June 2009
Rockies draft son of manager Tracy
A few years ago, Mark Tracy was headed to Colorado State to play football. But at the last minute, he decided to follow his father and two older brothers into baseball. He did well enough at that at Duquesne University that the Rockies selected him in the 49th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft.
As far as his father, Rockies manager Jim Tracy, is concerned, the selection is because he has developed into a power hitter in a short time. Tracy hit .250 with 14 home runs and 46 RBIs this past season as a junior.
“Over the last couple of years, he made some strides,” Jim Tracy said from Milwaukee, where his Rockies won their eighth straight game, 5-4, over the Brewers. “When you’re 6-foot-6, 6-foot-6 ad 220 pounds, four [homers] won’t get it done, as I told him.
“He’s starting to figure it out a little bit. He’s an interesting project. I don’t know where it’s going to go. I don’t know if he’s going to go back and play his senior year at Duquesne. He’s over in Alaska right now and over the next couple of days or so, we’ll sort some things out.”
The Rockies selected two other players with organizational bloodlines.
Catcher Heath Holliday, son of Rockies special assistant to the general manager Dave Holliday, and cousin of Athletics slugger Matt Holliday, was selected out f Bixby (Okla.) High School in the 46th round, and catcher-infielder Sterling Monfort, son of Rockies vice chairman Dick Monfort, in the 47th round out of Eaton (Colo.) High School.
Torrealba will have time to settle in
To help Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba regain baseball form after being away from the team to deal with the kidnapping of his son and two other family members in Venezuela (all were released), Major League Baseball has granted Torrealba and the Rockies a five-day period in which Torrealba can play Minor League games.
The period will be triggered after Torrealba reports to the club.
Torrealba left the team Tuesday upon hearing that his son, his brother-in-law and his wife’s brother-in-law were kidnapped. The three were freed on Wednesday. MLB allowed the Rockies to place Torrealba on the restricted list (not a disabled list or a bereavement list), which allowed the club to replace him on the 40-man Major League and 25-man active rosters without losing another player. Conversations between the Rockies, MLB and the MLB Players Association led to the agreement to allow Torrealba to acclimate himself again to baseball after dealing with his special circumstances.
Torrealba has not indicated when he will return. The Rockies are standing by their statement at the time of the incident, saying Torrealba will get all the time he needs. Manager Jim Tracy said there is not a tentative date at this point, and he is aware of the rehab period.
“Because of the time he has been away, there is a window for us to involve him in some [Minor League] games, rather than bring him back and just put him in this dugout and think that he’d be ready to go,” Tracy said.
Also, Chirs Iannetta, who has been out since late May with a right hamstring strain, has completed his injury rehab assignment and will be activated Tuesday in Milwaukee if he passes the club’s physical examination.
Final seps for Iannetta
Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta is scheduled to catch nine innings Saturday night and Sunday for Triple-A Colorado Springs as he wraps up a rehab assignment for a strained right hamstring strain. If all goes well, he could be rejoin the Rockies on Tuesday in Milwaukee, Rockies manager Jim Tracy said.
Going into Saturday, Iannetta was 3-for-7 with a home run and three RBIs through two games of his rehab assignment.
Also, left-hander Franklin Morales (shoulder strain) started Friday for the Sky Sox and threw 78 pitches in 3 1/3 innings, giving up one earned run on two hits, with three walks and five strikeouts. Tracy said Morales will have a 100-pitch limit in his next start, then the team would discuss whether to activate him.
mlblogsharding1
Recent Comments