If losing a closer isn’t bad enough, the Colorado Rockies may have skirted another long-term injury with Tyler Chatwood, who will certainly miss his next start with a strained tricep. Pulled after four innings, Tyler Chatwood ultimately took the loss against the Cincinnati Reds but required an MRI in Denver.
Tyler Chatwood had gone 3-0 through six games before his seemingly lucky brush with the DL. Giving the rotation a boost, Chatwood is holding the second-best ERA and still hasn’t yielded a home run in his starts. Losing him for a potential one or two games is far better than having to replace him. Roy Oswalt is ahead of schedule according to The Denver Post’s Troy Renck and will join the Rockies soon. According to Renck, Oswalt has clauses in his contract to request release on June 18 and 28 if not promoted within 72 hours. The Rockies must promote him soon, and Jon Garland will be demoted if no one is injured.
Rafael Betancourt is going to take a DL stint to hopefully prevent his groin strain from getting worse. Weiss and his staff told Betancourt he would have to take a couple weeks off, giving Rex Brothers the role of finisher. Brothers is more than capable of stepping into the role and could likely be dealt if the Rockies flounder before the trade deadline. Matt Lindstrom was a similar expendable asset when times got tough; Brothers should be harder to let go because dominant set-up men have filled in nicely for closers. Sergio Romo made the San Francisco Giants’ Brian Wilson expendable because of injuries.
The Rockies have been lucky, largely thanks to not having as many injuries as they have accumulated by this point in past seasons. Troy Tulowitzki is in the lineup, so is Carlos Gonzalez. Jorge De La Rosa is back and leading the rotation. The Rockies may not be a hot team, but they are chipping away at the season now.
The grind of summer baseball has come early as the Rockies try to dig out wins here and there. The road trips are going to be hotter, and losing becomes more difficult to stomach, or at least should.
It’s doubtful any of the Colorado Rockies will surface in the Biogenesis report that is going to be released in the next week. MLB is reportedly going to be seeking suspensions against Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun for their connection to the PED supplier. If a Tulowitzki or CarGo would have been implicated, I imagine they would’ve put their names on the marquee, as well, for the soon-to-be-ongoing soap opera of the summer.
Supplier Anthony Bosch is going to supply names over the next week to MLB, and the office of the commissioner is planning on suspending anyone involved. This will consume too much time on TV, radio and print with the focus on who won’t be playing baseball instead of those who will be.
Hopefully, this is the only time I’m going to have to mention “PEDs” and “Rockies” in the same sentence.