JAV Baseball » Rockies

Corpas Needs Surgery; Betancourt to Rockies

Jim Vassallo — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:28:51 +0000

Colorado Rockies reliever Manny Corpas needs surgery on his throwing elbow to have bone chips removed. With the Rockies knowing this they picked up a reliever from the Cleveland Indians, Rafael Betancourt, for minor league pitcher Connor Graham. Betancourt is 1-2 with a 3.52 ERA in 29 games this season. Corpas could return in September but the surgery could put the remainder of his season in jeopardy. Corpas originally went on the Disabled List on June 20 and missed four weeks. He returned, made two appearances, and then noticed swelling in his arm. He will have the surgery on Friday to have the bone chips removed. The Indians could be extremely busy over the next fee days as we approach the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. They are rumored to be shopping starting pitcher Cliff Lee as well.

Cubs Make Pair of Moves

Jim Vassallo — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:17:27 +0000

The Chicago Cubs have made a pair of minor moves since July 2nd with the Colorado Rockies and now the Kansas City Royals. On July 2nd the Cubs sent minor league right handed pitcher Alberto Alburquerque to the Rockies for injured infielder Jeff Baker. Baker has been on the disabled list since April 29th (retroactive to April 27th).

Baker was hitting .130 in 12 games prior to going on the disabled list with the Rockies because of a left hand sprain. He was transferred to the 60 day disabled list on May 24th. Alburquerque has been assigned to Tulsa of the Texas League, the Rockies’ Double-A affiliate.

With the acquisition of Baker the Cubs have sent infielder Ryan Freel to the Kansas City Royals for a minor league player to be named later. Freel was acquired by the Cubs from the Baltimore Orioles for outfielder Joey Gathright on May 8. He was acquired by the Orioles on December 9th from the Cincinnati Reds for catcher Ramon Hernandez.

Freel was hitting only .143 for the Cubs in 14 games. He was designated for assignment on July 2nd witht he acquisition of Baker by the Cubs.

Rockies Take Wheeler with No. 32 Pick

Jim Vassallo — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:50:33 +0000

The Colorado Rockies have chosen OF Tim Wheeler out of Sacramento State University with the 32^nd overall draft pick. Wheeler is a prototypical leadoff hitter besides his stature as he stands at 6-4 and weighs 205. He has great contact abilities to put the ball in play and get down the baseline. While he does not have a lot of power in his bat, he has great speed. He is a great fielder with his speed and range to get to balls, but has just an average arm from the outfield. His upside is not great, but he projects to be a great guy at the top of the lineup who can work at bats, get on base, steal bags, and score a lot of runs in the future for the Rockies organization in their minor league systems. The Colorado Rockies are currently 26-32 in the NL West, trailing the first place Los Angeles Dodgers by 13 games. In 2008, the Colorado Rockies selected LHP Christian Friedrich out of Eastern Kentucky University with the 25^th overall pick. In 2009 for the Modesto Nuts at Advanced A Ball, he has a 2.77 ERA in 2 starts. He has picked up 14 strikeouts in 13 innings.

Rockies Select Tyler Matzek with No. 11 Overall Pick

Jim Vassallo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:05:24 +0000

The Colorado Rockies have selected left handed pitcher Tyler Matzek with the eleventh overall pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Matzek is committed to the University of Oregon to play college baseball. He is from Capistrano Valley High School in California. He stands at six foot, three inches and weighs 183 pounds.

The Rockies are struggling in 2009 and haven’t been good since their World Series appearance in 2007. They fired manager Clint Hurdle earlier this season and replaced him with Jim Tracy at the helm. The Rockies have a record of 25-32, good for 13 games out of first place behind the Dodgers in the National League West. They are sitting in fourth place.

The Rockies choose Christian Friedrich with the 25th overall pick in the first round in the 2008 draft. Friedrich is a left handed pitcher out of Eastern Kentucky University. In 2009 he is 3-3 with a 2.31 ERA in 10 starts between two different levels in the Rockies organization. He has allowed 46 hits in just over 58 innings pitched and has struck out 80 hitters.