Jennings Aims 

Jennings Aims

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jason Jennings is trying to avoid another slow start by getting ahead of batters this spring with his change-up.

The Rockies pitchers and catchers worked out for the first time on Saturday, but it was far from the first physical activity Jennings has done during the offseason.

Colorado's potential opening day pitcher has undergone a different conditioning program to strengthen his lower back and abdominals, and has concentrated on throwing his change-up more to get off to a promising start.

Jennings has typically been slow to get going, such as he did a year ago when he was 1-6 with a 7.05 ERA through his first nine starts.

"He is well aware he has come out of the gate slow and then gotten on a roll by the end of May," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "He is not happy with it, and we think there is better there. We know there is better there. It is up to him."

Jennings finished the season 6-9 with a 5.02 ERA before breaking a bone in his finger that put him out of the lineup the last part of the year. A new conditioning program has brought him to Rockies camp in the best shape of his life.

But there is more to getting out fresh than just looking the part. The 2002 National League Rookie of the Year is going back to what worked in the middle of the 2005 season -- an off-speed pitch -- as a way to jump-start his career. In Jennings' final 11 starts he was 5-3 with a 3.49 ERA.

"I was really throwing my fast ball on both sides of the plate and throwing my change-up a lot," Jennings said. "Throwing my change-up is something I did in my rookie year a lot and is something I kind of got away from the next couple of years. That is the big pitch for me, especially in Denver.

"It is a pitch I have to throw. It is a feel pitch. It takes awhile to get a feel for it, but I am going to try to throw it a lot in spring training and hopefully it will be a good pitch for me come April."

The Rockies had everybody working out on day one with the exception of Jose Mesa, who is having traveling problems reporting from Miami, and Nate Fields, who recently had a baby boy and was expected to be in camp by Monday.