The Rockies announced that outfielder Raimel Tapia has been placed on the 10-day injured list because of a strained right big toe. To fill Tapia’s roster spot, Colorado selected the contract of utilityman Taylor Motter from Triple-A.
Tapia missed a couple of games due to his toe injury last week, and he re-aggravated the injury on Sunday, leading to a quick exit from that contest. The IL stint cuts short a nice little hot streak for Tapia, who had an .893 OPS over his last 42 plate appearances.
For the season as a whole, Tapia is hitting .288/.339/.386 over 432 PA. It’s below-average production (83 wRC+, 87 OPS+) considering Tapia’s lack of power, especially considering he plays his home games at Coors Field. Like most Rockies hitters this season, Tapia has big home/away splits, with an .824 OPS at Coors and only a .619 OPS on the road.
While the batting is still something of a work in progress, there is still a lot to like about Tapia’s season. He has been worth 1.2 fWAR thanks in large part to outstanding baserunning (19 steals in 23 attempts) and defense as Colorado’s regular left fielder. Among all qualified players at any position in baseball, Tapia ranks third in UZR/150 (+11.4) and tied for 14th in Defensive Runs Saved (+7).
Motter signed a minor league deal with the Rockies back in March, and he is now in position to appear in his first MLB game since 2018. Motter hit .191/.263/.312 over 411 PA with the Rays, Mariners, and Twins from 2016-18, and he has since had stints in the minors with the Athletics and Tigers, as well as some action for independent teams and the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization.
Knocks a big hole in their playoff aspirations.
With the exception of the Wendleken & Greene being released articles, and the useless article about the Pads interest in Trea Turner, it has been nothing but injury post after injury post today. This is pretty much what I’ll remember about the 2021 season. Injuries, my team traded everybody, and Shohei Ohtani. Ready for 2022…..(well maybe 23 or 24 in our case)
Motter has the highest OPS in professional baseball this season. Seems like it might have been worth mentioning.
He couldn’t even hit in the KBO how’s he going to hit MLB pitching
I dunno but he’s got a 1.200 plus OPS in AAA, with 24 dingers and something like a 450 on base pct. Guess he’s figured something out.
He definitely seems to figured out something. While playing in the pcl obviously has helped his numbers, he has a much better approach at the plate.
1:1 k:bb ratio too. And the silkiest looking hair in affiliated baseball.
actually, Julio Cesar Figuereo of Britian’s London Capitals has an OPS near 1.400, upon quick search.
Is that actually someone’s name
WOW… there has to be some type of algorithm or sabermetric that can flag statistics like Motter’s AAA numbers this year and automatically make sure he is tested for PEDs.
This isn’t quite as strange as Brady Anderson or Luis Gonzalez’s 50+ home run seasons, but it’s very suspicious nonetheless, especially considering Motter got released from that Asian league last year after putting up a .335 OPS!
Career years happen. Especially for infielders. Check out former manager Davey Johnson’s 1973 season compared to the rest of his career. It’s not always PED related.
Things change, people improve. Does it really Motter to you?
Nice one Curly
How does batting .288 with an .339 on base bad? The steal attempts and defense is great. Not every player have to be a home run hitter.