Rockies Place Wade Davis On 10-Day IL

3:20pm: Davis’ oblique injury “is not severe,” Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets.

2:30pm: The Rockies have placed closer Wade Davis on the 10-day injured list, per a club announcement. Righty Jairo Diaz is coming up in his place.

Davis is said to be dealing with a left oblique strain. The length of his anticipated absence isn’t yet clear. His ultimate timeline will obviously depend upon the grade of the strain and how he responds to treatment.

It’s obviously not great for the Rockies to see their top reliever hit the shelf. The club has had a rough enough start even with Davis handling business in the ninth inning.

That’s not to say that Davis has been perfect. He has issued ten walks to go with 18 strikeouts in his 14 2/3 innings of action, though he has also boosted his groundball rate to a personal-high 54.1%. Davis hasn’t yet allowed a home run, which is sure to change at some point. The Rockies had handled him with care in the early going in hopes of avoiding just this sort of scenario.

It’s not clear yet who’ll be installed as the temporary Colorado closer. The team might use a mix-and-match approach. Bryan Shaw has produced good outcomes but his peripherals are ugly. It’s not an entirely different situation for Scott Oberg. Carlos Estevez has been strong and is ripping off nearly a dozen strikeouts per nine, though he entered the season seeking to reestablish himself after failing to crack the bigs in 2018.

Diaz will step back up to the majors for the first time since 2017. He allowed just one earned run on a dozen hits in twenty frames at Triple-A, compiling a 22:6 K/BB ratio and keeping the ball in the yard. It’s nice to see this moment for a player that has come through injuries and personal tragedy, as documented recently by Nick Groke of The Athletic (subscription link).

In addition, the Rox announced that Tyler Anderson has been recalled and moved to the 60-day injured list. The lefty is said to be dealing with a chondral defect in his left knee. It was reported previously that he’d undergo season-ending surgery; by placing him on the 60-day IL, the club will open a 40-man spot. The move also resolves Anderson’s arbitration status: since he’ll be on the MLB IL, he’ll be a 4+ service-class player this coming fall.