On Monday night, Dakota Hudson took the loss against the Minnesota Twins, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks over 6 1/3 innings. Despite the loss, Hudson pitched his quality start of the season, marking the third in his last four appearances. Although the Hudson has put up strong stuff, it’s the offense that can’t seem to get anything going. It’s clear that it’s not always the Colorado Rockies starters at fault during these losses.
Sometimes it’s been the offense, who can’t get the bats hot or can’t come back from a sizable lead. Yet some other times, it’s been Colorado’s relievers that blow the game wide open. When the relievers give up runs during the middle or late innings, it’s been tough for this Rockies offense to return from the deficit. Even with May being his best month of the season, he posted a 2-3 record.
Dakota Hudson Provides Quality Starts for the Rockies
After the loss to the Twins, Hudson is 2-8 through 13 starts with 36 strikeouts, 35 walks and a 4.87 ERA in 68 1/3 innings. During his first two starts of the season, the 29-year-old starter recorded quality starts in both appearances. However the offense had no life when Hudson was on the mound. He had a solid outing in two out of his starts in May, but again, with a silenced offense, he picked up the loss. Hudson has allowed four runs on seven hits during the two games he won this season. He allowed 26 runs on 42 hits through all eight of his losses. The Rockies’ offense has had 141 at-bats when Hudson’s on the mound where they score 0-2 runs a game. This backs up the fact, Colorado’s offense has not done much during time on the mound.
Through his 13 starts, he’s pitched five quality starts where he has shined on the mound despite the struggles on offense. When the Rockies went up against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Hudson threw seven innings with one run on four hits in a 4-1 victory. A few starts before, the 29-year-old pitched five and two third innings, allowing three runs on three hits, and three walks. Although he allowed two home runs, the Rockies picked up a 5-4 win against another division rival, the San Diego Padres.
Hudson is known to be a starter who does not record a ton of strikeouts. His season-high in strikeouts is five. On April 13th, he recorded five strikeouts during a 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays.
Can Hudson Find His Stride?
Although he’s thrown 157 curveballs this season, Hudson’s curveball has been his most effective pitch this season. Batters have recorded just three hits and a .094 batting average against the right-hander’s curveball. Hudson has put away nearly 20 percent of batters with his slider. His slider has certainly been the pitch he relies on to strike batters out, as he’s put away 17 batters with that pitch, and 12 with his curveball. The 29-year-old starter should consider his slider and curveball to be his top two pitches.
Hudson must continue to try and throw quality starts each time he’s on the mound. Even if the Rockies offense doesn’t come through, it’s still relieving to know the Rockies pitching unit is improving. The right-handed starter has tried to give his all on the mound. At times it has not worked at all, while during other starts, Hudson’s on his A-game. It’s been the offense that needs to pick up the slack. Colorado’s batters have severely struggled during the latter half of ball games. They collectively have put up a .196 batting average in the seventh, .211 in the eighth, and a .236 average during the ninth inning. In the first and sixth innings alone, they have a collective batting average of .281, and .306 respectively. Hopefully, with the help of the offense, and his skills on the mound Hudson can turn his 2-8 record around.
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