Rockies Notes: Rosario’s Walk-Off, Betancourt’s Injury, Tulo’s Day Off

Last night Wilin Rosario knocked a walk-off single off of his former teammate Matt Reynolds to give the Rockies a 5-4 extra inning victory. Both the pitch recognition and the opposite field swing from “the Bull” showed a hitter who is already starting to outgrow some of the tendencies that made him a predictably pull-happy power guy one year ago. The Rockies would probably happily take those power numbers any year; the fact that Rosario might be improving on them by also taking at-bats like he did in the 10th inning last night is gravy.

Rosario’s celebration. Image: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Rafael Betancourt is dealing with inflammation in the scar tissue around his right groin, an injury that is presumably as unpleasant as it sounds. There was concern that it would force him to the disabled list, but it looks like he should be ready to go by this weekend’s series at the San Francisco Giants. From Troy Renck:

For now this is good news for the Rockies. Had Betancourt been forced to the DL, we would have seen the start of the inevitable Rex Brothers era at closer. Now there will be a little bit more time with Betancourt in that role and Brothers waiting in the wings while he dominates the 7th and 8th inning with Matt Belisle.

Troy Tulowitzki is out of the lineup for today’s finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks. This buys him a full two days off with the Rockies traveling on Thursday. While it is frustrating to not have Tulowitzki in the lineup for a key divisional game, the logic remains the same: it is better for Tulo to miss one key game in May rather than a bunch of them later in the season.