Rayan Gonzalez

The Rockies have outrighted right-handed pitcher Rayan Gonzalez to Double-A Hartford, according to Thomas Harding of MLB.com (Twitter link). The move will clear a spot on the 40-man roster, leaving the team with 38 players on the 40-man. Gonzalez, 28, had previously been optioned to Triple-A to begin the season.

Gonzalez has yet to pitch in an MLB game, and posted a miserable 21.60 ERA in three spring appearances, though he managed to punch out 4 batters in just 1 2/3 innings. Gonzalez has reached as high as Double-A, including a 2016 season in which he posted a 3.12 ERA. In 2018, though, he struggled to the tune of a 5.19 ERA in 17 1/3 innings at the level.

 

Right-handed Rockies pitcher Rayan Gonzalez will likely require Tommy John surgery, Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports via Twitter. Gonzalez suffered an apparent elbow injury in his most recent spring outing.

The 26-year-old reliever was added to the 40-man roster over the offseason and had seemed slated to take up a slot on the bullpen depth chart. While there was never any expectation that Gonzalez would crack the active roster to open the season, he’d likely have been one of several interesting young arms to take up residence at the highest level of the minors.

Gonzalez showed enough in 2016 to lead the Rox to protect him from prying rivals in the Rule 5 draft. Last year, over 52 Double-A frames, he worked to a 3.12 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 while allowing only 44 hits (just two of which were home runs).

As MLB.com’s Thomas Harding explained at the outset of camp, Gonzalez seemingly made yet more strides in the Arizona Fall League, where he allowed just three earned runs on seven hits over 11 2/3 innings. Beyond the results, he had impressed the organization with improvement in his fastball command, which had often been fleeting (4.1 BB/9 lifetime walk rate) over his time in the minors.