Hammel to Join Rockies on Friday
Right-handed pitcher Jason Hammel was added to the 25-man roster on Wednesday. To make room for him, left-hander Franklin Morales was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs right after Morales pitched six strong innings ina 9-2 win at Arizona on Wednesday afternoon.
Hammel is expected be in uniform for Friday’s home opener against the Philadelphia Phillies at Coors Field. He will wear uniform No. 46.
Hammel, 26, was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Aneury Rodriguez on Sunday. He was 7-15 with a 5.90 ERA in 207 1/3 innigns spread over 73 games, including 28 starts for Tampa Bay.
Hammel made 40 appearances, five starts, for the Rays last season. He was 2-2 with a 4.88 ERA (27.2 ip, 15 er) as a starter and 2-2 with 2 saves and a 4.44 ERA (50.2 ip, 25 er) as a reliever.
The 6-foot, 6-inch right-hander made all five of his starts in April prior to moving to the bullpen for his final 35 games of the season. The Rockies wanted him on the roster to provide a multi-inning reliever. He pitched two innings or longer in nine of his 35 relief outings, including four three-inning appearances.
Hey Posters,
I know this may seem unfair — Franklin tossed a strong game today. Kept his cool after the HR.
And gets sent to the farm.
But that’s where things can grow. To put it in poker terms, the Rockies may now have an ace in the hole. Or at least a potential ace.
Let’s see how Jason Hammel performs. He comes from a team that sure knew how to win. It’s a long season, and really could be interesting.
Seems the Rockies are making moves that could push things forward.
Tony Benjamin
I tend to agree with you Tony. HOWEVER Franklin has really been through a lot being in AAA all last year after great performance in the fall of 2007. He did everything one could ask for a young man. Worked his butt off and really settled down. Too bad the Rox didn’t have options on any other pitchers so that he could have stayed in the majors. (I don’t think Morillo has options left???) I guarantee you this kid (Morales will outperform DeLaRosa over any stretch. Jorge is a disaster in waiting….he can’t control his emotions in adverse conditions.
On another note….I’m really excited about the Rockies this year. After watching every Spring Training game I am convinced that this club is better prepared to compete. Hurdle and his Great New Staff of Coaches did all the right things throughout Spring Training to better prepare the players. Now let’s see if the players can remember all the preparations.
Jim Goins
Tony,
Franklin will get called back up as soon as they need a 5th starter (Apr 24th I believe). Hammel isnt taking the 5th spot. I could see him taking De La Rosa’s spot before Franklins at this point.
Hey Logan R/Jim,
Thanks, Logan, got it.
The point I was trying to make is that the move may seem unfair.
But Franklin will get more work in CS than he would’ve at Coors.
And will come back, I think, even stronger.
And Jim, that’ll happen (again, i think) because of the maturity he’s now showing — because of all the hard work he put in last year.
Still like the overall chemistry of this team.
It’s the un-stat factor that revolves around heart, selflessness and leadership.
The Arizona series was a great start to the regular season. The Philly series is the next step — a good early test. Philadelphia came back from a big deficit to win today.
This is why I love baseball.
Tony Benjamin
I understand sending Morales down so he gets his regular start, and stays on track until the Rockies need a 5th starter.
But WHEN the Rockies do need that 5th starter, who will it be? Hammel? Belisle? or Morales? If it’s Morales…..than who is out, cause there are no bodies out there that have options that can be moved?(well, Corpas, Jimenez, and Street..but those 3 aren’t going down)
To me this signals Hammel, with Morales being the odd man out. and that’s a shame. Morales has good stuff, and Hammel is the outsider. Unless he’s flat better than Morales….than I don’t get all these moves at the moment. Are we going to release Belisle in 2 weeks? If so…why release/give-away Morillo now? Are we so deep we can give players away?
Can anyone help shed some light on what the front office is thinking?
It was my understanding that they brought in Hammel as a long reliever and were going to try to trade Morillo, who is out of options. If it’s anything other than that I wonder too what the heck they are doing. But, I do admit they have depth at pitching.
I would say the first step is up to Morales. He was not sent out as a punishment, but rather so he can stay on track for an April 21 start. Bottom line is, if he goes down and takes care of business he will force the Rockies to find a spot for him. If he goes down and gets lost in the ozone again, it is his own stuff. Morales has to reearn the tgrust of the organization after the debacle that was 2008. He acts as if he understands that. If so, he should get the job accomplished.
Cowboy, I’m assuming the Rockies are going to wait and see how both Hammel and Belisle perform, as well as Morales down in CS, before really setting the 5th spot in the rotation. Do you see any one of the three having an edge? Morales looked good yesterday but I wonder if it really was enough to secure the spot for him. Also, I can’t for the life of me quite understand why De La Rosa can’t get on track. He’s got good stuff and I understand it’s primarily mental, but you would think that he would have made some serious strides in working through/past those issues. Is it more than the mental stuff?
Cowboy, meant to say Gaudin instead of Belisle in my previous post, assuming he joins the Rockies.
I would think Morales has the inside on the fifth spot, but he needs to go to the Springs and show he is intent on doing the job. If he just goes through the emotions in the start to stay sharp he can be easily overlooked. I don’t see Gaudin in the rotation at this point, but rather as someone to get in shape at Colorado Springs and see if they feel he projects to the big league rotation. It’s an inexpensive gamble on a guy who once had a good arm, but lately has struggled. Hammel would be a possiblity because he has been stretched out, but I don’t know why they would do anything at Morales’ expense if Morales does his job. As for De La rosa, who is to stay he’s not straightened out? He was very solid at the end of last season and had quality efforts in his final starts this spring. We’ll see how he does now that it’s for real, but he has given a lot of credit to the Rockies mind coach for helping him get turned around last year.
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