I don't know how the Rockies did it, but they wound up with a majority of their pitchers on the IL at once. Antonio Senzatela, German Marquez, Noah Davis, Dinelson Lamet and even rookie Ryan Rolison. Then, Ryan Feltner went on the IL with a nasty comebacker injury. That is...a good chunk of a rotation, and right now only Kyle Freeland and Austin Gomber remain from the opening day rotation. Freeland is doing well, Gomber...is not.
Having all that open space for starters means that some wild stuff is happening in Denver. Like...Chase Anderson's starting games. And he's actually doing alright with it so far. Connor Seabold's starting more than he did in Boston, and he's...doing as well as you'd expect. Last night they brought up Karl Kauffmann to start against Texas and that didn't go particularly well either. Playing the Rockies right now is like Russian roulette, like you will likely get one of the bad starters but there is a chance you could get Kyle Freeland.
As I wrote about a few weeks ago, this bullpen is still very good, and new Peter Lambert has joined as a long-man, which is a nice touch. Fernando Abad is also getting reps with this team, which...it's so weird that someone like Fernando Abad lasted til 2023, this current era of relief. But yeah, mostly it's Jake Bird, Justin Lawrence, Brent Suter and Brad Hand staying hot, even without Gilbreath and Kinley, so I still have to commend that aspect.
The injuries have also carried over to the lineup, aside from the obvious absence of Brendan Rodgers, whose specter sort of haunts this team. I never thought somebody like Brendan Rodgers would be missed this much, but then who else is the centerpiece? Not McMahon this year. Not Bryant, with this mediocrity. Cron's hurt. There's really no central lineup piece to guide this team forward, and I think they still expect it to be the 36-year-old Charlie Blackmon, which...isn't ideal. I'd love it if Kris Bryant started playing multi-dimensionally, but I'm not sure if that's asking too much of him.
The Rockies are banged-up, scattered and a bit lost. I hope they find some answers as they go, but I'm not exactly sure how long that'll take.
Coming Tonight: He beat Kimbrel to 400, and I think he deserves to be commended for it.
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