RAINY DAY IN LODO
Rockies put slugger Cron on IL
The baseball gods granted the Rockies a brief reprieve Monday, when the series opener against the Padres was postponed to Wednesday due to inclement weather.
But the going won’t get any easier for the Rockies, who limp back to LoDo following a sweep in St. Louis that dropped them to an MLB-worst 2-14 on the road. Colorado now has six of its next 10 games against San Diego, starting with the first 2021 showdown between the divisional foes on Tuesday night.
To add to the Rockies’ woes, the club placed first baseman C.J. Cron on the 10-day injured list Monday with a lower back strain, retroactive to May 7. Cron, who signed a minor league deal with Colorado in February and then cemented his roster spot with a strong spring training, heated up after a slow start to the regular season.
The 31-year-old is tied for second on the team with five homers, and is first in OPS (.889) and onbase percentage (.394) and second in slugging (.495) and average (.290). Losing Cron’s bat, even temporarily, is a significant blow to a lineup that ranks 21st in baseball with a .305 on-base percentage.
Cron was a late scratch from the series opener in St. Louis on Friday, and over the weekend manager Bud Black said he hoped the veteran would be able to avoid the injured list. But Cron’s back obviously did not progress as well as the team hoped.
The Rockies did not announce a corresponding roster move. Matt Adams will no doubt see more time in Cron’s absence, and outside of that, the Rockies don’t have much depth at the position on the 40-man roster. Elehuris
Montero is the other corner infielder on the 40-man, but he’s in Double-A. Greg Bird is in Triple-A, but the Rockies would have to clear a 40-man roster spot in order to add him to the active roster.
Monday’s game is rescheduled to Wednesday as part of a doubleheader, with the second game starting no later than 45 minutes after the first one ends.
That means the Rockies will face three challenging arms across two days in LoDo, in the order of electric young righthander Dinelson Lamet, all-star right-hander Yu Darvish and Cy Young southpaw Blake Snell. Colorado did not fare well against San Diego in 2020, going 3-7 during the shortened season, after the Rockies posted an 11-8 record against the Padres in 2019.
Colorado will need to continue to play well at home in order to have a chance at avoiding a 100loss pace in 2021. The Rockies won their last series at Coors Field over San Francisco, and their 10 home wins so far are second-most in the NL West behind the division-leading Giants (12-4).
Following the Rockies’ threegame series against the Padres, Colorado continues the homestand with a four-game series against the Reds before heading back out on the road to San Diego for three games.
Footnote. Tickets for Monday’s game that were purchased directly from the Rockies will be refunded. Only tickets for Wednesday afternoon’s originally scheduled series finale will be valid for the doubleheader. Those tickets are good for one or both of the games, and the ballpark will not be cleared between games.