Rockies hope Carson Palmquist becomes strikeout pitcher they need in rotation

Carson Palmquist s big-league career began with a wicked twist Last Wednesday the lefty starter was called into the office of Triple-A Albuquerque manager Pedro Lopez who met him with a stone face He declared The good news is you re getting an extra day of rest Palmquist recalled Monday before the Rockies hosted the Phillies The bad news is you re going back to Double-A to pitch For a moment Palmquist was dumbfounded I was like really confused he commented I didn t know what I did that could have been so wrong that I was going backward I just sat there for a second and looked at him Then he announced I m just kidding you re going to the big leagues Palmquist debuted last Friday night at Arizona It was the best day of my life so far getting to live out your childhood dreams he stated These are things that you ve dreamed about since Little League and tee-ball The box result describes a rocky outing He pitched four innings in the Rockies - loss to the Diamondbacks giving up five runs on six hits and a walk Surprisingly for a pitcher who arrived with the reputation as a strikeout artist Palmquist did not strike anybody out The Rockies rotation whose strikeouts per nine innings is last in the majors desperately demands someone who can punch out hitters While Palmquist didn t wow anybody in his debut manager Warren Schaeffer was impressed with the young lefty I thought he was really good Schaeffer stated I thought he was poised I thought he commanded the fastball and thought his offspeed stuff was good I thought he competed That s a lot to ask for your first major league event but I love the poise and I thought it was a good first one for him He attacked the strike zone which you don t reliably see in a guy s debut After the first inning he explained me his legs stopped shaking he settled in and he started pumping strikes The more he does that the better off he s going to be Palmquist selected in the second round of the draft out of the University of Miami arrived in pro baseball with a predilection for striking out hitters Over his minor league innings he struck out of opposing batters However as former Rockies manager Bud Black used to say There s a walk in there Palmquist walked batters at an clip in the minors In Triple-A innings starting in August last year and pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League Palmquist had a ERA strikeout rate and walk rate Take the lead On the Rockies newest road trip Schaeffer decided to switch Colorado s leadoff hitter He dropped the slumping Brenton Doyle from first in the order to fifth Left fielder Jordan Beck is now leading off The reason was twofold One Doyle wasn t secure leading off and two Beck has been one of Colorado s majority productive hitters for an offense that demands all the productivity it can get Related Articles Rockies strike out times waste Chase Dollander s strong start in loss to D-backs Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer The Renaissance man tireless worker culture-builder tasked with turning Colorado around Rockies hit five homers beat Diamondbacks - for rare road win Grading The Week CU Buffs great Travis Hunter took about seconds to win Jacksonville s hearts Rockies Journal How can Colorado escape being worst squad in MLB history Beck entered Monday s tournament hitting with a team-high eight home runs Doyle s average has dipped to after he batted over his past games I sought B D Doyle a couple of days ago if he was committed to the leadoff spot Did he love it Schaeffer mentioned It can be a spot that chosen people don t like He informed me that he wasn t crazy about it I noted All right let s go I m going bump you I think it s going to be good for you and it s going to be good for the gang I notified him he s going to hit fifth or sixth for the next however long We have a very capable leadoff hitter in Jordan Beck I thought we could potentially lead off second baseman Adael Amador he s got that skill set but I like our offense to have specific more thump at the top Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis