The rest of the Rockies’ organization felt more pain Tuesday than Jorge De La Rosa did.
De La Rosa didn’t believe his elbow issue was serious, much less severe enough to require Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
“I felt it when I was warming up,” De La Rosa said. “It was a little tight, but I didn’t think it was a big deal. When I was out there, it didn’t get any better. There was no snap. I didn’t feel anything like that. But I just got to where I couldn’t pitch.
“It’s really hard to have this happen, but I know I can come back. I’m going to get through this.”
The timetable for De La Rosa’s return? A year, give or take. Some pitchers have come back sooner, most notably Atlanta’s Tim Hudson, who returned in 10 months to pitch 228 2/3 innings and win 17 games for the Braves in 2010.
“If he comes back in 12 months, it’s June,” Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said. “If he came back in 10, it’s April. It’s not the end of the world. We’re going to get Jorge back at some point in time. We’ve had great success with these surgeries, so we see no reason that he won’t follow suit with everybody else.”
New kid in town.
How much of a longshot was Bruce Billings to join the Rockies? He wore No. 65 in spring training.
But there he was in the Rockies’ clubhouse Wednesday, having been recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs to pitch middle relief after De La Rosa was placed on the 15-day disabled list.
So how did Billings hear about his promotion?
“We were in Albuquerque and we had just scored 10 runs in the ninth to come back and win,” he said. “We were coming in the locker room and they said, ‘Bruce, they need to see you in the office.’ All of a sudden, my heart started pounding. It was like, ‘I know I’m not in trouble.’
“(Sky Sox manager) Stu Cole told me I was going up and it’s been no sleep and lots of smiles ever since.”
Billings may not be around for long. Right-hander Juan Nicasio, 5-1 with a 2.22 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings for Double-A Tulsa, will come up Saturday to make a spot start.
Footnotes.
Ian Stewart sustained a severe hamstring pull in Triple-A. . . . Jason Giambi was available to pinch hit after being drilled on the elbow by Joe Saunders one at-bat after hitting his sixth home run. Giambi’s six homers match his 2010 total. It took him 176 at-bats to get there last season, but only 39 this year. . . . Rockies manager Jim Tracy made it clear that Clayton Mortensen would stay in the rotation, saying Greg Reynolds’ future could be in middle relief.
Jim Armstrong and Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post
