Rockies pitcher Michael Lorenzen’s time in Cincinnati shaped his MLB career
CINCINNATI — On the 11th anniversary of his MLB debut, Michael Lorenzen spent part of his Wednesday afternoon shagging fly balls and looking every bit like an outfielder as his Rockies teammates took batting practice.
It was a bit of a full-circle moment at Great American Ball Park, the stadium where Lorenzen made his debut on the mound after being selected by the Cincinnati Reds with the 38th pick in the 2013 MLB draft. After all, he was back where it all started for him and doing something that came very naturally for him.
Lorenzen was a John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year finalist during his junior year at Cal State Fullerton, playing center field and coming in to close out games. He racked up 19 saves that season while hitting .335 and leading the Big West Conference with 54 RBIs.
While Lorenzen may have had closer in his blood, the Reds planned for him to be a starter. On April 29, 2015, Lorenzen, who pitched 5 1/3 innings in the Rockies’ 6-4 loss to the Reds on Wednesday, primed himself to take on the Milwaukee Brewers for his first MLB appearance. However, the preparation wasn’t exactly textbook.
“I was warming up that day and you’re always told to keep things slow because the game is going to speed up,” Lorenzen recalled, standing outside the visitors’ dugout as Colorado’s batting practice ended. “I was conscious of that and I was just trying to be a pro and keep it slow.
“So I get up on the mound to start my warmups and the pitching coach goes, ‘You know the game is in like 10 minutes, right?’ I didn’t see a clock or anything and I’m thinking in my mind, ‘Why wouldn’t you tell me that?’”
Lorenzen proceeded to get through his warmup pitches “rapid fire” before walking into the dugout, as he described it, “sweating and exhausted” while trying to keep his adrenaline in check.
“I’m able to sit down, but then I have to stand right back up and go out and pitch,” Lorenzen said. “I remember Pete Rose making a comment like, ‘I thought this guy threw hard?’ I was just gassed, so my velo(city) was down.”
It was a lesson in preparation and a step along the journey for Lorenzen that has led him to this moment with the Rockies, the seventh MLB team for which he has pitched.
This older, wiser version of Lorenzen is meticulous not only with his workouts and game planning but also how he takes care of himself off the mound.
The pitcher who became a part of the espresso-drinking Team Italy squad that advanced to the World Baseball Classic semifinals has his own coffee ritual inside the Rockies clubhouse. It includes a setup that would make any barista jealous, but it’s more about the process than the actual end product.
“Honestly, I’m not much of a coffee buff. I just care about what I put in my body,” Lorenzen explained. “My job is to play baseball. In order to play baseball, my body has to feel good and I want to continue to feel good as I get older. I’m 34 now and I take care of myself.”
Lorenzen described his “perfect coffee” as black coffee with organic beans (Ethiopian blend preferred) that he can grind himself.
“I don’t like the pre-ground beans,” Lorenzen said. “There’s a lot of weird stuff that can go on with that and there can be mold in coffee so I try to avoid that.”
His view on his health has changed through the years, certainly part of the evolution Lorenzen has gone through from starter to reliever to two-way player (logging 34 games in the outfield) back to starter.
Now, 11 years later, Lorenzen mixes his experience with his faith to give him a solid footing, no matter where he is pitching.
“My losses have turned me into exactly who I am today, and I wouldn’t change that for the world,” Lorenzen said. “I know that the Bible teaches that wisdom is more valuable than anything you can obtain on this planet. You don’t gain wisdom through an easy life like you gain it through a life that is stricken with trials and hardship.
“This game is something you’ve trained for your entire life, so every loss and every win is that much more magnified and emotional. I believe God uses our sport to guide our faith and guide who we are as men, and I believe he uses losses as much as wins to do that.”
Reds 6, Rockies 4
What happened: Colorado jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead on a Tyler Freeman home run, but Cincinnati used a pair of homers off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen to take a lead the Reds wouldn’t surrender.
On the mound: Three of the four runs given up by Lorenzen over his 5 1/3 innings of work came on home runs. Victor Vodnik gave up two runs in the eighth inning, marking the third time in the last four games he has given up two or more runs.
At the plate: Colorado outhit the Reds 9-7, but Freeman’s home run was the only extra-base hit of the day for the Rockies. Freeman and Kyle Karros both went 2-for-4 to lead the offense.
What’s next: The Rockies return home to start a three-game series with Atlanta on Friday night. Colorado’s Jose Quintana (1-2, 4.91 ERA) is scheduled to go against Atlanta’s Grant Holmes (2-1, 3.62 ERA) at 6:40 p.m.