Freeland returns with hitless effort

Kyle Freeland overcame shoulder fatigue and bone chips in his elbow to navigate a route to his long-awaited season debut. Once he reached it, he wasn't going to let a little wind mess up the day.

With 35 mph gusts blowing in from right field, Freeland was unfazed and unhittable. The eighth overall pick in last year's Draft allowed two baserunners on Friday night, striking out three over three hitless innings, as Rookie-level Grand Junction blanked Ogden, 5-0, at Suplizio Field.

"It felt incredible," Freeland said after his first appearance since beating Savannah for Class A Asheville in the South Atlantic League playoffs on Sept. 3. "Being able to throw in a game again against another team and not just live BP or in a bullpen is awesome. I definitely missed it, not being able to do it for a while. It felt great to get back out there."

Freeland was likely ticketed for Class A Advanced Modesto or even Double-A New Britain had things gone according to plan to start 2015. Instead, he battled shoulder fatigue in the spring and had surgery to clean bone chips and scar tissue out of his left elbow in May. The four-month wait came down to an agonizing final day.

"Pregame and everything, the minutes felt like hours to me," he said. "I just wanted to be there so quick. It finally came and I had some butterflies going and was really ready to go. Once I got done with that first inning, I was able to calm down and get right in that groove and started sailing from there."

An admittedly hyped Freeland walked Deion Ulmer with one out in the top of the first before retiring eight of the final nine batters he faced. Only Gage Green reached over the rest of Freeland's three innings and did so on shortstop Jonathan Piron's error with two outs in the third.

After firing 30 of 42 pitches for strikes, Freeland was lifted after the third.

"The only thing I was restricted with was my pitch count and innings limit, but it was a full arsenal and everything," the Rockies' No. 3 prospect said. "It feels really great being able to do all that and everything. Getting out there and cutting it loose, knowing that I have a little restriction, that way I can just attack hitters and do my thing."

Freeland stayed under his allotted pitch limit, between 45-50, and hit the three-inning cap first.

"It's a definite confidence-booster. Being able to keep that pitch count low allows me to go deeper into games once that restriction is lifted. That's one thing I've always been able to pride myself on and use to my advantage is being efficient out there the mound," he said.

Not counting his work in the playoffs, Freeland made 10 appearances last season between Grand Junction and Asheville, going 3-0 with a 1.15 ERA over 39 innings. So far, the left-hander has yet to pitch past five innings in any start, a barrier he's eager to break.

"I wanted to go out there for the fourth and fifth and see how long I could go, but I understand why the limit today," MLB.com's No. 47 overall prospect said. "They're protecting me and everything, and it's smart. But I definitely wanted to go out there and see how long I could battle those guys for."

Freeland and the rest of those on the field Friday night battled a blustery wind blowing in from right. Aside from wreaking havoc with anything hit in the air, it toyed with the 22-year-old's delivery.

"There were a few times when I was coming out of the windup, I'd lift my leg and the gust would be so strong that it started pushing me toward home plate when I wasn't ready to go," Freeland said. "It kind of made me speed up a little bit, which wasn't good. They ended up being balls, but that wind was rough. At the same time, I was able to use it to my advantage because it was blowing in. Anything elevated wasn't going to go anywhere."

A Denver native, Freeland is in familiar surroundings to start the season and not just due to his proximity to home -- about a four-hour drive -- or the fact that he's played in Grand Junction before. Freeland is living with his same host family from last year, and his parents were in attendance Friday.

"Being from Colorado and playing back in Colorado, I was able to settle right in, not have to worry about getting to know people or anything," he said. "I already knew everyone, so it was a very comfortable setting for me to do my rehab assignment here."

Behind their starter, Michael Zimmerman (2-0), Alec Crawford, Julian Yan and Daniel Koger combined to allow two hits over the final six innings.

As for Freeland, he isn't looking too far ahead or wondering where his next destination will be after a late start to what was supposed to be his first full pro season.

"I want to make sure I stay healthy, stay strong and build up my innings," he said. "Right now, for me, it's just day to day and start to start, making sure everything goes smoothly and the way I want it to."