Injured Blackmon held out again, may play Sunday
Charlie Blackmon might have tweaked his right calf. But that hasn’t stopped him from tweaking reporters in the Rockies clubhouse.
“I’m not 100 percent unavailable,” Colorado’s all-star outfielder told The Denver Post late Saturday afternoon before Colorado hosted the Baltimore Orioles at Coors Field. “I’m just not starting.”
The Rockies’ 32-year-old right fielder injured the back of his right leg after fouling a pitch off the calf last Thursday in Pittsburgh. He then aggravated the injury while running in the field during the bottom of the third inning of the 14-6 loss to the Pirates.
Manager Bud Black kept Blackmon, who’s hitting .333 with a 1.126 OPS over 18 games this month from the leadoff position, out of the starting lineup for a second straight game Saturday. Black elected to open with David Dahl in right field and left fielder Raimeltapiaatthetopoftheorder.
“He’s feeling better than he did (Friday),” the Rockies’ skipper explained about Blackman. “And we through some activities (Saturday) in the training room and the weight room, some activity that our trainers are encouraged with.
“So, again, no timetable. But we’re all encouraged that Charlie’s feeling better and that his activity level stepped up (Saturday).”
Black said he wasn’t going to test Blackmon in the field Saturday but could, “potentially,” for Sunday’s series finale.
Blackmon said during pregame that his calf felt “pretty good” but admitted “we’re (still) day to day right now.”
Rookie Brendan Rodgers violated one of the oldest and firmest of baseball’s cardinal rules Friday night when he was thrown out attempting to steal third base to end the bottom of the eighth inning in a tie game.
But even if conventional wisdom says you should play it safe rather than risk making the last out at third base, Black said he would prefer to see Rodgers keep testing the odds.
“I’d rather have that than the other way,” the Rockies manager said of Rodgers, who was called up from Triple-a Albuquerque during the club’s East Coast swing and made his home debut Friday night. “Big picture, that’s what we talk about a lot, because of the pressure it creates on the opposition’s defense is felt each and every game. And it’s felt from the advance scouts who watch us play.”
May days. The Rockies haven’t had a losing May at Coors Field since 2015, when they posted an 4-8 mark for the month. And after a furious rally in an 8-6 win over Baltimore late Friday night, shortstop Trevor Story said he expects to keep that streak going.
“This game can so big on momentum,” said Story, whose tworun homer in the bottom of the ninth, his second of the game, was a walk-off winner that pushed the Rockies’ home record to 5-4 in May. “I think having a game like (Friday), where we kind of come back and steal a game where we were down early, is huge. And I think that can hopefully (propel) us in the rest of this homestand.”