Eric Young Jr. Dealt As Rockies Lose To Blue Jays

Last night the Rockies were crushed in Toronto 8-3. Former Rockies first round draft choice Jeff Francis started against Esmil Rogers. Francis was hit very hard in six innings of work; he gave up all eight of those runs and 10 of Toronto’s 11 hits. Of those 10 hits three were hit out of the park and another three were doubles. At this point I think my ERA would be lower than Francis’s. The Canadian born lefty has an ERA of 6.58 and has a HR/9 of 1.9 to pair with a just as ugly BB/9 of 2.9. Come on Rockies, it’s time to say good-bye to Jeff, like you did with Chris Nelson and Reid Brignac.

Young Jr. joins the Mets. Image: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Of course in true Rockies tradition it was not enough to have our starter get knocked around. The lineup was no-hit until the sixth inning by Rogers, a former Rockie. Talk about salt in the wound. Rogers has fixed the control issues he had in Denver. Last year as a Rockie his ERA was over eight and he walked better than six every nine innings. This season, his first in Toronto, the walks are down to 2.6 per nine innings with a 3.14 ERA to go with it.

The Rockies scored three in the seventh as they chased Rogers from the game after 89 pitches and just two earned runs. Eight runs is a lot to overcome late and outside of Coors Field. Even thought the Rockies were done scoring runs, and have now lost five games in the last seven tries, the front office was still working after the game.

After being designated for assignment a week ago, Eric Young Jr. was dealt to the New York Mets for pitcher Collin McHugh. EY2, a career .261 hitter, is only hitting .242 this season. Frankly there is not room for Young on the roster if Tyler Colvin is going to be mainstay as the Rockies fourth outfielder. Walt Weiss will not miss his speed thanks to Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler, but there is no way that McHugh will be an immediate help for the Rockies.

Once aquired McHugh was immediately option to AA Tulsa. Probably fitting, considering the 25 year-old has a career record of 0-5 with an ERA of 8.26. Upon further research one might find that only once in 11 starts has McHugh lasted longer than four measly innings. One might also find that in perfect circle of mediocrity that one outing was his Major League debut, which was against the Rockies (as I’m sure you guessed). I don’t claim to know a ton about player development, but I know it should not under any circumstances involve a dartboard and a blindfold.