Into thin air: Belisle and Robinson on what Coors Field does to a baseball

Right-hander Matt Belisle spent a good portion of his career pitching in the thin air of Denver. From 2009 through 2014, Belisle won 32 games with the Rockies and pitched in total of 220 1/3 innings over 207 games with 167 strikeouts at Coors Field. Belisle's best season in Colorado was in 2010, when he put together a 2.93 ERA in 76 games and a 1.087 WHIP.

So more than any other Nationals hurler, Belisle knows what to expect and how baseball is different a mile above sea level as his club embarks on a three game set tonight in the Mile High City against the Rockies.

Belisle also pitched with the Reds and Cardinals and grew up in Texas, so he knows how his stuff feels and works at sea level compared to what happens at 5,280 feet.

Belisle says there is a distinct and measurable contrast in Denver. And it has to do with the thin air.

"For a fact, personally, it was definitely different," Belisle said. "I looked at it as an opportunity. I didn't look at it as a negative. I looked at it as an opportunity to get more in tune with what I'm doing with the baseball. The recovery aspect was more difficult day to day. As your workload increases, the oxygen levels aren't the same."

And oxygen is key, especially more than 5,000 feet up, compared to ballparks closer to sea level. Sometimes it's a 20 percent difference. Try a study yourself. Next time you are in Denver, get off the plane and go to a park. Walk up a hill at that park and see how your body feels after a 15-minute walk. Are you gasping for air? Do you feel a bit lightheaded? You most likely will feel that way. Belisle said that feeling of less oxygen available also affects your body at rest.

"We did sleep studies (and) it was proved that deep sleep time was cut in half on everybody's hour between REM and deep sleep from the road to home," Belisle noted. "You literally didn't recover as well. I could feel that. There were some of my pitches on certain days with the spin that just didn't have the same effect as they did on the road so I had to adapt quicker pitch to pitch. All that equated to a different factor involved but an opportunity for me to get a little bit better at what I'm doing."

So if Nationals pitching coach Mike Maddux comes over to Belisle's locker this series at Coors Field, what kind of advice would he give to his coach and his teammates about how to adjust in Denver? Belisle said you can feel and see the difference in your breaking pitches from the first bullpen session.

"Yeah, being more selective day to day on what was there and what wasn't but also honing in on that command a lot more," Belisle said. "But also mentally being a lot tougher because a lot of people go in there worried and concerned about it, and that doesn't help you at all.

"It was an opportunity just to be tougher between the ears and really try to hit your spot and change speeds. But changing speeds may be a little more difficult than it has been so the location is more important than how nasty the stuff is."

And what was more surprising was what Belisle said next. In six years in Denver, in more than 200 games, he never really got completely used to what the altitude did to his game and his body. Yet he enjoyed an extended amount of success in a place most pitchers are terrified to play.

"It was tough. I never really acclimated," Belisle said. "You go on the road, you come home, you go on the road, you come home, you don't really acclimate. Those first few days, sometimes you'd get that headache and I don't sleep as well.

"We implemented a nap room outside the clubhouse where I tried to get as much extra rest as I could and really were careful with the extra output away from the field. The weights and running were all modified to just ensure that you are physically ready for the mound. It was definitely different."

In the NFL playoffs, common opponents of the Denver Broncos like the Cleveland Browns or the New England Patriots tried to figure out ways to get around the altitude changes while playing games in Denver. Some teams would arrive a week early. Others would fly in the day before the game to try to get around the problem. Belisle empathized with that type of thinking.

"Well, that's interesting because they implemented while I was there a few different strategies of staying there longer or getting out of there quicker," Belisle said. "One of the most important things you can do is understand that whether you feel it or not, something is different with your body. It's been proven.

"So prior to there, hydration is paramount. If you are going to have a beer after the game, maybe don't have a beer after the game this time. Just think about your body and your recovery for the time that you are there and I think we can do that for a short three game series. Just try to get your extra rest."

Manager Dusty Baker has spoken recently about his strategy for playing in Denver and then reminding his players to avoid the aftermath when they come back east Thursday to play Atlanta. He said it will be a different feel returning from mile high conditions to play the next series 27 hours later in Georgia. Belisle agreed there is a chance of an after effect. Pitchers must be ready for that difference after they end the series in Denver.

"Well, it might," Belisle said of switching gears from playing the Rockies to playing the Braves. "Because all of a sudden, your breaking ball is a lot sharper, so it's just a quick adjustment. But I feel like the guys here are good enough to make that adaptation.

"The biggest things is mentally don't take it as a negative, look at it as a positive. But take care of yourself off the field and be aggressive and go at them. You can't be fine-tuned or dainty with anything. You got to be smart with off the field and be aggressive on the field."

From a hitter's standpoint, Denver could be a welcome sight. First baseman Clint Robinson said he relished his time playing for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes of the Pacific Coast League because the ball jumped off his bat in games in New Mexico, which is actually at an even higher elevation than Denver.

"Yeah the ball flies," Robinson said. "I didn't have a good year the year before I went to Albuquerque. The opportunity came to play in Albuquerque. I said, 'Hey, I can turn my career around'. You can put up some big numbers there. You see a lot of the guys that come out of the PCL that played in Reno and Albuquerque and places like that and they usually have ridiculous numbers. I think the altitude definitely plays a factor.

"It definitely plays a factor as far as conditioning. When we showed up to Albuquerque to start the season in 2013, it takes a while for your body to get adjusted. You get winded really fast. It has advantages and disadvantages. You don't want to be a pitching prospect going to those places."

Hitters talk about how routine fly balls have the ability to turn into home runs at Coors Field. Baseball players say that guys that average six homers an entire season crank pitches out of Coors Field during batting practice on a regular basis.

Robinson said that might be a reason why pitchers feel their breaking stuff just doesn't break in Denver. But he also said it could be something that is just playing with the pitcher's psyche.

"You definitely have to locate," Robinson said. "Pitchers say it tends to flatten out. I don't know if they say that just because they are looking for a reason of why are these guys hitting me like this. Because I remember I have some videotape that I would go back and watch for swing purposes and I would see I didn't even hit that ball well.

"I remember popping that ball up thinking it was going to be a pop up to the infield and it would end up going out of the park. It really plays that much of a difference in certain places."

Robinson said playing in Albuquerque certainly helped his confidence as a hitter. And scouts saw the results in his numbers, maybe not realizing where Robinson was playing 80 games of his season each year. He believes the way he felt hitting at such a high altitude probably is the same feeling players that sign with the Rockies feel when they first get a shot at Coors Field.

"It's a comforting feeling," Robinson said. "Playing in Denver half a season when you're playing for the Rockies, I can imagine those hitters at least don't have to worry about the conditions. If I played in San Francisco every single day, I'd probably grind a little harder just cause it's a tougher ballpark to hit, ball doesn't go as far. But in Denver, you can miss balls and still have success.

"If I played a full season in a place like that, it would probably help me out in some aspects as far as hitting goes."