Todd Helton Won’t Pitch…Probably

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

If you’re a Rockies fan, then you know who Troy Renck is. He is the star beat writer for the Denver Post whom we all follow for the latest news and notes. That is no slight to Patrick Saunders, Thomas Harding, Tracy Ringolsby, or anybody else on the Rockies beat. At all. They do a great job too. But I think most people feel that Renck is usually the go-to guy.

I mention that because right now Renck has taken up a worthy and interesting cause in the final days of Todd Helton‘s career: getting the Toddfather on the mound:

When asked, it sounds like Weiss didn’t offer much insight:

Based on his quotes so far this season, I’m guessing Weiss’s answer will sound something like this: “Well, Todd might pitch and he might not. If he does pitch, then he will. But if I’m not planning on it, then he probably will not pitch and therefore won’t pitch in his MLB career.”

If the Toddfather did pitch, it would be a gimmick. On the one hand, that would be OK because neither of these teams have anything to play for; there is no way that the Rockies would negatively impact a playoff race, for example. On the other hand, it might be out of place given all of the admiration and reverence we have sent Helton’s direction this week. It might not feel right to have one of his final games include a gimmick.

But if he doesn’t pitch, it would leave an item unchecked on Helton’s bucket list. I mean, he got to check “hidden ball trick” off the list…so why not pitching? And it is going to be Jeff Francis on the mound…so…

I go back and forth, but ultimately I say let’s leave this one be and not have Helton take the mound. What do you think, Rox Pilers?