Citizen Staff Writer
MLB
JOHN MOREDICH
jmoredich@tucsoncitizen.com
Huston Street’s job is to come in and save the game for the Rockies in the late innings.
Few have done it better than the right-hander, who has 94 saves, the No. 5 mark of anybody in Major League Baseball before they turned 25.
The Rockies need somebody to solidify their closer role with Brian Fuentes, the team’s all-time career leader in saves, now pitching for the Los Angeles Angels.
Street wasn’t traded from Oakland in an offseason deal for outfielder Matt Holliday to be a setup man.
“I want to pitch the ninth inning, and so do a few other guys on this team,” Street said. “I feel like whoever proves himself and is most deserving will get it, but my the end of the day we are a team.
“If I am in the ninth, I expect them to pull for me and if they are in the ninth, I will pull for them.”
The fourth-year pro still has plenty to accomplish. Injuries hampered his progress over the past couple of seasons.
Street has gone from being named the 2005 American League rookie of the year by the Baseball Writers’ Association to losing his closing job a year ago in Oakland to Brad Ziegler.
“You always are reproving yourself,” Street said. “Anytime you are sitting back and relaxing that is when you are done, retired or in the Hall of Fame.
“That is when you can say, ‘I have done about as good as I can do.’ I am not there yet. I don’t feel like I will relax until that point.”
Muscle strains limited Street to 16 saves in 2007. In 2008, he went 7-5 with a 3.73 ERA and 18 saves.
“It is always frustrating to not perform up to the level that you are capable of,” Street said. “You can’t make excuses, though. You go out there battling and sometimes it does not work out the way you want it to.
“You have to figure out ways to improve and figure out ways to make (an) adjustment. I feel like I have done that.”
Ex-top American League rookie may become Rockies’ closer