Early in spring training 2016, Rockies veterans took turns in the batting cage facing a quiet, intense, 21-year-old rookie pitcher from Venezuela. The right-hander was just wild enough to make the hitters squirm, but mostly, he wowed the vets with his velocity and sharp-breaking curve.
“He’s got this really heavy fastball that’s tough to handle,” second baseman DJ LeMahieu said at the time. “He throws it so easily but then the ball kind of jumps on top of you.”
Pitching coach Steve Foster was blown way by German Marquez.
“The first time I saw him pitch, the first two words that came to my mind were ‘easy cheese,’ ” Foster recalled.