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The original hope was that Trevor Story would return to the Colorado Rockies’ lineup for tonight’s matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Instead, he’s been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb.
“It’s just very disappointing,” Story said. “I’m very frustrated, the timing of it all, I think that’s the worst part of it.”
Since his call up to begin the season, Story has been a big part of the Rockies’ success in 2016. Story’s 27 home runs lead the National League and he’s lowered his strikeout rate as the season has progressed.
The Rockies have called up Rafael Ynoa from Triple-A Albuquerque to replace Story on the active roster. However, Cristhian Adames or Daniel Descalso will probably be the Rockies’ starting shortstops in Story’s absence.
Ynoa has had a relatively unimpressive season in Albuquerque, posting a .690 OPS in mostly hitter-friendly environments. Adames has also struggled to be productive at the plate this season (.552 OPS) for the Rockies. It will be interesting to see if Adames improves with more regular at-bats while Story is out.
Descalso isn’t as strong of a defensive shortstop as Adames, however, he’s had a solid season with the bat and may be the Rockies’ best hope to replace Story’s production.
Expect all three players to get playing time in Story’s absence, though the lion’s share of the starts will likely go to a platoon between Descalso and Adames.
“We’ll be okay as a club,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “We’ll mix and match and do our thing.”
Update, 4:25 pm MT:
Trevor Story has decided to undergo surgery, which will likely sideline him for the rest of the 2016 season.
“Usually the recovery time is around eight weeks I think,” Story said. “So that puts me out pretty much the rest of the regular season.”
If the Rockies are able to rally to the postseason without Story as they did in 2007 without Willy Taveras and Aaron Cook, among others, the Rockies’ shortstop could be back for the postseason.