Rockies give Young another look in outfield
Eric Young Jr. will get a start in center field for the Colorado Rockies on Friday against the Texas Rangers according the lineup released by the team on its Twitter feed.
Young is fighting for a utility spot on the Rockies roster with the starting second base job, which he occupied for much of the final month of the 2010 season, likely to go to Jonathan Herrera, Jose Lopez or a combination of the two. Young has been primarily a second baseman throughout his career, but played a handful of games in the outfield in both the minors and majors. He played 10 games in left field in 2010 and five in center in 2009.
Young got a late to start to spring as the Rockies allowed him to fully heal from a stress fracture in his right tibia. In eight games, he is hitting .278 with a run scored and an RBI. He has been caught stealing twice.
If Young doesn’t win a utility job, he has options remaining and can return to Triple-A. Scouts also have reportedly been watching him in case he becomes available in a trade.
This sounds like he’s being showcased for other teams to me. It looks like the IF at Colorado Springs is getting pretty crowded (as well as the OF), and EY is the odd man out. Given his speed, he may be attractive to other teams and could net a decent low level prospect in return.
Is it possible they are looking to free up space on the 40 man roster? Maybe to sign Tavares on to it?
Rockies will need to clear one spot on the 40-man for Giambi. Might need to clear another if Rex Brothers or Eric Stults makes the bullpen. Taveras has had a good spring, but I don’t see him making the team without an injury to an outfielder. Right now the bench is setting up to be a backup catcher, Ty Wigginton, Ryan Spilborghs, Giambi and Jose Lopez/Jonathan Herrera. Only way a spot opens up without an injury would be if Lopez were traded, but Rockies would likely go with Young before Taveras in that situation.
EY’s first at bat was really ugly. Let’s hope he can show a little bit more the rest of the game, both for his sake and the ballclub’s.
Jon
Holy SSS (small sample size) Batman … err … Jon S!!!
To be fair, he hasn’t really looked since he started playing and there aren’t too many games left to make an impression.
Jon