Eddie Butler. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
A “Survivor” reference might pre-date Eddie Butler’s existence on this earth, but nonetheless: His flame is still lit after the Rockies’ final Cactus League game Saturday.
Walt Weiss and his tribal council of coaches will convene Saturday night and Sunday morning to decide whether Butler will pitch Colorado’s game Wednesday at Milwaukee in the Rockies’ season-opening series. They still need to decide on a fourth starter.
“Biggest thing is he showed he’s healthy,” Weiss said. “You always have to go out and perform, but it was more important that he showed he’s healthy.”
Butler packed a suit in his locker Saturday. But after he allowed five runs on six hits over 2 2/3 inning against Seattle, Butler said he didn’t know yet if he would break camp.
But the 24-year-old right-hander is all but set to pitch Wednesday. The health of his shoulder — which he said felt “weird” after just one inning of work earlier in the week — was the only lingering issue.
“Felt good today. I put some work in in the training room this week to get better. I didn’t have any problems,” said Butler, who allowed a two-run home run to Logan Morrison in the second. He struck out one and didn’t walk anybody.
“Everything felt right except I made a couple bad pitches,” Butler said. “I’ll be good. Just a couple pitches today changes the outing. The home run was just up the middle. I served that one up. It was supposed to be in and didn’t get there.”
Butler, overall, was pleased with his spring.
“Couple games I wish were better. But I’ve definitely matured and shown the ability to fight whether I have my best stuff or not,” Butler said.
Weiss said he wants to see how Butler’s shoulder responds the next day. MLB opening-day rosters must be set by a 1:30 MT deadline Sunday.
“We don’t turn into a pumpkin until then,” Weiss said. “We’ll make sure he shows up well tomorrow (Sunday)… But the velocity was good. Threw some decent off-speed pitches. He was fine.”
FOOTNOTES
Colorado’s No. 1 starter, lefty Jorge De La Rosa, likely
… Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado was a late scratch in the final game. “Just felt like he’d had enough at-bats for the spring,” Weiss said.
… Boone Logan will be the Rockies’ primary eighth-inning set-up arm out of the bullpen. “His mindset is good. And he’s healthy,” Weiss said. John Axford and Adam Ottavino will join him as late-inning relievers.
… LaTroy Hawkins remains the Rockies closer for now. Although he had a rough spring, particularly in the final week. “He still looks the same to me,” Weiss said. “There’s life in his pitches.”
… The Rockies finished the Cactus League with a 6-3 loss to the Mariners. Colorado catcher Hamlet Marte’s K capped the spring.
Tags: Adam Ottavino, Boone Logan, bullpen, John Axford, LaTroy Hawkins, Logan Morrison, Nolan Arenado
