Major League Baseball

Injuries keep mounting for Rockies

Published Jun. 23, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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There are injuries, and then there are the 2010 Colorado Rockies.

Right-hander Chad Billingsley is on the disabled list for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who earlier this season were without outfielders Andre Etheir and Manny Ramirez. Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins has been on the disabled list twice already.

Boston’s current disabled list includes outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Jeremy Hemrida and starting pitchers Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is scheduled to be activated and start Thursday’s finale against the Rockies.

Minnesota lost closer Joe Nathan for the season with Tommy John surgery. St. Louis lost starting pitchers Kyle Lohse and Brad Penny on back-to-back days in May. The New York Mets have been without center fielder Carlos Beltran all season after he underwent offseason knee surgery.

Injuries are a part of baseball.

``The game is about challenges,’’ said Rockies manager Jim Tracy. ``The teams that succeed are the ones who meet the challenges. And so far, we have been moving forward.’’

It hasn’t been easy for the Rockies.

Consider:

• Closer Huston Street was activated from the disabled list on Tuesday, and had seen the Rockies play 70 games without even warming up before getting the call to get four outs Wednesday.

• Left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, who won 16 games in the final four months of the 2009 season and three of his first four starts this year, began his minor-league rehab assignment on Wednesday with a July 7 target date for his return from the disabled list, where he has been stuck since April 28.

• Jeff Francis, a 17-game winner in 2007, missed all of 2009 and the first six weeks of this season recovering from shoulder surgery.

• Right-hander Jason Hammel was out for with a groin strain, which led to a 16-day stretch in which three of the five projected members of the Rockies rotation were disabled.

• Once it appears the pitching staff is getting healthy, the heart of the lineup, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki suffered a broken left wrist that figures to keep him out until early August.

There also is this week’s conclusion of interleague play against Boston, in town for a three-game set that began with a 2-1 victory on Tuesday, and at Anaheim this weekend, and a three-game face off with NL Central-leading St. Louis in the midst of a homestand that begins with four games against the Giants and ends with three against the NL West-leading Padres.

Crisis at Coors Field?

Nope.

"This is a chance for us to finish strong and make up ground," said outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. ``I see this as a great opportunity.’’

In Rockies terms, they are ahead of schedule. This is a team that had to win 13 of its final 14 regular-season games in 2007 to have a chance to advance to the World Series for the first time. And it’s a team that rallied from a 20-32 beginning in 2009 to record a franchise-record 92 regular-season victories and earn its second postseason appearance in three years.

The 2010 Rockies improved to 38-33 with their ninth-inning, 8-6 victory against the Red Sox on Wednesday, the third-best start in franchise history. They were 39-31 in 1995, the year they advanced to the postseason for the first time. They were 39-31 in 2000 en route their only winning season (82-80) in a nine-year stretch from 1998-2006.

``We haven't played like we expected, but we just need to stay close," second baseman Clint Barmes said. "Every team goes on a run. We haven't, and we are still in a good spot."

The Rockies went into Thursday four games back of the NL West-leading Padres, 1 1/2 games behind the second-place Giants, and tied for third place with the Dodgers.

``We are in position to make our move,’’ said Tracy. ``It’s up to us.’’

The Rockies obviously have had major players sidelined this year, but every contender has.

``It all comes down to whether you take it as creating an opportunity or look for it to be an excuse,’’ said Tracy.

BRAVE NEW WORLD

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria wanted to fire manager Fredi Gonzalez last offseason, and even had conversations with potential replacements, including Bobby Valentine. The money behind the team, however, is from his ex-wife, and stepson David Sampson, the team president, was able to intercede at that time. Gonzalez received a contract extension for 2011 as an apology.

Loria finally got his way on Wednesday, but the real winner will be Gonzalez, who is the No. 1 choice in Atlanta to replace retiring manager Bobby Cox. The firing allows Gonzalez the remainder of this season to get a first-hand look at the Braves, who were set to hire Gonzalez to be a member of Cox’s coaching staff for this season had he been fired by the Marlins last fall.

Loria, a New Yorker, has a fascination with anything New York, and it will be interesting to see if he is willing to meet the demands to hire Valentine, who in addition to a significant salary will be looking for front-office powers to take a managerial job.

Whoever gets the job will have a challenge. Loria is unrealistic enough that in spring training he proclaimed that the Marlins had everything necessary to win an NL East that features the reigning world champion Phillies as well as Atlanta and the Mets.

QUICK THOUGHTS

• Maybe the World Cup needs to adopt instant replay.

• Interesting that there is such excitement with soccer fans over a tie, and in baseball, when an exhibition All-Star Game ends in a tie there is indignation toward commissioner Bud Selig because of the result.

• Right-handed Stephen Strasburg has created plenty of excitement with the Washington Nationals, but three starts into his career there are sudden outcries that he be placed on the All-Star team? By the All-Star break will there be demands to include him during the July 25 ceremony in Cooperstown?

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