Rockies are playing with fire with high walk rate

SAN DIEGO — Walks haunt, and late-game walks haunt absolutely.

Usually.

The Rockies’ 5-4 win over the Padres on Monday night at Petco Park was the exception. They pulled off the victory despite issuing 11 walks, only the third win in franchise history when they walked 11 or more. It also happened on May 12, 1995, at Florida and on June 5, 1999, vs. Milwaukee.

Monday night, the late-game relief trio of Jake Bird (two walks), Justin Lawrence (three) and Jalen Beeks (three) combined for eight walks over the final 3 1/3 innings. The Rockies played with fire but somehow survived.

There are few things manager Bud Black hates more than walks, and he’s already seen a lot this season. Despite daily preaching by pitching coach Darryl Scott, bullpen coach Reid Cornelius and Black, the free passes keep piling up. Entering Tuesday night’s game against the Padres, Colorado had walked 161 batters for an average of 4.03 walks per nine innings. Only the Mets (4.55), Marlins (4.30) and Astros (4.08) have been worse.

With that in mind, I asked Black, somewhat facetiously, if walks can be contagious. After all, hitting is said to be infectious in a dugout. Perhaps the tendency to walk hitters spreads through the bullpen?

“I don’t know whether it goes from one guy to the next,” Black said. “But if you start walking guys as an individual, it can lead to more. I hate to say it, but it can. Last night that might have been the case. So the answer can be yes — to each individual.”

I took my theory to Lawrence. Like Black, he dismissed my nutty idea of walks spreading from pitcher to pitcher, but he said mind games definitely ramp up when a pitcher starts throwing more balls than strikes.

“Once it gets to a certain point, where you walk two guys in an inning, or you walk a guy and you throw three balls to the next guy, you start to press a little bit,” said Lawrence, whose 6.5 walks per nine are the second-highest on the team behind right-hander Tyler Kinley (6.6).

“I think what happens is that you start thinking, ‘Oh, man, I have to throw a strike right here,’ instead of just going out there and making your pitch, being an athlete and trusting your process,” Lawrence said. “What you have to do, or think, is ‘Hey, if I walk this guy, I know I can get back in the zone and get out of the jam.’ ”

When asked if the pressure of the situation matters — late game, close game, momentum shifts — Lawrence said it doesn’t, at least not for him.

“I’ve been around long enough and pitched enough innings to know that it’s me vs. the hitter, not me vs. the score or the inning,” he said. “It’s my best stuff against his best swing, regardless of the game situation. It’s a matter of executing.”

Still, Lawrence acknowledged that walks can snowball on a pitcher as they did Monday night.

“It can happen, but I think that’s what separates (relievers) in this game is handling it,” he said. “You have to believe that, no matter what, you can get the next batter. Maybe one pitch gets you a double play and gets you out of trouble.”

Lawrence is well aware of Black’s contempt for bases on balls.

“Yeah, I know he does, but it’s a long season and you’re going to have rough stretches like last night,” Lawrence said. “But we’re going to clean it up.”

They’d better. Because too many games like Monday’s game will make the Rockies’ long season feel like an eternity.

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