Kyle Freeland, at age 26, was facing a career crisis.
Just a year earlier, nearly everything had gone right for the Rockies’ homegrown left-hander. He’d posted a 2.85 ERA, pitched a gem in Colorado’s 2-1 wild-card playoff win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and finished fourth in the National League Cy Young Award voting. The sky was the limit.
But he crashed so hard in 2019 that he was demoted to Triple-A Albuquerque at the end of May, when he was 2-6 with a 7.13 ERA and had given up the most home runs in the National League.