Rockies Hit by the Injury Bug, Suspensions Coming on Friday for Dodgers/Diamondbacks

The Colorado Rockies (35-32) not only lost to the Washington Nationals (33-32), 5-4 on Thursday, they also saw three of their players go down: outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler as well as shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

Absences from Gonzalez and Tulowitki could hit the team hard.

From an Associated Press article on Thursday evening after the game, it noted that Gonzalez, who suffered a hit close to his ankle, had X-rays that came out negative for his bruised left foot; he is now listed as day-to-day. Without him, the Rockies will be impacted as he’s batting .299 and leads the team with his 18 home runs and his 52 RBIs.

Fowler took a hit to his right hand from by Nationals pitcher Ross Detwiler as he attempted a bunt.

Troy Tulowitzki

But the situation is worse for Tulowitzki; he got hit in the ribs during the eighth inning. According to Rockies manager Walt Weiss, the player’s ribs had been bothering him for around a week. He underwent an MRI for the injury and he has a broken rib; a long absence is expected, reported The Denver Post.

This is also a tough blow for the Rockies as the player sits in the top five for the National League from his hitting (.347 average), on-base percentage (.413), home runs (16) and RBIs (51).

Weiss said of Tulowitzki via the Denver Post, “The ribs have been a lingering problem for him. When he came off the field, it was very evident he was done. ” He added that he is worried about an extended absence for the the player.

So is the rest of the team.

It was just last season that Tulowitzki, a two-time winner of the Golden Glove, was out for the last four months as he recovered from a left groin injury that necessitated surgery for the removal of scar tissue. This season, he has played in 61 of 67 games and his return has been much-needed.

The team currently sits 2.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks (37-29), who had the day off after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers (28-37) on Wednesday, 8-6. On Friday, Arizona will play the San Diego Padres (32-34)(-109, 7 o/u).

As for Colorado, they’ll play the Philadelphia Phillies (31-35) on Friday night. Righty Kyle Kendrick (6-4) will take the mound for the Phillies while righty Juan Nicasio (4-2) will do so for the Rockies.

Look for a Rockies win on Friday (-126, 10 o/u).

Suspensions Coming on Friday for Diamondbacks/Dodgers Fight

Initially suspensions were to be announced on Thursday but instead they’ll come on Friday for Tuesday’s Dodgers/Diamondbacks melee.

This news came from the Los Angeles Times writer Bill Shaikin, who tweeted on Thursday, “No #Dodgers – #Diamondbacks suspensions announced tonight. Now expected tomorrow.”

A reason had not been cited for the delay but for those involved, suspensions and fines are expected.

As for putting the incident behind them and moving on, the Dodgers are not ready to do so yet.

Yasiel Puig

On Wednesday, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said via ESPN, “If you really want to get technical about it, in baseball terms, it really shouldn’t be over. Again, I don’t want to come here to fight. I want to come to win a game today.”

So why isn’t it time to move on? The Dodgers feel there’s unfinished business as they believe Diamondback pitcher Ian Kennedy hit their pitcher, Zach Greinke, during the seventh inning, on his left shoulder.

In addition, the team is upset that Kennedy’s pitches were near the players’ heads and additional Dodgers could have been badly harmed.

The Dodgers star rookie Yasiel Puig is nursing a sore shoulder.

In the short term, the Dodgers still have baseball to play and this weekend they’ll take on the Pittsburgh Pirates (39-27).

For other NL West games, the San Francisco Giants (34-31) will take on the Atlanta Braves (39-27) for their weekend series.

Look for a Friday Braves win (-140, 7 o/u).