Jon Gray (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
Scottsdale, Ariz. — Jon Gray threw 120 baseballs Tuesday. He threw 120 baseballs Monday. On Sunday he threw a baseball, not 120 times, but more than a dozen. He’s thrown three days in a row.
It’s been six days since the rookie right-hander suffered an abdominal strain that will keep him off the Rockies opening-day roster. It would have been his first. He’s trying to see the big picture of a season. But for now, it’s difficult to wait.
“It’s hard to be patient,” Gray said Tuesday. “I want to go.”
Gray’s spot in the rotation might be filled by long-reliever Christian Bergman. Or it might not. The Rockies may use a four-man rotation to start the season, with off-days to spell the cycle.
Gray, they hope, will be back sometime in mid- to late-April. He will throw off a mound in the next three or four days, he said. But he hasn’t been swinging a bat or fielding with many non-pitching movements.
His arm, Gray said, is ready for the season.
“I don’t think my arm is really — nothing has taken away from that in three or four days, it won’t be an issue,” he said.
If Gray gets back on a mound this week, it’s more likely he will stay in Arizona for extended spring training games or travel with the team and build up with simulated games when the Rockies return to Denver for their home-opener April 8. The other option is to send Gray to Albuquerque for a rehab assignment.
The start of the season isn’t at issue. It’s the rest.
“I know it’s more important. I’m ok with that,” Gray said of having to wait to begin his year. “I’m not going to kill myself over it.”
