SAN FRANCISCO — “Hey, Red!” Bud Black yelled Friday from the Rockies’ dugout at AT&T Park. “What’s the No. 1 rule?” Black’s bench coach, Mike Redmond, snapped back without hesitation: “Be ready for anything.”
“Always be ready,” Black said.
Colorado’s manager repeated the motto like self-reassurance after learning that prized right-hander suffered a broken foot on the mound the night before. The Rockies moved Gray to the disabled list Friday because of a broken navicular bone in the middle of his left foot. The No. 1 starter in the Rockies’ rotation will miss more than a month, Black said.
The Rockies also placed left fielder on paternity leave and called up outfielder and reliever Shane Carle from Triple-A Albuquerque.
Gray’s injury, which forced him to exit the fourth inning of Thursday’s series opener against the Giants, seemed to be the same ailment he suffered late in spring training, a simple aggravation of a bruised left big toe. He had an X-ray done Thursday night.
But an MRI early Friday morning illustrated much worse. Gray was immediately put into a knee-high protective boot.
“It’s a little strange,” Gray said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I was surprised.”
In the second inning Thursday, Gray fielded a high chopper from the Giants’ Eduardo Nunez. Gray leaped and landed on the slope of the mound. When he threw to first base, he landed awkwardly on his left foot, he said. He walked slowly off the field. He batted to lead off the next half inning and got through the third inning pitching and faced one more batter in the fourth before the Rockies removed him.
Gray gave up only one hit. The Rockies have won all three games the 25-year-old has started this season, including victories over Giants ace Madison Bumgarner and Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. Gray led the Rockies in strikeouts last year, averaging nearly 10 per nine innings pitched.
“It’s saddening news for us,” Black said of Gray’s injury. “A bit of a surprise.”
Gray signed autographs for fans from the camera bay near the Rockies’ dugout during their batting practice Friday. He has nothing but time off now.
“I was feeling really strong mentally,” Gray said.
The pain, he said, is mild at most, and mostly when he runs. “That makes it a little more frustrating. I was 100 percent competing at that point,” he said.
Left-hander , who relieved Gray in the fourth inning Thursday, pitched 3 1/3 innings as the Rockies defeated the Giants 3-1. With two days off next week, the Rockies could skip Gray’s next start with a four-man rotation.
It’s likely that , Friday’s starter, will pitch in Gray’s spot Wednesday against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
But Rusin is a candidate to move into the rotation at some point, along with minor-leaguers , German Marquez and Harrison Musgrave. For now, the rotation consists of Anderson, , Antonio Senzatela and Kyle Freeland.
The Rockies filled Gray’s roster spot by calling up Carle from Triple-A. Carle, who grew up in Giants territory in Santa Cruz, Calif., went 5-8 with a 5.42 ERA in 27 games last year for the Isotopes. He has not appeared in a major-league game.
The Rockies also lost Parra, one of their hottest hitters the first 11 days of the season, to paternity leave. He will miss one to three games for the birth of his daughter in Miami. To replace Parra, the Rockies called up Tapia, a contact-hitting prospect who debuted last season.
Black said Gray will continue to throw during his injury rehab to keep his arm in shape. Gray won’t be ready for a minor-league rehab assignment until mid-May at the earliest. By then, the Rockies hope first baseman Ian Desmond (broken hand), catcher (broken arm) and outfielder (stressed rib) are back with them.
But the Rockies will certainly miss their fireballing right-hander.
“Especially the way Jon has been throwing the ball,” Black said. “He’ll get back, hopefully, relatively soon.”
