On the return of Josh Rutledge, the demotion of Wilton Lopez
By Hayden Kane
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Do you suppose that DJ LeMahieu, understanding the vastly greater offensive upside of his recently promoted colleague Josh Rutledge, set out to make a statement when he keyed the offensive efforts of the Colorado Rockies in their victory over the Chicago White Sox Wednesday night?
Do you suppose also that Boone Logan, upon seeing the struggles of last season’s big bullpen acquisition Wilton Lopez, felt significantly less pressure as this year’s big bullpen acquisition, inquiring of himself: “well, I can’t do much worse, right?”
Both Rutledge and Logan made appearances Wednesday night as part of the continued shuffling of pieces for the Rockies in the first weeks of the 2014 season. One could reasonably argue, however, that the recent moves have more to do with restoring the roster to the way it should be more than they do with anything more problematic.
Logan’s role in the bullpen is important. Rutledge probably should have always been on the roster as a reserve. Lopez should not be in a big league bullpen right now. And when Tyler Chatwood returns to the rotation, it will bump Franklin Morales to the bullpen, which he has shown is his best fit for the team with a pair of sometimes effective, sometimes maddening, and always inefficient starts. Of the recent moves, the only one that seems unfair, even if it was necessary, was the demotion of one Corey Dickerson to the Sky Sox.
There will still be questions, of course, as the return of Jhoulys Chacin and the eventual promotion of Eddie Butler would stand to displace other pitchers. But for now, the Rockies have successfully shifted from a poorly constructed opening day roster to one that makes a lot more sense.