DENVER — The biggest surprise to the Rockies was that right-handed pitcher Dinelson Lamet was available to be claimed off waivers last week. Now, the team can appreciate everything they knew about Lamet when he pitched against them.
Lamet’s eighth and ninth innings in the Rockies’ 7-4 loss to the D-backs at Coors Field on Sunday afternoon marked his third scoreless appearance in as many with his new team. He spent a few days reeling after a Deadline trade from the Padres, for whom he pitched five seasons, only to be designated for assignment by the Brewers after they acquired him.
“Getting to this new team — because they know me and they’ve seen me pitch — the first thing they wanted me to do was be comfortable,” Lamet said in Spanish, with bullpen catcher Aaron Muñoz interpreting. “Since Day 1, they’ve supported me in every way. We’ve been in good communication with each other.”
On Sunday, Lamet had a strikeout, gave up a hit and hit a batter, but he induced a Jordan Luplow foulout with runners at second and third in the ninth to keep the D-backs off the board.
The Rockies trailed at one point, 7-0, but brought the potential tying run to bat in the ninth before Ian Kennedy caught Rockies rookie Elehuris Montero looking at the final strike.
Lamet is eligible for salary arbitration at season’s end, so all the Rockies have to do is offer him a contract and he’s theirs for 2023. So while using the fastball-slider combination that earned him a fourth-place finish in the 2020 NL Cy Young Award voting, Lamet and the Rockies are in a get-to-know-you stage.
Many questions will be answered in good time. Can he return to the starting role he had in ’20, when he made 12 starts in a shortened season and finished with a 2.09 ERA and 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings? Did the decision he made that year to become a two-pitch pitcher — a swing-and-miss slider and a mid-90s four-seam fastball — set a career path as a reliever?
Either way, he looks to be part of the staff in ’23. So Lamet competes and leaves the rest for another time.
“You can see the fastball velocity and movement, the hard slider at varying speeds, calmness, poise, confidence,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “When we claimed him, we felt this was a pitcher that not only would help us this year but potentially next year.”
On Sunday, Lamet demonstrated why the Rockies went for him when three of the first four outs were on the ground — one to first base, two to the mound. Lamet’s swing-and-miss rate hangs around 51%, but the pitch is designed just as much for grounders or soft flies.
“The shape of his slider is not too dissimilar to [Tyler] Kinley’s,” said pitching coach Darryl Scott, who invoked Kinley — who held a 0.75 ERA in 25 appearances before undergoing season-ending surgery on his right flexor tendon. “It’s more of that gyro slider, more straight down, not as horizontal as a lot of sliders. It’s one that should fit well here.
“Having seen him over the last few years, this is a special arm, and a great person, too. He fits in well with this group.”
Since an arm injury in 2020, Lamet’s fastball has not had the same success rate, but being healthy has helped. Pain early this year sparked fears of an elbow issue — especially troublesome for someone who missed 2018 because of Tommy John surgery. But Lamet reported to the Padres that the problem was in the neck area, around the trapezius muscle group, and he commended them for treatment and his gradual return to health.
Now it’s a matter of regaining his pitch mix. Lamet, who began moving to the bullpen in ’21 when he was battling injury, pitched to a 9.49 ERA in 13 appearances with the Padres this year before the trade. But in his final outing, the slider was especially sharp and the fastball started making inroads.
“I emphasized my slider a lot, then realized, ‘Oh, shoot, I’ve got to use my fastball,'” said Lamet, who gave up Christian Walker’s two-out double in the ninth before retiring Luplow on a slider. “Understanding, executing and commanding my fastball — I feel really good and confident.”
Lamet is working on a changeup — a pitch that could work well if he returns to starting — during early warm-up sessions, but his current role is his focus.
“His best stuff is fastball-slider, so in crunch time, especially late in game — this isn’t practice,” Black said. “He’s trying to get guys out. He’s going to use his best stuff.”
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