Colorado Rockies: Trevor Story Out for Regular Season

The Colorado Rockies received some awful news Tuesday, as rookie sensation Trevor Story was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb.

Trevor Story sustained the injury when he jammed his thumb sliding head-first into second base against the Mets on Saturday. Originally, there was hope that it was just a bad bruise and that Story would be able to return to the lineup in a few days, but that’s obviously no longer the case.

Even though he’s on the 15-day DL, Story said on Tuesday that he will miss the rest of the regular season.

“I plan to have surgery within the next few days hopefully,” a dejected Story told reporters. “With something like this, it’s a more successful surgery when you do it right after the injury. Usually the recovery time is around eight weeks I think. That puts me out for the regular season. We’ll see.”

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The Rockies called up infielder Rafael Ynoa to take Story’s spot on the roster for the time being. Ynoa is nowhere near Story’s level offensively (obviously), but he has posted a .289 batting average in 202 MLB plate appearances.

However, the primary beneficiary in terms of playing time looks like Daniel Descalso. Descalso is having a career year as Colorado’s utility infielder, and will likely get a majority of the starts at shortstop in Story’s absence. The Rockies will definitely miss Story’s bat in the lineup, but there are worse back-up options out there than Descalso, especially if he can continue to hit the way he has in limited playing time.

The biggest letdown here is we’ll never get to see what else Story would have accomplished in a full rookie season. In one of the most competitive rookie classes in recent history, Story was a front-runner for NL Rookie of the Year, but this injury essentially eliminates him from the running.

“I just feel terrible that I won’t be able to play every day. Being out there, I feel like I mean a lot to the team. To not be able to be out there hurts,” Story said.

The good news is that he’s still young, and this isn’t the type of injury that should cause permanent damage. Once he’s healed properly, we should see the same Story that Rockies fans have quickly grown to love.

Next: Colorado Rockies Series Preview: Here Come the Dodgers

In the mean time though, there will be even more pressure to produce for the top four hitters in Colorado’s lineup.