In an early Thursday morning roster move, the Rockies called up RHP Yency Almonte from Triple-A Albuquerque to help bolster the bullpen. Almonte has struggled as a starter this year, posting a 6.27 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in nine starts. Almonte’s stint may be temporary, but the Rockies are looking for any pitching answers they can get right now. The bullpen has been nothing short of atrocious in June, allowing 61 earned runs as a unit and a 9.20 ERA - easily the worst in the league. The next closest bullpen is the Kansas City Royals with a 6.36 ERA.
Perhaps the more surprising aspect of this roster move is sending down INF Ryan McMahon, who hit a huge three run go-ahead home run in last night’s contest to put the Rockies up for good. The Rockies will now play with three bench players in Thursday afternoon’s contest against the Mets - two of the three are catchers. The short bench is probably temporary, but on the surface it’s slightly confounding why Harrison Musgrave was not sent down instead of McMahon given the bench situation.
In any case, Almonte will get his chance at the major league level. Click here for today’s roster and lineups.