It’s no secret that many pitchers dread coming to Denver and pitching in the thin air at Coors Field. Their pitches move differently, mistakes end up in the seats and ERAs rise.
San Diego Padres left-hander Joey Lucchesi might have a different opinion of pitching at altitude.
The 25-year-old Lucchesi has started twice at Coors Field and hasn’t had any trouble taming Colorado’s bats. He is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA at the hitter-friendly park and although he has allowed two home runs, the Rockies have scored just four runs — two earned — in 12 innings against him in Denver.
Lucchesi gets a third start at Colorado on Saturday in the second game of the weekend series. He will go against Rockies right-hander Jon Gray.
Colorado won the opener, 12-2, on Friday night.
Lucchesi has had more success in Denver than when facing the Rockies in San Diego. Overall he is 1-1 with a 3.10 ERA in five starts against them, and is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA in three starts at Petco Park.
One of those outings came April 15 in San Diego when Colorado was digging out of an early season hole. The Rockies came to town having just snapped an eight-game losing streak and scored five runs in seven innings against Lucchesi in a 5-2 Colorado win.
Lucchesi has scuffled a bit since starting the season 2-0. He is coming off a no-decision against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 4 in which he went just five innings. The Padres would be happy if he again went seven innings against Colorado to save a bullpen that already has been taxed this season.
They had to go to the pen in the fourth inning Friday but used only two relievers to finish the night.
The concern over the bullpen led manager Andy Green to let reliever Gerardo Reyes, just called up from Triple-A El Paso that day, bat in a one-run game on Wednesday instead of pinch-hitting and bringing in another reliever.
“That gives you an idea how tired that bullpen is,” Green said after Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the New York Mets.
The Rockies would love to give Gray some run support and get to San Diego’s bullpen early on Saturday night, too. Gray, whose start was pushed back from Thursday after a rainout on Wednesday night, has faced the Padres more than any other team in his career, and he has done well against them.
He is 9-3 with a 2.59 ERA in 16 starts against San Diego, including arguably his best start of the season at Petco Park on April 16. He went seven innings in an 8-2 Colorado win to pick up his first victory of the season after starting 0-3. He is now 3-3 with a 4.22 ERA in seven starts.
Exactly half of his starts against the Padres have come in Denver, and he is 4-1 in those outings. Gray always has looked at pitching at Coors Field as a challenge.
“I think we kind of all have this idea of having a little bit of a competitive edge when you’re pitching at Coors Field,” Gray told Mile High Sports. “If you don’t have that attack mentality, it’s going to be a lot harder pitching here. Guys who are trying to nitpick around the zone (will have it harder).”