Colorado Rockies’ Old Friend Jhoulys Chacin Is Back In The Big Leagues!

Aug 24, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher

(47) throws in the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

It’s impossible not to be happy for the former Colorado Rockies’ starter, who is now a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ rotation as they make a playoff push. (!)

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The line won’t tell the full story for former Colorado Rockies’ pitcher Jhoulys Chacin, but even just the statistical result of his start Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals — 6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K — was fairly impressive.

When a Colorado Rockies’ pitcher throws up a line like that, we’re ready to anoint (see: Rusin, Chris or Flande, Yohan).

Jokes aside, Chacin’s outing Monday night was even better than the line will credit (yes, he got a tough luck loss), and he was the victim of a little bit of uncharacteristically bad Diamondbacks’ defense, as well as a bullpen that couldn’t bail him out of a jam in the seventh inning.

But that’s baseball stuff, and that happens. And over the course of a year, that stuff evens out, so no sweat on one night, against a very good team, that just wasn’t quite good enough to win. Put that all aside, because if you’re anything like me, you should just be very happy just to see Chacin in the big leagues again.

[ Related: The Colorado Rockies designate Rafael Betancourt for assignment ]

The Colorado Rockies, of course, unceremoniously dumped him before the year began. Chacin then took the long, hard road back: he was in the Cleveland Indians’ system for a while, threw well there, and yet never got a chance to advance to the big leagues. The Indians then cut him loose in June, he went to the Diamondbacks’ AAA affiliate in Reno, Nevada, and eventually he earned a spot on the big league roster.

(Side note: I was actually at the final game he ever pitched in a Rockies’ uniform, a Spring Training game this March against the Los Angeles Dodgers.)

All of that is a testament to his character and perseverance, overcoming being dumped by the club he’d been with since 2006 as an 18-year-old in the Dominican Summer League. I connected on Twitter with Chacin a little while ago talking about his return to the big leagues, and he was as classy about it as ever:

I don’t blame the Colorado Rockies for doing what they did, and they certainly had the right; shoulders are far more complicated than elbows when it comes to recovery. (But damn, wouldn’t you love to have him in the rotation right now?).

But this isn’t about the Rockies. This is about Jhoulys. He’s a good guy, a great pitcher — people don’t realize how good until you see some of the stats — and he deserves everything good that comes his way. Judging by how he threw Monday night for the Diamondbacks, a lot of good things are in store for him.

He’s just 27 years old, so he has quite a bit of time left to continue to develop a very solid big league career. And he’s absolutely one guy I’ll be rooting for every fifth day — especially against the Colorado Rockies.

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