Desmond settles in quickly at 1st

PHOENIX» Ian Desmond quickly fell into a routine Thursday at first base, catching a baseball to end an inning, then tossing that ball around the extended netting to a fan in the stands. He looked like a proper first baseman.

The 32-year-old veteran, the Rockies’ highest-paid player, finally made their opening-day roster Thursday after a broken hand ruined his chances last season. His importance is spelled out clearly, in both his $70 million contract and his placement as the starting first baseman over rookie prospect Ryan McMahon. The Rockies desperately want Desmond to succeed.

Thursday, Desmond’s defense supported that assertion.

“He’s still becoming accustomed to first base. There are a lot of nuances. But he’s so athletic, he can make plays,” Colorado manager Bud Black said.

Desmond helped save a run in the seventh inning. Nolan Arenado fielded a difficult and hard-hit grounder from Arizona’s A.J. Pollock at third base, and his throw to first was rushed. Desmond, though, scooped a backhand play off the rigid desert dirt to end the inning. The kind of play that Todd Helton made so routinely.

“It plays fast. The surface is relatively hard,” Black said. “The infield dirt is compacted; it’s not soft.”

Desmond’s placement as the starting first baseman — the Rockies may use McMahon as Saturday’s starter against a right-handed starting pitcher — was a year in waiting. He was hit by a pitch in spring training last year and did not return until the final day of April. A calf strain sent him to the disabled list in July and again in August.

And by then, Mark Reynolds had hit his way into the starting job at first base. Desmond played more than twice as often in left field than first base.

“He was ready. Then he broke his hand,” Black said.

Hitch a ride. The Rockies used four relievers in their openingday loss to the Diamondbacks. Arizona used five. But none of them took advantage of a new bullpen option at Chase Field.

The D-backs added a bullpen cart for both teams this season — the old-school kind, with giant batting helmets on top and headlights on the front, with drivers. Pitchers can choose to hitch a ride in front of the bullpen, if they want, or walk or jog instead.

Even Jorge De La Rosa, a former Rockies starter and now D-backs reliever, chose to walk in from left field. Will anyone ever ride the cart?

“I hope so,” said Black, who rode in them several times in the 1980s while pitching for the Royals. “There were nine chances and nobody did it. I think (Bryan) Shaw said he’s going to.”