Rockies catcher Tony Wolters left last night’s action after being struck on the head by the follow-through of a swing, as Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports. He was diagnosed with a concussion and placed on the 7-day concussion list after the contest.
That’s an unfortunate break for the 24-year-old, who was off to a productive start to the season. Through 54 plate appearances, he has slashed .360/.407/.460. Meanwhile, platoon partner Dustin Garneau has struggled to a .196/.245/.370 batting line in his fifty trips to the plate.
Over the winter, the plan was somewhat different. Colorado had hoped that Tom Murphy would handle a big share of the time behind the dish. But he broke his forearm this spring.
As Groke further reports on Twitter, Murphy has not healed quite as quickly as hoped. While he has moved from a splint to a soft cast, he’s obviously not yet cleared to participate in baseball activities. Once his arm is back to health, presumably, he’ll require a fairly lengthy process of preparing for the season.
Fortunately, the Rockies were able to pick up veteran Ryan Hanigan on a minor-league commitment late in camp. He has been playing at Triple-A since, where he’s hitting a typically OBP-heavy, power-shy .282/.360/.359.
It seems likely that Hanigan will get the call back to the majors. As Groke notes, the team already has an open 40-man spot to work with. If and when he returns to the majors, it’ll represent Hanigan’s eleventh-straight season of MLB action.
Wonder when Boston trades one of the 3 catchers they have, preferably Leon/swihart.
Colorado is as good of a choice as any to talk to regarding one.
As a Sox fan I agree if the return is acceptable. unfortunately I don’t know the Rockies system so I don’t know if a real match is there.
The Rockies are one of the leaders in relief pitching prospects.
Send Austin House to the Sox for Swihart. Two Albuquerque boys being traded for each other. Throw in one of the two Sams, Moll or Howard, and the Sox might just bite given how well Vazquez has played.
Trade leon first, he struggled at the end of last season and is hitting below .200 this season, if swihart makes a slight improvement with his defence he will be a good catcher, otherwise move him to 1b/lf/dh
Why the heck would anyone want to trade talent for someone struggling in the bosox system
That would be one sided
Maybe because his defence has been well above average and the rockies have 2 injured catchers… he hits better than hanigan and fields better than him
Charles Johnson and Jayhawk Owens might still be in shape. Or trade for Joe Girardi and hand him his old Tools of Ignorance, like in 1993-95.