Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon Expected to Miss Four-to-Six Weeks With Broken Hand
Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon will miss four-to-six weeks with a fractured right hand, the club announced prior to Sunday’s finale versus the San Diego Padres.
Blackmon, in the final season of a six-year, $113-million contract, initially suffered the injury when he was struck on his right hand by a 93.9-mph fastball from Kansas City’s Daniel Lynch during his first at-bat on June 3rd. But he stayed in the game, going 1-for-4 en route to a 6-4 victory.
The 36-year-old lefty underwent multiple X-rays afterwards, though each returned negative, allowing him to re-enter Colorado’s lineup after a few recovery days. He made starts in four games last week – all as the designated hitter – but came off the bench as a pinch hitter on Saturday.
Despite appearing in five straight contests, Blackmon wasn’t pain-free and battled through right-hand discomfort all week, causing the Rockies to send him for another X-Ray on Saturday night, which revealed a fracture of his fifth metacarpal.
“We’ve been monitoring it the whole time, and it hasn’t felt great,” Rockies manager Bud Black said on Sunday. “A couple different X-rays showed no fracture, and then based on how he’s felt the last couple days, we X-rayed him again last night, and it showed the fracture.”
The Rockies then announced a series of roster moves ahead of Sunday’s contest at Coors Field, placing Blackmon on the 10-day IL. They also promoted catcher Brian Serven and infielder Coco Montes from the minors, optioning Alan Trejo to Triple-A Albuquerque.
Additionally, Antonio Senzatela was transferred to the 60-day IL, creating space on Colorado’s 40-man roster for Montes.
Blackmon remained productive while playing with a broken hand, collecting three hits in those five games, including a two-run double against the San Francisco Giants last Wednesday.
For some, it may have been shocking to learn that the four-time All-Star was shorthanded. But as the Rockies have witnessed over the last 13 seasons, he is one of the most passionate and hardest workers in baseball.
“He was getting treatment every day,” Black said. “When he got in the batter’s box, he felt competitive. Charlie’s a gamer. Nobody loves to play more than him.”
With Blackmon landing on the IL, he joins a long list of teammates also sidelined, including Kris Bryant, C.J. Cron, Brendan Rodgers, Sean Bouchard, Ryan Feltner, Germán Márquez and Senzatela. What’s worse is most of these players aren’t expected to return this season.
In Blackmon’s absence, the Rockies will continue to lean on a trio of Jurickson Profar-Randal Grichuk-Brenton Doyle in the outfield moving forward.
On a lighter note, Montes blasted his first MLB home run in his debut, a 377-foot shot that tied the game at 3-3 in the eighth inning, paving the way for Nolan Jones’ walk-off homer in the ninth.
Most believe this will be Blackmon’s final season in Colorado, as he has posted a below-average wRC+ each season since 2020, including the current one. So far, he’s hitting .265/.347/.422 with five home runs and 26 RBIs over 56 games, worth 0.1 fWAR.
At his peak, though, the 6-foot-3 slugger was considered among the top hitters in the sport, slashing .315/.376/.558 with a 130 wRC+ across four seasons from 2016-19. He won two NL Silver Slugger Awards and a Batting Title during that span.
For now, Blackmon’s swan song with the Rockies is on hold until likely after next month’s All-Star break.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Jenniferlinneaphotography. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.