SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A crack in the Rockies’ rebuilt bullpen has appeared five days before the team’s season opener.
Right-hander Jason Motte, the late-game reliever signed as a free agent to bolster a revamped bullpen, has a strained shoulder and will miss Monday’s opener at Arizona. He will likely be placed on the 15-day disabled list. Motte, however, does not think the injury is serious.
“I had (the team) look at it and it’s just a little shoulder strain and I need to give it a little rest and let it calm down,” Motte said Wednesday. “I will strengthen it back up and get my arm to where it needs to be.”
Motte said his shoulder didn’t feel right after his last outing on March 24 against Seattle, during which Motte pitched a scoreless inning. He experienced soreness the following two days so he underwent a magnetic resonance imaging examination and it revealed the strain.
“He’s got a little shoulder strain,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “He’s going to be down for a little bit. I don’t see it being a long time.”
Motte’s injury makes left-hander Jake McGee the favorite to be the closer to open the season. McGee was acquired from Tampa Bay during an offseason trade for outfielder Corey Dickerson.
Weiss is not ready to announce who his closer will be.
“I haven’t talked to the bullpen about their roles yet,” Weiss said. “I would rather talk to them first.”
Motte, 33, signed a two-year, $10 million deal with the Rockies. He was one of the favorites to land the closer’s job before being injured even though he had an ugly 9.53 ERA over six spring-training appearances. His spring statistics were skewed by a poor performance March 20 against San Francisco when he was raked for four runs on four hits while getting just two outs.
Pitching for the Chicago Cubs last season, Motte went on the disabled list on Aug. 24 with a shoulder strain and missed the rest of the season. He did not pitch in the Cubs’ postseason.
He said the discomfort he is feeling now is different, and less severe, than what he felt in August, noting that the current soreness is in the back of the shoulder, whereas last year the pain was under his shoulder blade.
He said strength and movement tests he’s undergone the past few days convinced him the injury is not serious.
“It doesn’t feel at all like last year, so that’s one of the reasons why I’m not worried,” he said. “It’s nothing crazy.”
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@denverpost.com or @psaundersdp
