LOS ANGELES — Contact and contract were two salient issues surrounding Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez on Thursday.
Gonzalez ran face first into the right-field wall Wednesday night, depriving the Dodgers’ Casey Blake of an extra-base hit. It came with a price. Gonzalez bruised his right knee and was limping noticeably Thursday.
“I can’t even walk,” said Gonzalez, when asked if he was in the lineup.
Gonzalez, who is hitting .318 with 25 home runs and 79 RBIs, isn’t expected to start again until Saturday at the earliest. As of now, there are no plans for an MRI.
“It’s sore. It doesn’t feel any better today,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez has been the Rockies’ best player this season, emerging as a National League MVP candidate. It has created questions, though premature, about his future. The Rockies have not approached Gonzalez about a multiyear contract. But that’s not reason for concern.
He won’t even be arbitration- eligible until after next season, meaning the Rockies have him under team control for four more years. Their custom has been to approach young players with multiyear deals — as they did with Troy Tulowitzki, Ubaldo Jimenez and Manuel Corpas, among others. They received guaranteed money, in exchange for giving up at least one year of free agency. Gonzalez, however, is represented by agent Scott Boras, who typically does not surrender any free agent years.
Welcome, Matt.
Rookie reliever Matt Reynolds called his big-league promotion “surreal.” He spent three hours talking to his parents, siblings and girlfriend until the battery on his cellphone expired.
“Because I was with the team so long in spring training, this hasn’t been overwhelming. Now I want to help in any way I can,” Reynolds said.
Footnotes.
The Rockies designated Brad Hawpe for assignment Thursday with the purpose of granting him his unconditional release Tuesday when he clears waivers. There are six teams with interest in Hawpe, including the Rangers, White Sox and Rays. . . . Jason Hammel credited anger for Wednesday’s U-turn. He smashed a bat in the dugout, “then I didn’t allow another run after that.” . . . Former Rockie Jamey Carroll changed his walk-up song from Eminem to the Dave Matthews Band after hanging out with a few members of the group during batting practice.
Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post
