The Rockies will welcome you Kyle Freeland after Sunday’s game against the Nationals. Colorado’s Opening Day starter has been out since April 19 with an elbow strain.
Freeland avoided surgery despite the alarming diagnosis. He has made three rehab appearances — one in the complex before two games for Triple-A Albuquerque. Freeland made his latest outing on Tuesday, pitching four innings while running his total to 67. The veteran southpaw has allowed just three runs in eight frames at Triple-A.
The Rox will be hoping to start a turnaround for Freeland, who was hit during his first four starts of the season. He averaged less than four innings per appearance and struck out 25 over 15 2/3 frames. Freeland issued eight walks and nine strikeouts and allowed three home runs.
Freeland is on the 60-day disabled list, so Rox will need to return him to the 40-man roster. They opened up a 40-man spot earlier in the week by placing a free agent Gavin Hollowell in abandonment. Unless they make another 40-man trade within three days, they will only need to select a pitcher to make room for Freeland on the active roster.
In other Colorado injury news, manager Bud Black told reporters that he is a rookie infielder Adael Amador suffered a minor oblique strain in today’s loss to the Dodgers (reported to X by Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). While it doesn’t appear to be a long-term concern, Amador will likely go on the 10-day injured list. Colorado promoted Amador directly from Double-A Hartford earlier this month Brendan Rodgers went to IL.
It was an incredibly aggressive promotion for one of the organization’s top prospects. The 21-year-old was hitting just .194/.337/.329 in Double-A. That made it less likely that he would produce his first major league pitch. Amador struggled as expected, hitting .171 with one walk in his first 36 plate appearances.
Black suggested earlier in the week that the Rox planned to option Amador back to Double-A when Rodgers is ready to return (X link via Luke Zahlmann of the Denver Gazette). The injury list could delay that, but he’ll probably return to Hartford when he’s healthy. Rodgers started a rehab assignment in Albuquerque tonight and could be back in the next few days.
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