Miguel Olivo has a new fan. Hint: He played for the Broncos for years, underwent more surgeries than he’d care to count, and landed on ESPN as an NFL analyst.
Mark Schlereth once played a game the day after surgery to remove a kidney stone. Then there’s Olivo, who passed a kidney stone in the eighth inning of Monday night’s Diamondbacks-Rockies game and returned to his perch behind the plate moments later.
Schlereth’s reaction? “That’s two thumbs up from me.”
Olivo said: “Believe me, it’s not fun. Sometimes, when I’ve got that thing, I just want to die. But I can handle pain a little bit. Once it’s gone, I’m good. Let’s play baseball.”
Olivo has learned to live with the condition since he began experiencing kidney stones in 2003. But passing a stone during a game and acting as if he walked into the clubhouse to get a new catcher’s mitt?
“Come on,” said Olivo, downplaying the incident. “After I passed it, I don’t even feel it anymore. I don’t feel anything.”
Olivo amazed his teammates with his tough-guy tactics. To wit: Olivo took a nasty foul tip off his shoulder Tuesday night, prompting Rockies manager Jim Tracy to come out of the dugout to check on him.
Moments later, the two were laughing. What was up?
Said Tracy: “I asked if (the foul tip) knocked anything else loose that I need to know about.”
On the mound.
Given Greg Smith’s struggles and the Rockies’ injury situation, rookie Jhoulys Chacin could be pitching for a regular spot in the rotation in the next few weeks. Chacin, who will start Sunday in San Francisco, is a solid prospect — 3-0, 1.69 ERA at Colorado Springs — but hasn’t showed the ability to throw strikes at the big-league level.
“When he pitches ahead, this guy can be awfully tough,” Tracy said. “He can help us in the big leagues right now. If he gets his fastball over, he’ll give us quality major-league innings, I promise you that.
“Last year, I saw wipeout pitches. . . . I saw him embarrass the Cubs with his secondary stuff. I saw him embarrass the Phillies with his secondary stuff. . . . I have the utmost confidence in the world in this kid.”
Footnotes.
Clint Barmes, his average down to .189, sat out his second game in a row at second base. . . . Tracy wouldn’t confirm Saturday’s starter vs. the Giants, but all signs point to Esmil Rogers.
Jim Armstrong, The Denver Post
