CHICAGO — It’s a popular axiom in football: If you have two quarterbacks, you have none. The Rockies have depth and manager Clint Hurdle is trying to maximize it without bruising egos and losing production.
Finding playing time for center fielder Willy Taveras and catcher Yorvit Torrealba, both opening day starters, has become increasingly difficult. Neither has performed as expected offensively, but are assets in the field.
Hurdle reiterated today that he won’t freeze anyone out. But he’s no longer going out of his way to say that Torrealba is his starting catcher, either. Torrealba has started just once in his last six games, and it’s telling that he’s not in there tonight after tying his career-high with three hits yesterday.
Hurdle said he’s looking for someone to run with the position, and that he will “look to piggyback” the two to get the most offense. Torrealba is likely to begin serving his suspension for his fight with Matt Kemp this weekend. That would necessitate a call-up of Triple-A’s Edwin Bellorin. Taveras is in center field tonight because of his defense with Spilborghs’ DHing.
This is the second wave of interleague play. The Rockies have more familiarity with the White Sox, playing them practically every other day in Tucson during spring training.
A look at tonight’s lineups:
Rockies (26-40)
CF Willy Taveras
DH Ryan Spilborghs
LF Matt Holliday
1B Todd Helton
3B Garrett Atkins
RF Brad Hawpe
C Chris Iannetta
2B Ian Stewart
SS Omar Quintanilla
LHP Jeff Francis
White Sox (37-29)
SS Orlando Cabrera
C A.J. Pierzynski
LF Carlos Quentin
DH Paul Konerko
RF Jermaine Dye
1B Nick Swisher
3B Joe Crede
CF Brian Anderson
2B Juan Uribe
Rockies sign 19 draft picks
The Rockies’ draft picks that have agreed to terms are, according to the club: Charles Blackmon (2nd), Phillip Hollingsworth (4th), Daniel Houston (7th), Kurt Yacko (8th), Craig Bennigson (9th), Brandon Walker (11th), Juan Rodriguez (15th), Chad Rose (16th), Alan Deratt (17th), Chad Jacobsen (18th), Thomas Field (24th), Adam Jorgenson (26th), Mike Zuanich (28th), Matthew Baugh (29th), Carlos Luna (30th), Rod Scurry (31st), Patrick Rose (36th), Alexander Feinberg (43rd) and Bradley McAtee (45th).
