back issues curtailed his season in August.
RHP Cal Quantrill: The Rockies’ major acquisition during the offseason — he arrived via a trade with Cleveland — Quantrill has flashed a lot of talent, including going 15-5 with a 3.38 ERA over 186 1/3 innings (32 starts) with the Guardians in 2022. But lingering shoulder issues led to a 5.24 ERA last season.
RHP Dakota Hudson: The former Cardinal, signed by Colorado as a free agent, is a reclamation project. A first-round selection by St. Louis in the 2016 draft, Hudson was excellent in his first three seasons (23-10, 3.18 ERA over 67 games). But Hudson missed almost all of 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and struggled last season, posting a 4.98 ERA in 81 1/3 innings.
RHP Peter Lambert: Despite a rocky road back from 2020 Tommy John surgery and a lot of hiccups in his short career, Lambert flashed promise after getting called up from Triple-A last year. From July 1 through Sept. 4, the right-hander went 2-4 with a 3.60 ERA over nine starts while striking out 30 and walking 11. Lambert pitched six innings or more in each of his last five starts.
RHP Ryan Feltner: Ugly innings have frequently derailed Feltner but he flashed promise last season before he was struck in the head by a line drive on May 13. During a three-start stretch from April 20 to May 2, Feltner attacked the strike zone and posted a 1.06 ERA over 17 innings. He struck out 15 and walked just four.
RHP Noah Davis: With only nine appearances in the majors, Davis, who turns 27 in April, needs a big camp. The Rockies like his stuff but he remains a riddle. Over those nine appearances, he has a 9.00 ERA, a 2.00 WHIP, and has averaged 4.6 walks per nine innings vs. 8.1 strikeouts.
— Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
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