SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — At 6-foot-8 and 300 pounds, relief pitcher RJ Petit already knows he stands out on the diamond because of his size. Entering his first season with the Colorado Rockies, Petit is planning to stand out because of his fastball-slider combination as well. 

Selected as the first pick in the Rule 5 draft in December from the Detroit Tigers, Petit split his time between Double-A and Triple-A last season, finishing the year with 20 appearances for Triple-A Toledo and posting a 2.74 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 23 innings over that stretch. 

Despite a career 3.40 ERA that included a 2.44 ERA in 47 overall appearances last season, the Tigers left Petit unprotected ahead of the Rule 5 draft, giving the Rockies a chance to add an intriguing arm to the bullpen mix this spring. 

Colorado’s revamped pitching staff has some direct insight on Petit’s time in Detroit. New assistant pitching coach Gabe Ribas spent the last five seasons as the director of pitching for the Tigers.  

“He has all the stuff we want,” Colorado pitching coach Alon Leichman said of Petit. “We just need to get him a little better with his pitch usage. He has the pitches. We just need to make sure they show up to both righties and lefties.” 

Petit is working on those tweaks in Scottsdale as he meshes into a new-look pitching staff. He’s hopeful those adjustments will give him what he’s been wanting since he was selected by Detroit in the 14^th round of the 2021 draft … a chance to show that his stuff will play at the MLB level. 

“Knowing the Rule 5 was going to happen in the offseason, I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to pitch my tail off and if the Tigers call me up, let’s do it.’ But at the same time, I knew I was pitching for 29 other teams as well,” Petit said. “The big leagues are always in the back of your mind. It’s always about how you can get there.” 

The Rule 5 selection may give Petit that chance. According to MLB rules, a selected player in the Rule 5 draft must be kept on his new team’s MLB roster for the entire upcoming season and can’t be optioned to the minors. If a team decides to cut ties with the Rule 5 pick from its active roster, the player must be placed on waivers. 

“He’s in a unique circumstance,” said Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer, who has often stated this spring that bullpen depth is one of his team’s strengths. “He’s going to be battling and competing for a spot throughout spring training.” 

The 26-year-old Petit will bring a slider into that battle that he calls “my most comfortable pitch to throw” in any situation. 

“There are some pitches that you’re a little timid with and maybe you don’t know what it’s going to do,” Petit explained. “With the slider, I’ve always just been able to rip and trust it.” 

The shape of Petit’s slider has evolved over the years, including gaining a lot more depth last season. It evolved into a true swing-and-miss pitch according to Petit, saying it was his best-performing year with the pitch. 

“It got me a lot of success,” Petit smiled. 

Now it’s about building on that success in Denver and capitalizing on Petit’s size advantage. 

“If you ask hitters, it’s uncomfortable at the plate for sure,” Leichman said of facing Petit. “Then the stuff that comes out of his hand on top of that makes it even harder.” 

WBC preparations begin 

On Monday, new Rockies pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano wrapped up his last workout in Scottsdale before leaving for Tokyo, where he will join Team Japan and its impressive World Baseball Classic pitching staff. 

“I train in the offseason, starting in mid-December, and, so far, it’s been pretty good,” Sugano said on Monday through an interpreter, noting there has been no difference between this year’s training for the WBC and previous years. “I’m going to continue to do so with my regimen (during the WBC).” 

Eleven players on Colorado’s spring roster are scheduled to represent eight countries in the WBC, which runs March 4-17. Schaeffer said the Rockies will stay in touch with players and others during the WBC to monitor health and workload.