Four days after pitching four scoreless innings of relief against San Francisco, Esmil Rogers was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs on Thursday. The move was made to clear a roster spot for Jorge De La Rosa, who’ll start today.
The drive down I-25 is getting old, what with Rogers having been sent down two previous times, but he left with the knowledge that he’ll be back on Sept. 1, when rosters are expanded, if not earlier.
“I feel a little mad because I tried to do everything I could to help the team win and be here for a long time,” Rogers said. “I thanked them and told them I appreciated everything. . . . They know I can pitch right here. For me, that’s the great part of this.”
Rogers left little doubt about that during his four scoreless innings on the Fourth of July. He allowed two hits, struck out five and left his catcher, Chris Iannetta, amazed.
“He’s out there like he’s playing catch and it’s 96 (mph),” said Iannetta. “I was disappointed when they sent him out earlier because I really think he can help us.”
Said Rogers, when asked about his performance: “I felt like I’m The Man on the mound. ‘You want to hit it, hit it right here.’ That’s what I was thinking about when I went to throw the ball.”
By the numbers.
Miguel Olivo, bypassed for the National League all-star team, has a higher batting average (.312) than NL starter Yadier Molina’s slugging percentage (.296).
Catchers’ corner.
Infielder Omar Infante, who started 42 of the Braves’ first 82 games, is on the all-star team over Olivo? NL manager Charlie Manuel said during a conference call Thursday that the rule allowing catchers to re-enter the game prompted him to go with only two, which opened a spot for Infante.
“Olivo’s having a good year,” said Manuel. “I really like his power, and he’s come a long way as a catcher. But being able to re-enter the catchers, I didn’t want to carry three.”
Footnotes.
The Rockies have tentatively set their post-All-Star Game rotation. De La Rosa or Aaron Cook will pitch Friday at Cincinnati, followed by Jason Hammel and Jeff Francis, leaving Ubaldo Jimenez to pitch on Monday in Florida. . . . De La Rosa, on pitching today for the first time since late April: “I want to treat it like any other game. I’m going to be excited, but I’m not going to put any pressure on myself.” . . . According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Tuesday and Wednesday marked the first time since 1930 that the Cardinals lost successive games when leading by five-plus runs.
No go for CarGo.
Those “Vote CarGo” T-shirts will be nice collector’s items, but they didn’t get Carlos Gonzalez a spot in the All-Star Game. CarGo finished third in the on-line voting, well behind Cincinnati’s Joey Votto. In the American League Last Man Voting, Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher won.
