The Rockies have activated outfielder Carlos Gonzalez from his DL stint, but cleared a roster spot by sending outfielder/first baseman Ian Desmond out on his own. As Nick Groke of the Denver Post tweets, Desmond is dealing with a calf strain.
It seems an MRI did not bring an optimistic enough outlook to allow Desmond to avoid at least a ten-day hiatus. The significance of the injury isn’t yet known, however.
Desmond opened the year on the DL and is now headed back. But it is what happened in-between that has caused concern. The 31-year-old carries only a .283/.321/.388 batting line through 236 trips to the plate, which is especially meager when adjusted for the advantage of playing at Coors Field.
While it hurts to see the organization’s $70MM free-agent signee producing so little, Colorado has motored along just fine. Mark Reynolds has performed well beyond expectations at first base, and Raimel Tapia has emerged as another useful outfield option. Even after a recent rough patch, the Rox sit in excellent position to take a Wild Card spot — though getting a healthy and effective Desmond would certainly represent an important element of locking up a postseason berth.
Desmond has had a good year. Despite hitting “only’ .283, he can play all OF positions and 1B. He is a good athlete with speed and can steal a base. Injuries have hurt his power this year. If you want to talk about under achievers in Colorado-then talk about Carlos Gonzalez and Trevor Story along with some members of the relief corps.
On any other team, we’d be talking about Story like he was Ryan Schimpf. This is what happens when you shell out everything for power.
I am a huge Desmond fan, but I just can’t agree he has had a good year. May well be due in no small part to the injury, but it hasn’t been pretty. Batting average is a relatively minor part of the picture; his OBP and SLG are quite poor given that he’s playing out of Coors. Remember when he was mocked for his poor 2015 season after turning down an extension offer? He has hit much worse this year when adjusted for context.
That’s not to say he isn’t a solid bet to turn it around and be better once he’s healthy, of course. Different question. And I certainly didn’t foreclose that — mentioned they need him to do just that, in fact.
I feel as though expectations were through the roof for a player recovering from an injured body part that is essential for producing power. Also, when the contract was signed, was there anybody else thinking it was a bold signing considering he has had a yo-yo career? It was never a slam dunk that he was going to be awesome in Colorado. And they wanted to move him to first base… It was never a good recipe With that being said, without the calf injury, I believe he would have continued to improve. Now, we can only hope this calf injury is not prolonged. I would love to see him rehab it at shortstop and move on from Story.
They paid superstar money to a decent player. It is not Desmond’s fault Colorado overpaid him.