Tyler Chatwood Will Not Make Final Start On Sunday

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Stiffness in his pitching elbow will keep Rockies’ starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood from taking the mound on Sunday afternoon in the season finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I would really like to see the Rockies win Todd Helton‘s final game ever, but the chances of that happening just went down significantly. Here’s the part that should really scare us, per Thomas Harding’s report for MLB.com:

"Weiss said he is still mulling options for Sunday’s start, and could piece the game together with bullpen members. Lefty Drew Pomeranz has pitched five scoreless innings of relief since returning from left biceps tendinitis, but Weiss said he could throw three innings at the most and isn’t a candidate for a normal start.”"

Paired pitching noooooo….

Anyhow, this wraps up an absolutely stellar season for Chatwood: 8-5, a 3.15 ERA, and the new gold standard for what the ideal Rockies’ groundball pitcher looks like. For all of the uncertainty that will surround other portions of this team next season, namely, the back of the rotation and the bullpen, the top three spots in the rotation are firmly set with Jhoulys Chacin, Jorge De La Rosa, and Chatwood.

Furthermore, Chatwood provides hope for a struggling prospect like the aforementioned Pomeranz. Did anybody expect this from Chatwood this year? Hardly. He had the talent and then he made significant improvements from his flailing 2012 campaign. We are inclined to give up on young players, and especially young pitchers, so quickly that we sometimes forget that guys can still go to work and simply get better. It is not completely naive to think that Pomeranz or another young arm could come around for the Rockies like Chatwood did this year.

And if we’ve learned anything, it’s that it does wonders for the starting rotation when that does happen. Here’s hoping…