TUCSON — The Rafael Betancourt issue gets more curious by the day.
That’s issue, not problem. Jim Tracy is very careful when it comes to labeling these kinds of things.
“I’m in no stage of being concerned at this point in time,” Tracy said, “because of how much calendar we have left and the work he needs in order to be ready. We’re going to take this one day at a time. Nobody here is pushing any panic button just yet.”
For now, the Rockies remain hopeful the inflammation in Betancourt’s right shoulder will subside and he’ll be able to get in enough Cactus League appearances to be ready for opening day. But clearly, he is on the clock.
“I don’t think he needs to get out on the mound a ton of times before the season starts,” Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said. “We were hoping to get nine innings in. If we get in five or six, I still think he’ll be fine. If it becomes less than that, then we would have to sit down as a group and do what’s best for him.”
This much is certain: Betancourt won’t be on the mound in a game situation for several days. He played catch Saturday before the Rockies’ Cactus League home opener vs. Milwaukee and felt the same tightness he has experienced for much of his time in Arizona.
“Maybe in a week, we’ll know how it’s going to be,” Betancourt said. “I don’t want to say a date. I just want to go day by day and see how I feel. This is the first time I’ve had trouble like this in spring training, but I have to deal with it.”
Elsewhere on the pitching front, Huston Street, who also has been battling shoulder inflammation, plans to throw off a mound today. Then there’s Jeff Francis, who says he’s “100 percent confident” he’ll be ready for the start of the season after allowing four runs in his first Cactus League appearance since 2008.
The bottom line, courtesy of pitching coach Bob Apodaca: “I’m glad it’s the 5th of March so we still have time to recover from this. But I don’t worry about track records because these guys have great track records.” Footnotes.
First baseman Todd Helton, out Saturday with flulike symptoms, should make his spring debut late this week, along with Jason Giambi. … Brad Hawpe should be good to go any day now after being sidelined with an ingrown toenail and a subsequent infection. . . . Dexter Fowler made his Cactus League debut after missing most of last week with the flu. So far, so good as Fowler had two hits in three at-bats.
Jim Armstrong, The Denver Post
