Hammel Candidate to Start Monday
Jason Hammel has made no secret that he would like a chance to start, although he has accepted a relief role with the Rockies.
Hammel’s opportunity to start could, however, come on Monday.
With Franklin Morales coming out of his Tuesday start witha strianed left shoulder the Rockies will need to replace him in the rotation.
Hammel did stretch out during the spring with Tampa Bay, which traded him to the Rockies the final weekend of the spring. He was in contention for a spot in the Rays rotation.
Hammel has appeared in three games since joining the Rockies. He has allowed two hits in four scoreless innings his last two appearances.
The Rockies have called up right-hander Matt Daley from Triple-A Colorado Springs to give them anoterh bullpen arm. Daley has a 1.13 ERA in five relief appearances for the SkySox, having allowed one run on seven hits and one walk while striking out 15 in eight innings.
With Colorado Springs in the midst of a series in Reno, Daley could fly into Phoenix in time to be in uniform for Wednesday’s 12:40 p.m., start of the Rockies finale against Arizona.
Daley did not pitch on Tuesday, but did strike out four in 2 1/3 innings of relief work at Las Vegas on Monday.
Johnson is not on the 40 man roster; would that influence the decision?
Fogg also is not, but if Morales’ injury is bad enough to send him to the 60-day DL, would they consider Fogg? Presumably, if things don’t work out, the Rockies would be more willing to risk waivers on Fogg to remove him from the 40-man than they would with younger pitchers like Johnson.
Hirsch and Reynolds are on the 40-man. However, you noted that in spring training, scouts thought Hirsch’s velocity was down about 5 mph from his days with Houston’s AAA club. I’m sure everyone would like to give Reynolds more time at CSprings to try to develop. So maybe they’re not good options, either.
Bummer there about Hirsch, he seemed like a good pickup at the time.
Key thing about Johnson would be he would have options so he could be sent out and would not have to come off the 40-man roster. Most likely, though, I would think Hammel would get a chance to start. That was part of the thought process in adding him. Fogg has struggled in his two starts at the Springs. That can’t be ignored. He’s a wonderful guy and had two years where he helped the Rockies, but that was two years ago. If the thought process with acquiring Hammel was that he could fill depth for the need of a starter, and the fact he has been stretched out would seem to make that a logical move. He could even pitch two or three innings on Wednesday and he would still have the full four days off before the start on Monday or Tuesday, if the Rockies wanted to keep De La Rosa on regular rest and bring him back Monday.
Ah, Reynolds is on the DL himself anyway.
Reynolds could be activated off the minor league DL. I think he’s ready to pitch, and most likely will step in where Morales started. Hammel, however, has been stretched out so might as well give him a look.
Thanks; it makes sense for Hammel to have the first shot. I guess I was thinking of depth beyond that.
Is Greg Smith supposed to start pitching again sometime soon? At some point, one would hope he’d be ready as well, and then the rotation depth will start looking better.
Smith’s situation should start to clear up soon.
It does help that Fogg finally had a quality effort at Reno on Tuesday. Hirsch’s last outing was solid, too, but they would like to see that fastball return.
You know, though, Mike, it’s why I always smile a little when people start talking about the decisions that will have to be made when a player comes back, like Taylor Buchholz. Any idea how many pitching moves this team might have to make before Buchholz is ready, which won’t be before June 1, most likely?
As Hurdle likes to say, “Want to make God laugh? Tell him what you plan to do tomorrow.”
Tracy,
You mentioned Buchholz. Any idea how his rehab is going? I haven’t seen much on him lately (maybe I’m not looking hard enough).
Sounds like Fogg’s start went well last night, what is the deadline date for the 45 day contracts? Sometime in next couple of weeks right? Just wondering if Rusch struggles more will they switch these two? Or does having the lefty long man outweight another right hand arm?
Tracy,
Any chance Chacin gets the call?
The 45 days contracts extend for 45 days into the season, which would be around May 21.
Let’s see how things happen in the long haul with both sides.
He is throwing 120 feet distances off flat ground. From the time he was sidelined, I have felt June 1 would be a good target date. It’s a pitchers arm. There is no quick way back. There is total rest, which means a rebuilding of the arm strength and then building up pitching stamina and then pitching in some games. There have been no bumps in the road. It just takes time.
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