Kyle Freeland is a new type of pitcher from the Rockies

At the end of the endless wild NL card game night, memories of the Rockies starter's contribution, Kyle Freeland, a sophomore with a three-day rest, may have faded away. Small reminder: 6.2 innings, four hits, one walk, six strikeouts, and zero point earned.

These numbers will not be incorporated into other great moments in baseball history as they are just a good start. These are the numbers that any baseball fan would expect to see coming out of a good pitcher in a game to play or die. But for the Rockies, and for Rocky Mountain fans in particular, it's a leap forward.

Measuring by the score of the match, Freeland's performances last night – which scored a perfectly respectable score of 71 years – were the best of all the stars of the Rockies in the history of the playoffs. Part of the reason is that the Rockies just did not play in the playoffs, but it's because they've never done so well. Last night, the Rockies had sent 20 starters to the playoffs, and in just three of those cases, their man had emerged on the other side with a score above 60. One of those starts belongs to Jeff Francis. Jeff Francis!

Wanting to watch a Rocky Mountain star (even the Ubaldo Jimenez summit) head for the mound to start a party has often been like watching a lightly dressed teenager enter Jason Voorhees' home. Still, there was not a wave of panic at Freeland last night, and not once during the match, he felt like he was not fit for the moment. Colorado's pitching debut story is one full of rebounding bids and horrific deaths in many careers, but that's not the story of Freeland. He left the mound last night without a drop of blood.

Freeland's performance is a continuation of its brilliant regular season, the most beautiful ever produced by a Rockies starter. He finished the year with 8.4 rWAR, good for the fourth best mark in the league and an average of 2.85. He dismantled the composition of the Cubs with the same tools he used all year round: a fastball of the '90s, a mix of cutters, sliders and modifications, and an innate ability to place the ball exactly where he wish it. Freeland has incredible command, and he uses it to turn the middle of the plate into a void in which no pitch can penetrate. Almost everything he throws touches the outer edges of the plate and batterers rarely have the opportunity to hurt him. Look at his strikes back from last night and you will not see a guy crush the batters by force, but scramble them through control of his fields and catch area:

All this to say that Kyle Freeland is a launcher. A real fucking pitcher with all the gear, command and composure to win a big game, and no gadgets that tend to hide serious flaws. In simple terms, he's the kind of player the Rockies never had before in their franchise history. This is a very good pitcher, complete stop. The Rockies are going to the division series because he's pitched a very good game.