SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — David Hale threw in just about every situation except as a closer for the Atlanta Braves last season. He started games. He worked long relief. He threw situational relief.
But when the Rockies traded for him in January, they immediately eyed him as a potential starter.
“I’m here to compete for that spot,” said Hale, 27. “That’s what they have in store for me. We’ll see if I can earn it.”
The Rockies’ penciled-in rotation looks like this: Jorge De La Rosa, Jhoulys Chacin, Tyler Matzek, Jordan Lyles and Kyle Kendrick.
But what if Chacin hasn’t fully recovered from an injured right shoulder? What if Lyles can’t find his early-season form from last season? What if Matzek lost his late-season form?
The what-ifs — especially after injuries forced the Rockies to use 15 starters a season ago — have them digging for depth.
Enter Hale. The right-hander will stretch out his arm in spring training in order to compete for a spot.
“They told me to work out as a starter,” he said. “But we don’t know. If they hadn’t told me, I would have done the same thing.”
To be effective as a starter, Hale said he needs to throw a more consistent slider and cut down on walks. But he has the stuff. He posted a 3.30 ERA in 45 games last season, which included six starts.
Hale, along with fellow former Brave Gus Schlosser, Christian Bergman, Eddie Butler and Jon Gray, all will try to crack the rotation.
“I did a little bit of everything last year,” Hale said. “I feel like I proved I could.”
Rearview mirror. One pitcher who won’t be part of Colorado’s rotation is Brett Anderson. The Rockies did not pick up their team option of $12 million in November for the second year of his contract. Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich said he decided not to renew Anderson for both financial and health reasons. Instead, the Rockies paid him a $1.5 buyout.
Anderson went 1-3 with a 2.91 ERA in just eight starts a season ago, missing time with a broken finger and a ruptured disc in his back.
“We haven’t really lost any sleep over it,” Bridich said.
The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Anderson to a one-year, $10 million contract in December.
“He’s a guy who’s had a couple of more freakish injuries than things that are systematic,” Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi said, pointing to Anderson’s career. “His arm and shoulder are 100 percent healthy.”
