Results tagged ‘ Carlos Gonzalez ’
Gonzalez staying off soggy ground
Rockies manager Jim Tracy emphasized Wednesday that left fielder Carlos Gonzalez’s left hamstring is not strained or pulled. Gonzalez did leave Tuesday night’s 11-10 victory over the Padres with tightness in the hamstring. But Tracy said that was for precautionary reasons.
Not putting him in the lineup on Wednesday was yet another precaution. It rained much of the day in Denver, and the temperature is likely not to be much higher than Tuesday’s gametime temp of 48.
Seth Smith, who replaced Gonzalez on Tuesday, was in the lineup in left field and in the leadoff spot.
Tracy also announced that Rafael Betancourt, who suffered soreness in his right calf after pitching Saturday at Arizona, was to throw a touch-and-feel bullpen session, in hopes that he’ll be available to return to game action soon.
Clean-shaven Helton in the lineup
Rockies first baseman Todd Helton survived. The beard and goatee that has been a part of him for recent years, however, is gone.
Helton was in the dugout when Carlos Gonzalez’s line drive smashed into his left shin during the ninth inning of Friday night’s 7-5 loss to the D-backs. Amazingly, Helton ws feeling no ill effects on Saturday and was back in the lineup. The pain had numbed his leg from his calf to his foot.
When Helton showed up at Chase Field on Saturday, Rockies manager Jim Tracy did a double-take, and not just because Helton was pain-free.
“He came into my office today and said he was my new first baseman,” Tracy said, joking about the new look. “I said, ‘Welcome to the team.’”
Tracy said the foul ball was frightening for everyone in the dugout.
“Somebody was looking out for us, I’ll tell you that right now,” Tracy said. “If that ball had hit him in the chest or in the face, there would have been serious, serious problems. We don’t have our first baseman here. He’s done.”
Helton is batting third in a left-handed lineup against D-backs right-hander Max Scherzer. five of the first seven hitters swing from the left.
Saturday is a big game for the Rockies. The Dodgers blasted the Giants, 12-1, earlier Saturday, which means the Rockies have a chance to pump their lead in the National League Wild Card race to 3 1/2 games.
The value of knowing your role
We’ll see if Rafael Betancourt is the eighth-inning answer for the Rockies. But at least he knows the question, so to speak.
Betancourt, acquired from the Indians on Thursday for Minor League pitcher Connor Graham, joined the Rockies on Friday for the big series with the Giants. Beyond some TV footage and an Interleague series past, Rockies manager Jim Tracy knows little of Betancourt. But Tracy knows Betancourt knows what he needs to know to fill a primary setup man in place of Manuel Corpas, who underwent surgery to remove a bone chip from his right elbow.
“He knows what he’s doing,” Tracy said. “He’s going to make you beat him with the bat. This guy has never been a guy that creates opportunity for the other team by walking people. He’s a strike-thrower, throws very hard, and has all the things that are necessary.
“Being a strike-thrower, for me that’s the most important thing when you get down to the last six outs of the game.”
Betancourt, 34, who broke in with the Indians in 2003 and didn’t pitch for anyone else, sounded shocked after learning of the trade on Thursday. The blank stare was gone Friday. He was accepted within the expanding Venezuelan corner of the ballclub. He knew veteran catcher Yorvit Torrealba and fellow relievers Juan Rincon and Franklin Morales already. It turns out young outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and freshly called-up pitcher Jhoulys Chacin grew up within a bout a 10-minute radius of where Betancourt grew up.
And a look at the standings, with the Rockies a game ahead of the Giants in the National League Wild Card race and facing them in a three-game series starting Friday night, made Betancourt feel even more at home.
“It’s a weird feeling, the first time this has happened to me, but I’m just excited to be here,” he said. “All these years I’ve been watching trades that are made. it’s happened to me now. I always wondered how it feels to get traded to a team in the pennant race. It’s vey special.”
– The Rockies designated righty releiver Ryan Speier for assignment. Speier, who is out of Minor League options, was activated from the disabled list earlier this week but had not pitched. Speier said it was simply that a more experienced reliever was available.
The Rockies are hoping Speier clears waivers and can be assigned to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
– Tracy said Corpas’ surgery went well enough that the team will wait two weeks to see how the elbow heals, then hopefully proceed with rehab.
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