On a team whose season has been defined more by true grit than true greatness, no portion of the Rockies’ roster has showed more guts and determination than the boys in the bullpen.
Manager Jim Tracy used six relievers in Wednesday night’s 6-3 loss to San Diego, not a single one of whom was on the opening-day roster. The result? Try 4 1/3 innings, one hit, no runs.
Did we say none of the six was on the opening-day roster? Nothing out of the ordinary there. Fact: The Rockies have 12 relievers on their roster. Of the 12, one, newly reordained closer Huston Street, was in the bullpen on opening day. Another, Franklin Morales, was in the starting rotation.
That’s it. All the others were in the Rockies’ minor-league system or with other organizations.
Can you say patchwork?
“We’ve definitely talked about that out in the pen,” said Matt Daley, the fifth of Wednesday’s six relievers. “We had 10 guys at one point and seven had been in Triple-A, so we were joking around that we have the Sky Sox’s bullpen here pitching for the Rockies. It’s pretty weird. You don’t usually see that.”
That’s the bullpen the Rockies will rely on in the playoffs, assuming they get there. They didn’t plan it that way, but that’s the hand fate has dealt them. Taylor Buchholz, a star last season in the setup role, hasn’t thrown a pitch in 2009 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Manuel Corpas, his replacement, is in the instructional league after undergoing elbow surgery.
Wait, there’s more. Alan Embree will be heading to the instructional league any day now after suffering a broken leg, no thanks to a line drive. Brian Fuentes? Last year’s closer took the money and signed with the Angels.
What could have been a major weakness has been anything but. The Rockies’ pen is 21-18 with a 4.43 ERA, having allowed 420 hits in 432 1/3 innings.
Wednesday, the Rockies fell behind 6-0 but were in position to make things interesting late in the game, thanks to another solid performance by the pen.
“You have to feel very good about the fact that you’re in position to win a series because, starting pitching-wise, we haven’t pitched well in the first couple of games of this series,” Tracy said. “I can’t give enough credit to the job the bullpen did. You wouldn’t expect them to go out and perform in the manner in which they did, but our bullpen again tonight was absolutely terrific.They all stepped up.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
