The irony of the Rockies’ lost season can be found at the back of their bullpen.
That’s where you’ll find closer Victor Vodnik and setup men Jimmy Herget and Juan Mejia. The trio has brought sunshine to the Rockies in the second half of the season. The Rockies have lost countless games in the early innings, but when the three right-handers have been called upon, they’ve usually delivered.
The latest example arrived on Sunday in Colorado’s 3-1 win over the Angels at Coors Field. Herget entered in the seventh and struck out all three batters he faced, lowering his ERA to 2.58. The eighth belonged to Mejia. He pitched a scoreless inning, allowing one hit, fanning one, and lowering his ERA to 3.68.
Vodnik’s ninth was more white-knuckle. He gave up a leadoff walk to Jo Adell, but erased him by inducing a double play. Then Logan O’Hoppe singled off Vodnik, but Vodnik promptly struck out Christian Moore with a 0-2 changeup to lock down the game and pocket his 10th save in 14 chances. Vodnik has a 2.92 ERA.
“Jimmy Herget shone again today, with three punchouts,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Juan shone again today, so did ‘Vic’ to get the save.”
Vodnik, 25, entered the Rockies’ Tuesday night game in Seattle riding a streak of eight consecutive converted save chances. Before giving up one run at San Diego on Sept. 12, he made a career-best 11 straight appearances without allowing a run. That was the longest run by a Colorado right-hander in a single season since Carlos Estevez’s 14-game scoreless streak from July 31 to Sept. 3, 2021.
“Over the last couple of years, Victor has really learned about himself and what makes him good,” Schaeffer said. “He’s very fast out there — and aggressive. He knows that. There are times when he knows he needs to pump the brakes a little bit.
“But there are also times when he even speeds up a bit, to speed the hitter up. It’s part of what he does, and it’s part of why he’s so good. And he controls the running game incredibly well. Late in the game, to have a pitcher who controls the running game like that is a huge plus.”
Herget, 32, has quietly been Colorado’s best and most consistent reliever. He’s been on a terrific roll, pitching to a 1.66 ERA over his last 17 outings (entering Tuesday) with 27 strikeouts vs. just five walks while holding hitters to a .195 average.
Set-up relievers are often unheralded, but Schaeffer said, “It’s not out of the question for me to say that Jimmy’s been our most important bullpen arm of the year. I think that’s 100% fact.
“Because he’s been able to come in in the middle of innings and put out fires — be our fireman. He’s got that calm demeanor of, ‘I’ve done this before, I know what I’m doing.’ There’s so much value in that. He knows who he is, and he gets after it.”
Mejia, 25, is “growing before our eyes,” Schaeffer said.
Mejia entered Tuesday’s game unscored upon in 11 of his last 13 appearances, posting a 1.98 ERA with 15 strikeouts vs. seven walks. His 1.69 road ERA is the lowest on the team and the sixth-lowest in the NL among relievers.
“I’m really proud of the job those guys have done,” Schaeffer said.
Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.