For manager Clint Hurdle, starting catcher Chris Iannetta in front of Yorvit Torrealba on Tuesday night for the third straight game was a no-brainer.
“I don’t think I’ve ever sat a guy after a three-hit game,” Hurdle said, referring to Iannetta’s 3-for-4 performance Monday that boosted his average to .349.
But there’s more to it than that. The unflappable Iannetta — who clubbed his third homer of the season to lead off the fifth inning and hit a two-run double in the ninth to boost his average to .362 — is flashing the talent that made him the club’s No. 1 catcher coming out of spring training in 2007, before struggles at the plate sent him back to Triple-A for a 16-game refresher course.
“I’m definitely feeling more comfortable, because I’m working the game at my own pace,” Iannetta said. “Looking back at last year, I think I did things at everybody else’s pace.”
Hurdle believes the difference between the Iannetta of May 2007 and the Iannetta of May 2008 is the catcher’s aggressiveness with the bat.
“I made the comment, in a constructive kind of way, that sometimes he thought he had four strikes to work with,” Hurdle said. “He’s worked hard, he’s dealt with some adversity, and he’s come out on the good side of it.”
In the Fogg.
The Reds are trying to accommodate pitcher Josh Fogg by trading him to a team that will give him an opportunity to start. The Rockies remain a favorite, but don’t want to overpay if Fogg is going to be cut, something that nearly happened Monday before other teams besides Colorado expressed interest in the right-hander. Seeing Fogg as an insurance policy, Cincinnati wants to work out a deal.
Boston’s Julian Tavarez, who performed well for the Rockies in 2000 (11-5, 4.43 ERA), is a viable alternative. Any pursuit of Oakland’s Rich Harden would likely involve a player to be named later because of health issues.
Footnotes.
The Rockies recalled right-handed reliever Roberto Arias from Triple-A Colorado Springs and optioned left-handed reliever Josh Newman to Colorado Springs. . . . Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Albert Pujols’ dash from second to home for the winning run Monday night was a bit of happenstance. Pujols had been given the green light to steal third on two pitches, but was then given a stop sign. But Pujols decided to steal and came around to on Rick Ankiel’s grounder to second base.
Patrick Saunders and Troy E. Renck The Denver Post
