Rockies’ Blake Adams Executes Four Pitches With Aplomb

The Rockies got glimpses of righthander Blake Adams in spring training this year and instructional league last year.

In games that matter this season, their more complete view of Adams has been eye-opening.  

Through six starts for Low-A Fresno, Adams struck out 45 batters, walked three and allowed no home runs in 36 innings. His 1.50 ERA led the California League.

“This guy has the ability to command four pitches,” Fresno pitching coach Mark Brewer said of Adams, 22, whom the Rockies drafted in the 13th round last year out of Kansas State. “He understands the tendencies (of hitters). And he has a feel for what to go to next based on what the hitter just saw. 

“Those are things that you can’t teach. You learn those things as you’re coming up and become a chameleon and change your colors any time you need to based on what you’ve seen previously. That’s what he’s so good at it this point.”

Adams’ four-seam fastball sits at 93 mph and touches 95. His curveball is his best secondary pitch. It has a 12-to-6 break and has averaged 79 mph and ranged from 77-84.

“He just drops it in there whenever he wants to, basically,” Brewer said. “It doesn’t have a big hump in it. It’s out of a fastball plane and disappears. He gets lots of swings and misses with it.”

Adams’ slider is his third-best pitch. It has late bite and has averaged 84 mph while ranging from 82-87 mph. Brewer said the slider is “something that he uses for a punch out (when) guys are looking fastball in fastball counts.”

Brewer said since the second week of spring training, Adams has started to gain a very good feel for his changeup. Thrown far less often than his other pitches, it has been 86-89 mph with fading action but a bit firm.

“You really can’t say enough about him based on what he’s done,” Brewer said. “Right now, when he goes to the mound, I just kind of sit down. I just enjoy the game.”

ROCKY ROADS

— Lefthander Evan Justice and righthander Jacob Kostyshock were promoted to Double-A Hartford from High-A Spokane. Justice went 1-0, 0.00 there and made 10 scoreless appearances totaling 9.2 innings with five walks and 19 strikeouts. He was 1-0, 3.00 in three games at Hartford with one walk and seven strikeouts in three innings. The Rockies drafted Justice, 24, in the fifth round in 2021 out of North Carolina State. Kostyshock missed the entire 2022 season after having Tommy John surgery in October 2021. He began this season 0-0, 3.27 in nine games at Spokane with two walks and 14 strikeouts in 11 innings. The Rockies drafted Kostyshock, 25, in the eighth round out of Arkansas in 2019.

— Righthander Gavin Hollowell and lefthander PJ Poulin joined Triple-A Albuquerque. Hollowell, 25, recovered from elbow inflammation. The Rockies took him in the sixth round out of St. John’s in 2019. Poulin, 26, began the season at Albuquerque and went 1-0, 5.79 in three games, the last on April 7, before he dropped the bar of a weight on his toes, causing him to miss 33 games. The Rockies drafted Poulin in the 11th round in 2018 out of Connecticut.