SAN FRANCISCO — Huston Street politely disagreed with the notion that he’s better suited to be the Rockies’ closer now than when he was fresh out of spring training.
“I wouldn’t say I’m in a better place, because I’ve always been very confident out there,” Street said Friday after manager Clint Hurdle officially reinstated him as the Rockies’ ninth-inning stopper. “But I do think that having numerous outings, with some good results, has been good for me. But at the same time, I wasn’t pitching well. I understood why the switch was made.”
Street is 2-for-2 in save opportunities, and five of his last six outings have been scoreless. But his 6.10 ERA and the memory of the two-run, ninth-inning homer he served up to the Phillies on April 12 is proof that he has been far from dominating.
Street supplants Manuel Corpas, whose inability to keep the ball low in the zone and failure to recapture the edge that made him a keystone of the Rockies’ run to the World Series in 2007 have relegated him to a middle-innings guy.
“It’s not the eighth inning,” Hurdle said of Corpas’ new role. “He’s not pitching well enough to be the eighth-inning guy right now. We’re going to try to get him more right-handers than left-handers. We’re going to try to maybe go double innings with him from time to time.”
Hurdle said he will mix and match his setup men, using left-hander Alan Embree and right-hander Jason Grilli.
“I’m looking at Embree and I’m looking at Grilli,” Hurdle said. “I think we’ll look definitely at Alan, because of the experience factor and the fact he can go through right-handers and left-handers. And if there’s an opportunity where matchups might be better, then maybe Jason would get that opportunity to pitch in front of him.”
Footnotes.
Hurdle, on former Rockie Matt Holliday, who has struggled in the early going with Oakland and didn’t hit his first homer of the season until Thursday: “Matt can hit, so I’m not going to lose any sleep over what Matt isn’t doing. He’s a good ballplayer. At the end of the season, I think he’ll be in a good place offensively. I think he’ll play good defensive left field for them. I think he’ll be just fine.” . . . How poor was the Rockies’ starting rotation in April? The starters logged just 104 1/3 innings, fewest among all National League clubs. . . . On the plus side, the Rockies led the NL in steals, swiping 18 bases in 24 attempts. . . . Rockies minor-league outfielder Kevin Clark has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. The commissioner’s office says Clark tested positive for amphetamines. Clark plays for Single-A Modesto of the California League. The 23-year-old Clark is batting .241 with four RBIs in 12 games. The commissioner’s office announced the suspension Friday.
Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
