Los Angeles – In his ongoing attempt to keep the Rockies rolling, Clint Hurdle juggled the lineup again Monday night as the team opened a three-game series with the Dodgers.
The manager’s lineup card had second baseman Jamey Carroll leading off, center fielder Cory Sullivan batting seventh and shortstop Clint Barmes hitting sixth. Sullivan, who entered the game hitting just .163 (7-for-43) in his past 10 games, had been at the top of the order 37 times in the Rockies’ first 44 games.
Sullivan, who singled in his first at-bat Monday, took the move in stride, saying he would do whatever helped the team.
“I’ll just go out and do my job and maybe get a chance to hit with men on base and get some RBIs,” he said.
Sullivan agreed that the young Rockies approach things differently than other, more veteran, teams.
“On some other teams, like the Yankees, one through nine is pretty much set every day, things stay the same,” he said. “But I think with this team, guys are just happy to be at the field, happy to get the opportunity to play and happy to get a chance to win. I think we are a little bit more blue-collar than other teams, and I think that favors us.”
Putting Carroll at the top and moving Sullivan to seventh is just Hurdle’s latest move. He has used Matt Holliday and Garrett Atkins at cleanup, and now Atkins is hitting second. Barmes, in a deep early-season slump, started out hitting second and occasionally leading off. Now he’s hitting sixth or seventh.
“I think Clint’s just trying to find ways to get everybody going, and I think it’s working pretty well,” Atkins said.
Hurdle expects more tinkering with the lineup throughout the season.
“I think with this group of men we have right now, there is going to have to be some fluctuation throughout the season,” he said. “It’s a young team, and from time to time I’m going to want to be able to take a little bit of heat off some of them.”
Kim decision close
Hurdle said a decision on what to do with pitcher Sun-Woo Kim is “imminent.” The club’s options include moving Kim into the Rockies’ bullpen, trading him or putting him on waivers.
Just two weeks ago, Hurdle said the only way Kim would rejoin the Rockies after his rehab stint at Triple-A Colorado Springs would be as a starter. Hurdle has since changed his mind, in part because Josh Fogg has performed well as a starter.
“I’ve gone on record saying I don’t want to mess with the bullpen and (Kim’s) only a starter. Well, I’ve had to rethink that,” Hurdle said. “(Kim’s) gone on record saying he wouldn’t pitch out of the bullpen. Well, he’s rethought that. I think we just want to make sure we make the best decision possible for the long- term future of this club.”
Hurdle also said he believes Kim would generate interest from other clubs in a possible trade.
Footnote
Reliever Jose Mesa turned 40 on Monday. The only older player in Rockies history was Jeff Fassero, who appeared in a game when he was 41 years, 252 days old.
Rockies recap
Just as Jamey Carroll was entrenching himself as the Rockies’ starting second baseman, he pulled up lame with an ankle injury. The Rockies called the injury a sprained right ankle and listed Carroll as day to day. Carroll led off the game and reached first base on a Dodgers error. He advanced to second on Garrett Atkins’ single, but turned his right ankle as he got to the bag. Carroll stayed in the game and came around to score the Rockies’ only run, but was replaced in the third by Luis Gonzalez. Besides Gonzalez, Jason Smith also could play second for the Rockies.
KOREAN HISTORY: When the Rockies’ Byung-Hyun Kim started against the Dodgers’ Jae Seo, it marked the first time in major-league history that two Korean pitchers faced off against each other. The two were high school teammates in Inchon, South Korea.
ERRORLESS NO MORE: When first baseman Todd Helton was charged with a throwing error in the third inning, it snapped an impressive string of errorless games by Colorado. The team had not committed an error in its previous eight games, tied for the fourth-longest streak in team history. Heading into Monday, the Rockies led the majors with a .997 fielding percentage in May, making just two errors in 704 total chances.
