The Colorado Rockies have finalized their 25-man, active roster ahead of tonight’s Opening Day (night) game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Rockies reduced their active roster from 28 to 25 by placing Jeff Hoffman, Zac Rosscup and Carlos Estévez on the 10-day disabled list today.
The announcement was more of a formality than anything else once the news that Zac Rosscup was suffering from a middle finger injury emerged on Tuesday. Combined with Raimel Tapia and Tom Murphy being optioned to Triple-A, the Rockies were left with 25 healthy members on their active roster two days ahead of tonight’s game.
With only one scheduled off-day in the first 21 days of the season the Rockies are starting the year with a full five-man rotation. Like last year, they are carrying eight relievers and an abbreviated four-player bench.
Here’s how the roster breaks down by position:
Pitchers (13):
Jon Gray, Tyler Anderson, Germán Márquez, Chad Bettis, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela, Chris Rusin, Scott Oberg, Adam Ottavino, Mike Dunn, Jake McGee, Bryan Shaw, Wade Davis
Catchers (2):
Chris Iannetta, Tony Wolters
Infielders (6):
Nolan Arenado, DJ LeMahieu, Trevor Story, Ryan McMahon, Pat Valaika, Ian Desmond
Outfielders (4):
Charlie Blackmon, Carlos González, Gerardo Parra, Mike Tauchman,
The Rockies have had a relatively healthy spring. Besides the three players placed on the 10-day disabled list today, the Rockies only have one other player on the 60-day disabled list, Rayan Gonzalez, who is still recovering from Tommy John surgery last season.
The Rockies are returning 16 players from last year’s Opening Day roster including González who re-signed with the Rockies late in spring training. While he performed poorly for most of last season before finally getting hot in September, the Rockies hope he’ll be able to reprise his role as one of the Rockies offensive leaders this season.
The Rockies rotation was set on Tuesday when manager Bud Black announced that Gray would be starting Opening Day followed by Anderson and Márquez to conclude the Diamondbacks series. While not officially announced, it appears that Bettis and Freeland will follow them up in the rotation based upon their spring training schedule. Assuming the Rockies keep their rotation in order, Márquez will be starting the home opener next Friday.