Rockies’ young pitching talent ‘legit’

DENVER — Darren Holmes had been down the Mile High Road before.

He was a member of the Rockies’ original bullpen, spending two years calling Mile High Stadium home and being part of the group that christened Coors Field by claiming the National League Wild Card berth back in 1995.

So anxious as he was to be part of helping redirect the Rockies when he was hired as the bullpen coach prior to last season, he admits the skeptic in him surfaced during his first organizational meeting as he listened to the rave reviews about the arsenal of arms being developed in the farm system.

“At Spring Training last year, I saw what we had, and from a depth standpoint I didn’t see it,” he said. “The front office guys said there were some great arms on the way.”

Turns out those were not fisherman’s tales they were telling.

“I saw the reason this spring for all the excitement,” said Holmes. “It is legit.”

The future is slowly starting to surface in the big leagues with starting pitchers Chad Bettis, being allowed to regain his full arsenal of pitches thanks to the hiring of Holmes and pitching coach Steve Foster, and Tyler Chatwood, showing every indication that he has fully recovered from a second Tommy John surgery.

It was Bettis who provided the heavy lifting that allowed the Rockies to break a seven-game home losing streak that equaled the longest in-season streak they have endured since Coors Field opened in 1995.

He worked six dominating innings, allowing the Rockies to take a 7-1 lead, tired a bit in the seventh, and then watched the Rockies survive a late D-backs …

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