GREENSBORO, N.C.–Rockies righthander Josh Sullivan hadn’t pitched in nearly a month, but looked just fine in his first May start in low Class A Asheville’s 3-0 shutout at Greensboro on Wednesday.

Sullivan, a 2005 fifth-round pick out of Auburn who hadn’t taken the mound since April 27, threw 54 pitches and topped out at 93 mph over his 3 1/3 inning outing.

The 22-year-old righthander’s delivery reminded several scouts in attendance of Astros’ righthander Matt Albers—with loose windmill-like mechanics, reaching down to increase torque before reaching his release point.

“Some guys can do that, some guys can’t,” said one scout from a National League club. “Some guys will show you they can do that with velocity as amateurs and then when they turn pro it slowly goes downhill because they can’t repeat it consistently.

“He didn’t repeat his delivery all that well for me, but he showed good stuff and really showed he likes to live over the inner half. But even with that, he didn’t work away very much. There wasn’t very much setup with his pitches. He’d pound the fastball in and then throw those depthy changeups or backdoor a slider or freeze somebody with a curveball. He did everything except work away. He was staying away from using the outer part of the plate.”

Sullivan threw eight changeups out of his 54 pitches, and all of them ranged from 82-85 mph. He also showed an above-average sinker in his first start since returning from a bout with biceps tendinitis.

This is Sullivan’s first full season after spending the last two years at short-season Tri-City, where he went 3-4, 2.71 with 74 strikeouts in 70 innings last season.
This year, the 6-foot-4 righthander is now 3-1, 2.67 in 30 innings after allowing three hits and striking out four against the Grasshoppers.