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In a move that surprises no one except perhaps in its swiftness, the Colorado Rockies have recalled promising young infielder Josh Rutledge and sent struggling (to say the least) relief pitcher Wilton Lopez to AAA Colorado Springs.
#Rockies recall INF Josh Rutledge & option RHP Wilton Lopez. Rutledge has hit .389 (7-for-18) for @skysox in 5 games this year.
— Rockies PR (@RockiesPR) April 9, 2014
This move comes on the heels of a disastrous outing from Lopez and while a few other moves may have been more immediately prudent (some thought Bettis would be the one to get the ax, and he still may upon the return of Tyler Chatwood) but Lopez was likely to be run out of town by a pitch-fork mob if he was thrown out there again.
This is as vitriolic as I can remember a Rockies fan base being about one player since Ian Stewart. On a human level, I hope Lopez can work out his kinks in the minors and at the very least maybe attract some trade attention to a team where is sinker might play better than it does at Coors Field.
As I mentioned yesterday, bullpens can be a fluid thing and I suspect this is the first of many alterations it will see over the course of the long season.
Josh Rutledge probably should have been on this team to begin with. I like the idea of getting him more at-bats and in a very small sample size he is crushing triple-A, hitting .389/.500/.611 (that's a wRC+ of 204!). Rutledge is a much better bat than either D.J. LeMahieu or Charlie Culberson so hopefully he can provide a spark off the bench with at least some power threat previously absent.
Rutledge is also an exceptional base runner, and now stand as the teams best pinch-running option. If the issues with Troy Tulowitzki's quad persist (please, gods, no) then Rutledge can slot in as a starter at either short stop or second base.
Welcome back, Foxy!
Fans are going to be relieved that Wilton Lopez is gone, and Josh "the Fox" Rutledge has quite the fan base at the major league level as well, but ultimately this is just a smart baseball move that shows the Rockies are willing to look honestly at their roster and make changes based on production or, y'know, the complete lack thereof.