Scahill And McBride Called Up From Minor Leagues

As the Colorado Springs Sky Sox have officially wrapped up their season, the Rockies will begin adding to their expanded roster on Wednesday when right handed pitcher Rob Scahill and infielder Matt McBride will join the team.

McBride has already seen action with the Rockies this season. He will continue to try and solidify his place with the team in hopes of not being known as the “other guy” or the “throw in” from the franchise’s big trade with the Cleveland Indians in 2011 (trying to call it something other than the “Ubaldo trade”).

Playing time might be hard to come by for McBride. Chris Nelson and Jordan Pacheco have both emerged to the point that it will be difficult to justify bumping either of them out of the lineup. And did you see that pick Pacheco had over at first tonight? Sure, he pulled his foot off the bag, but that was still some slick leather from a guy whose career is always qualified with “he doesn’t really have a position in the field.” He might be throwing his hat into the suddenly crowded first baseman conversation.

Moving on…wait, what’s that? Pacheco had two errors in the same play while playing first base on Monday? Ahh yes, that’s right. Well…boy, he can hit though, right?

Scahill, a mid-round draft pick in 2009, will be making his Major League debut. He is a case study in the nuanced art of interpreting pitching statistics from Colorado Springs. As a member of the rotation he was 9-11 this season with a 5.68 ERA. While those numbers are underwhelming, he also logged a staggering 159 K’s while walking 74 on the season. The Rockies will hope that his win-loss and ERA statistics are the misleading product of a tough pitching environment and that the latter numbers are signs of a pitcher who can make a meaningful contribution.

Scahill might be called on to give the likes of Adam Ottavino and Josh Roenicke a break from their piggyback roles. While he probably knew pitching for the Rockies is a….ahem….unique career opportunity, I bet Scahill never thought he would serve a role that is actually called “piggybacking.”