A master of deception, Rockies prospect Justice makes Fall League history

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- When the Arizona Fall League season got underway on Oct. 7, it offered participants a chance to hit reset on their Minor League statistics. For Evan Justice, that was a welcome reprieve on a year where not much went right on the hill.

But nearly everything went right for the Rockies left-handed prospect during his time with Salt River. Justice made history by becoming the first pitcher to spin a hitless campaign (working a minimum of four innings) on the circuit as the regular season concluded Thursday. (Dan Runtzler in 2010 and Zheng Xu in 2007 are the only two hurlers to work at least three frames and finish the campaign without allowing a hit since 1999.)

Of the 28 batters to step in against Justice over the six-week span, just two reached base -- one by walk, one via hit-by-pitch. He finished with a mystifying 0.12 WHIP.

Final line: 8 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 11 K, .000 BAA, 0.00 ERA

Justice’s hitless campaign marks as one of the more impressive relief stints on the circuit in recent years. When the AFL Reliever of the Year Award was introduced in 2022, Rays prospect Evan Reifert struck out 25 batters in 11 2/3 innings, but even he allowed one hit and walked four.

The secret sauce to Justice’s success? A sinker. The southpaw began incorporating the pitch into his arsenal after he missed nearly two months of action this spring with a lower back injury. Upon his return to Triple-A Albuquerque in June, he was committed to using it as a weapon to propel him back toward the big leagues.

That time on the sidelines meant that Justice only accrued 24 2/3 innings at Triple-A in 2024, making him a prime Fall League candidate. He walked a whopping 34 batters in his time with the Isotopes en route to an 8.76 ERA, something he had struggled with previously -- but never to that extreme. He arrived back at the Rockies' complex in Scottsdale during the AFL set on bucking the trend: Over nine Rafters outings, he walked just one batter.

Being merely left-handed and breathing can give pitchers who meet those qualifications a leg up, but being left-handed, breathing and having a funky throwing motion has allowed Justice to quickly move through Colorado’s system.

“My deception has always been a strength of mine,” Justice said. “I mean, it's just a totally different look for those hitters. I've had countless guys who I faced up there just tell me it's just such a weird look, and every time they say that, I take it as a compliment just because I think it's a good thing, especially as a relief pitcher, to offer a different look coming out of the bullpen.”

That look from the left side allowed Justice to move quickly after the Rockies nabbed him in the fifth round of the 2021 Draft out of NC State. His arsenal is mostly two-pitch focused with his slider and the new-look sinker. The slower offering is traditionally in the 78-81 mph range, with the sinking fastball around 92-95. Pitching in relief has allowed him to simplify, a role he has relished since his days coming out of the bullpen for the Wolfpack.

“The awesome thing is that you've got a chance to get in the game every night,” Justice said.

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It also provided a quicker path to Colorado. Even with an arm injury sidelining him for all of the 2022 campaign, he went from draftee to big leaguer in just over two years, debuting on Aug. 26, 2023. Over the final months of that campaign and his lone MLB outing of ‘24 (Sept. 1), he’s made 10 appearances, making him a rare breed for participants among Fall Leaguers. It’s the level they all aspire to reach in the long run, especially Justice, whose brief tastes of the Majors have given him both perspective and a desire to achieve even more.

“The thing for me now is just getting back up there and then being able to stick. That's the hardest thing to do when you get called up is to stick around,” Justice said. “Just continuing to improve and knowing what it's gonna take for me to take my game to the next level is the biggest thing and what the Fall League has provided is an opportunity to work on those things.”

There could be opportunity in the Rockies' bullpen, with just three lefty relievers on the 40-man roster. This includes Lucas Gilbreath, who has battled arm injuries since late in the 2022 season, and '24 rookie Luis Peralta.

The Fall League offered Justice a chance to establish himself for a role in the Rockies’ bullpen for 2025 and beyond. But in doing so, his successes also earned him a spot in the record books.