Friday Rockpile: Rockies make personnel changes

The Colorado Rockies brass has made it abundantly clear that they are prioritizing putting the best players on the field this year. Chris Nelson was the first victim of this policy, as he was jettisoned in favor of Nolan Arenado. Arenado already has a handful of homers and spectacular defensive plays to his name; it seems the Rockies have finally found a guy to hold down the hot corner.

Victim No. 2 of the meritocracy is now Reid Brignac. The Rockies weren't happy with the defensive value Brignac was bringing to the table; they didn't trust him at shortstop and he looked shaky at third. Say what you will about Jonathan Herrera, but he can at least play a competent shortstop when Troy Tulowitzki needs his off days. Since they were hitting pretty much identically, it's a no-brainer to keep the better fielder. Thus, Brignac was designated for assignment; he'll be either released or traded.

His replacement: DJ LeMahieu. The 24-year-old hit .297/.332/.410 in 247 at-bats last year, predominantly at second and third base. Perhaps most interestingly, he hit well on the road last year, putting up a nearly league-average 98 wRC+. Furthermore, UZR loved his defense at second base (though in a very small sample).

DJ turned on the video game cheat modes in AAA this year, putting up a .364/.405/.510 line, while getting the bulk of his time at shortstop. He got some reps at the other infield spots as well, so he should be the primary super-sub for the remainder of 2013.

Also of note is that Jeff Francis hit the DL two days ago, after tweaking his groin in Chicago. The immediate call-up is Rob Scahill to provide a little bullpen help. When Francis' rotation spot comes back around, Tyler Chatwood is the likely candidate to get the ball. In two fill-in starts this year Chatwood threw the ball well, especially in a 6 inning, no-run effort in Dodger Stadium. He's been pretty great in AAA this year, to the tune of a 3.14 ERA and a 1.80 FIP in a hitter's league. If he continues to pitch well (and efficiently) in Francis' absence, the Rockies may have to make another decision about who their best players are.

LINKS

Major League Baseball is currently looking into expanding the use of instant replay to include a number of other types of calls, not just borderline home runs. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Other than that, not a whole lot else seems to be going on. If you need a laugh after last night's tough loss, read Jon Bois' chronicles of Tim Tebow's time in the Canadian Football League: part one and part two.

Off-topic.