As Germán Márquez was turning in the most impressive outing of his big league career en route to the Rockies’ 3-0 win over Chicago on Wednesday afternoon, veteran catcher Ryan Hanigan couldn’t help but notice the maturity of the 22-year-old rookie.
Márquez looked calm, cool and collected while throwing eight innings of three-hit, shutout ball. It was a refined version of the pitcher that Hanigan, who was called up on May 3, had worked with at AAA Albuquerque.
“He wasn’t trying to overthrow his off-speed — he wasn’t flipping them in there but they had good bite, and they were pinpointed and in control,” Hanigan said.