The Colorado Rockies scored four runs in the ninth inning yesterday to beat the Oakland A’s 4-3. Jon Gray struck out six in three-and-two-thirds scoreless innings. Unfortunately he walked three which elevated his pitch count over 60 before completing his fourth inning of work.
Anthony Bemboom started the Rockies ninth inning rally with a two-run home run, driving in Pat Valaika who had walked to start the inning. Sam Hilliard drove in Brian Mundell with two outs for the winning run.
For more information on yesterday’s game, check out the Denver Post’s and Rockies.com’s recaps.
Jon Gray on a strikeout roll through spring training, despite finally allowing a walk | Denver Post
Gray K's 6 over 3 2/3 scoreless; Rox rally late | Rockies.com
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Broken arm to sideline Murphy 4-6 weeks | Rockies.com
Whatever curse got put on the Rockies in the last week, needs to be lifted. Add Tom Murphy to the list of freak injuries this spring as he broke his arm after being hit by Anthony Rizzos’ bat while throwing to second base.
With Murphy only expected to miss a few weeks of the regular season, Dustin Garneau should be an adequate replacement.
Greg Holland to make spring debut for Rockies as Colorado tries to ready a closer | Denver Post
On a positive note, Greg Holland has finally reached the point in his recovery where he can pitch in today’s game. Holland has pitched in a two simulated games this spring with velocity in the lower 90’s but good control. Now that he’s pitching in a competitive environment it will be interesting to see if he can bump up his velo a bit closer to what it used to be.
Before the injuries, the Rockies needed the bullpen to be good in order to compete. With the injuries, the Rockies need their bullpen to be even better. Thankfully, that might be possible as Jake McGee is already pitching at a velocity that we rarely saw last spring which may allow him to return to pre-injury form. If Holland can find his 2014 form as well, the Rockies pen may be good enough for the Rockies to ride out this current spurt of injuries.
Could Antonio Senzatela Crack The Starting Rotation? | Rox Pile
At first, this question seems preposterous. If Antonio Senzatela had been healthy last year and pitched in Double-A Hartford like everyone expected him to, competing for a rotation spot this year would have been normal. Instead he missed almost the entire season after being shut down by the Rockies with injury issues.
When the Rockies talked about Senzatela competing with Jeff Hoffman, German Marquez and Kyle Freeland for the fifth spot in the rotation, it seemed like the Rockies were just trying to motivate him. Instead he’s arguably had the best spring of the bunch and with Bettis now out of the rotation, there’s a growing chance that Senzatela makes the roation.
One thing to keep an eye on in this competition is who is getting the innings going forward. Senzatela threw four-and-a-third innings in a start on Monday while Hoffman was relegated to being the second starter in yesterday’s game and only pitched two innings. Paying attention to who gets those starts and longer outings going forward will be a good indicator of who the Rockies will be slotting into their rotation to start the season.