Results tagged ‘ Matt Daley ’
Rockies release Manuel Corpas
It’s been a rapid fall for onetime Rockies closer Manuel Corpas. In 2007, he was one of the key figures in the team’s unexpected run to the World Series. He was rewarded with a four-year, $8.025 million contract. But since then, inconsistency and injuries has derailed his career. Now word comes down that the Rockies have placed him on unconditional release waivers.
Corpas, who had bone chips removed from his elbow in 2009, underwent Tommy John ligament transfer surgery on his right elbow late in the 2010 season. It’s unclear if he was going to contribute to them at all in 2011.
The move was necessary from the Rockies’ standpoint. They can’t afford to tie up a spot on the 40-man Major League roster with a player who might not be able to contribute. They also have Huston Street as closer and several right-handed relievers to cover them late in games — Rafael Betancourt, Matt Belisle, Manny Delcarmen, and Matt Daley, who is expected to make a full recovery from late-season shoulder problems. Still, it turns heads when the team says goodbye to a key member of a magical squad.
Bullpen the final big issue of spring
The bullpen race looks to be down to three, possibly four, pitchers for one spot.
Here’s how it looks, barring injury:
– Lefty Franklin Morales should be the closer, since Huston Street is going to begin the year on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation.
– With Morales closing, Randy Flores is the lone lefty in a setup role.
– Righties Rafael Betancourt, as long as his shoulder continues to respond, Matt Daley and Matt Belisle are locks. Belisle is out of options, but that shouldn’t matter. He has not given up a run all spring, and Daley has been perfect since two bad initial outings.
– Tentatively, count righty Manuel Corpas as one. He has been bad at times, but when he keeps the ball down in the zone he has been effective. Plus, manager Jim Tracy is considering him for end-of-the game duty alongside Morales.
All of this means non-roster right-handers Tim Redding, Juan Rincon and Justin Speier are vying for a job. With all of them under Minor League contracts, there is no roster issue forcing the Rockies’ hand.
The X-factor is lefty Joe Beimel, who agreed to a Minor League deal Monday night. General manager Dan O’Dowd said he does not expect Beimel to be ready for the opening of the season.
Redding began the spring as a starter, and is in postition to throw multiple innings.Speier’s forkball has been an effective pitch against right-handers and left-handers, which makes him a candidate to hold a job until Beimel is ready. Rincon, who has a save and a 1.29 ERA and .209 batting average against, has impressed scouts with his location.
Daley makes most of bus rides
The Rockies played their last two games in Surprise, Ariz., and Goodyear, Ariz. — the two longest trips from Tucson, Ariz. After Sunday’s game, the Rockies’ bus was stalled in traffic behind a major accident, so the trip was even longer.
Those happened the days second-year right-hander Matt Daley was scheduled to pitch his first back-to-back of the spring.
Daley ended up throwing two perfect innings. He struck out two Sunday in an 11-11 tie with Royals and retired the only two batters he faced after replacing Jorge De La Rosa with one out in the sixth inning of Monday’s 9-1 victory over the Reds.
Daley gave up five hits, three earned runs and a walk in his first two Cactus League games, but has followed that up with five perfect appearances. Efficiency is his key.
“For a middle reliever, coming into jams, you want to get your team back on the bench as soon as possible,” he said.
Manager Jim Tracy said Daley simply needed time. “Finesse guys take longer,” he said.
Maybe the beard is the secret to success. Daley, 27, looks his age. That couldn’t be said last year. He admitted he needed to change something after his bad start.
“I just started growing it after the first two times out,” he said. “I’ve been good since, so I’m not going to get rid of it yet.
“Me and [veteran right-hander Justin] Speier have been joking. He said he’s got to get clean-shaven to look young and I’ve got to grow this to look old.”
Lineups for Monday; Street update
Here’s the Rockies’ lineup against the Padres at Peoria:
Eric Young Jr., 2B
Dexter Fowler, CF
Cole Garner, RF
Troy Tulowitzki, SS
Miguel Olivo, C
Michael Paulk, 1B
Jonathan Herrera, 3B
Jorge De La Rosa, LHP
Here’s the rest of the Rockies’ pitching schedule: RHP Jason Hammel, RHP Matt Belisle, RHP Matt Daley, LHP Jimmy Gobble
In another development, well, there wasn’t much of one. Right-hander Huston Street threw a light bullpen session on Sunday that went well, but the true test of whether the stiffness and inflammation in his right shoulder is improving is how he feels the next day.
“I feel good … that’s it,” Street said Monday morning.
Rockies contract update
The Rockies have signed the following pre-arbitration players to one-year contracts: right-handed pitchers Alberto Alburquerque, Jhoulys Chacin, Samuel Deduno, Matt Daley, Edgmer Escalona, Shane Lindsay, Juan Nicasio, Greg Reynolds, Chaz Roe and Esmil Rogers; left-handed pitchers Franklin Morales and Greg Smith; catcher Mike McKenry; infielders Hector Gomez, Chris Nelson, Ian Stewart and Eric Young Jr.; and outfielders Dexter Fowler, Carlos Gonzalez and Seth Smith. Terms were not announced.
Corpas has MRI on sudden elbow problem
The Rockies’ smooth sailing was interrupted Friday afternoon when right-handed setup man Manuel Corpas showed up at the clubhouse with inflammation in his throwing elbow, and wound up undergoing an MRI. The results are not yet available.
Corpas has thrown scoreless ball in eight of his last 10 outings. He pitched in the last two games and had no indication of injury.
“It stunned him and it stunned us,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “As a matter of fact, he threw the ball even better yesterday than the he did on Wednesday.
“He threw a minimal number of pitches. We are obviously going to be proactive on this and we want to find out what the heck is going on with this — immediately.”
Immediately, Tracy said, it could push rookie Matt Daley into a setup role. Tracy could also play matchups using Daley, right-hander Joel Peralta and left-hander Alan Embree.
Friday night’s opener of a three-game set with the Pirates presents Tracy with a strategic challenge. Huston Street labored in his last outing, a save Thursday against the Rays in which he gave up two runs but escaped. Tracy said he was leaning against using him Friday, but he has not determined who his closer will be.
If Corpas needs to go to the disabled list, the most-experienced option at Triple-A Colorado Springs is Juan Rincon, who is 1-0 with a 1.84 ERA in eight appearances. Rincon is 32-27 with a 3.84 ERA in 416 Major League games with the Twins Indians and Tigers.
Hirsh among the cuts
Things haven’t been the same for Rockies right-hander Jason Hirsh since the Brewers’ J.J. Hardy hit him in the right leg with a line drive on Aug. 7, 2007. At that time, Hirsh was a rookie and seemed to be learning how to pitch in the Majors. Since then, it’s been a lot of pain and disappointment.
The pain came last season, when shoulder problems made his big-league opportunities minimal.
The disappointment came Monday, when he was one of 13 players the Rockies moved out of Major League camp. Hirsh technically was optioned to the Minors.
Right-handed pitchers Samuel Deduno, Shane Lindsay, Ryan Mattheus and Steven Register, as well as infielders Hector Gomez, Chris Nelson and Eric Young, Jr. were optioned to the Minors. Left-handed pitcher Cedrick Bowers, right-handed pitchers Matt Daley and Brandon Hynick, catcher Michael McKenry and outfielder Matt Miller were non-roster players who were reassigned to Minor League camp.
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