BLACK’S CHARGE: JUGGLE TALENT
philadelphia» Shortstop Trevor Story rejoined the Rockies on Tuesday after his Triple-A rehab stint, but he wasn’t in the starting lineup against Philadelphia.
Mark Reynolds, batting .319 with a major league-high 39 RBIs, wasn’t in the lineup either, supplanted at first base by Ian Desmond.
The surplus of talent requires manager Bud Black to juggle playing time, and, potentially, players’ egos.
“As a coaching staff, and as a team, we do what we think we have to in order to give our team a chance to win, each and every night,” Black said. “We know that it’s practicable and makes sense.
“And when you have guys who are very capable of replacing other guys, or you have interchangeable parts, that makes you stronger.”
Black, of course, knows players want to play as often as they can, but he insisted it will not be a problem going forward.
“I don’t look at it as an issue. I look at it as the proverbial good problem to have,” he said.
Story time.
Story returned after missing 12 games with a strained left shoulder.
To make room on the 25-man roster, Colorado optioned righthanded pitcher Jeff Hoffman to Triple-A Albuquerque, the day after he struck out seven and walked none in seven innings in the Rockies’ 8-1 victory over the Phillies.
Story, struggling at the plate before his stint on the DL, said he’s in a good place after batting 3-for-11 with a homer and two RBIs playing for Albuquerque.
“It was good to get back to game action and see how my shoulder reacted to that, and I felt good,” he said. “I had some checked swings and some weird situations in the game, and my shoulder reacted well.”
After setting a National League rookie shortstop record with 27 home runs in only 97 games last season, Story struggled out of the gate this spring, batting .180 with 48 strikeouts in 111 at-bats. He hopes time away from the big-league team did him good.
“Sometimes when you get a little break, you can step back and look at things and clear your mind a little bit, and that’s kind of what I did,” said Story, who hit six home runs and drew 17 walks in 33 games before the injury.
CarGo breaking out?
Carlos Gonzalez is beginning to hit the ball harder and with more consistency. He was back in the cleanup spot Tuesday night.
Gonzalez entered with at least one hit in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .357 (15-for-42) with five doubles, one home run and six RBIs over that span. After hovering around .200 most of the season, he was up to .234.
“If I was a fan, I would have panicked too. But I’m not a fan,” Gonzalez said with a grin. “I really don’t panic at all, and I really feel like I am starting to take off now. My timing is getting close, and I’m starting to use my hands more. So now I’m finding the barrel and I’m finding holes, and that’s what’s important.”