Colorado Rockies Rundown: Hello Morneau, Bye Bye McBride, And More

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Jul 14, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; National League infielder J. Morneau (33) of the Colorado Rockies holds his daughter before the 2014 Home Run Derby the day before the MLB All Star Game at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Your morning rundown — news, notes, analysis, and more — on the biggest stories surrounding the Colorado Rockies for this Saturday, September 5, 2015.

McBride gone, Morneau back

(via Twitter)

The Colorado Rockies have reinstated Justin Morneau from the 60-day disabled list, and he is part of the active roster, where he will be available for games beginning this weekend against the Giants (he was active for Friday night’s game).

Rafael Ynoa has also been recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque. Matt McBride DFA'd to make room for Justin Morneau on the 40-man. #Rockies
— Dargan Southard (@Dargan_Southard) September 4, 2015

To do that, though, they had to take somebody off their 40-man roster to give Morneau a spot; the man they chose to remove was Matt McBride, the player we literally just singled out for poor performance. Not saying we predicted it, but… (Just kidding, we absolutely didn’t predict it.)

What this does mean is that Morneau is going to get some playing time, and be allowed to build a little bit of his season back before the year ends in a few weeks. That will be important to him next season as he looks for a team this winter; the Colorado Rockies have a mutual option for 2016 with Morneau, but considering it’s for $9 million, the Rox are probably unlikely to exercise it. (That doesn’t mean they couldn’t re-sign him for a smaller deal, an option which has been floated.)

As for McBride, his career with the Rockies may well be done. At 30 years old, he’s missed his window in Denver and has been passed by the likes of younger players like Ben Paulsen and Kyle Parker for opportunities at first base and in the outfield.

Next: Rafael Ynoa returns to the Rockies

Sep 1, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies pinch hitter R. Ynoa (43) hits an RBI single in the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome back, Rafael Ynoa!

(via Twitter)

In addition to that news about McBride and Morneau, Rafael Ynoa has also been recalled by the Colorado Rockies:

Rafael Ynoa has also been recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque. Matt McBride DFA'd to make room for Justin Morneau on the 40-man. #Rockies
— Dargan Southard (@Dargan_Southard) September 4, 2015

Clearly, the club felt that they needed another utility infielder and switch hitter that could help the bench, in addition to Cristhian Adames who was called up several days ago to fill that role, too.

Ynoa had been up in Denver for most of the first half of the season, until he was sent down to Albuquerque when the Rockies decided they need to go with an extra outfielder, in the form of a combination of Brandon Barnes, Drew Stubbs, and Kyle Parker.

In Albuquerque, Ynoa slashed .286/.333/.388 with just 36 strikeouts in 243 plate appearances. He doubled 12 times, tripled four more, and homered once, so he’s done well enough in AAA and will fit right back in with the Colorado Rockies as a utility bench option (so long as they don’t have to play him in left field again).

Next: Breaking: CarGo is still really good

May 14, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder C. Gonzalez (5) hits a three-run home run in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. The Rockies won 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

More on CarGo’s crazy hot streak

(via MLB.com)

Carlos Gonzalez homered two more times on Thursday night, of course, and he also homered Friday night, of course. He keeps racking up insane numbers, and he’s nearing the end of a second half that nobody will probably ever forget.

Here, from Elias Sports Bureau:

#Rockies outfielder @CarGoMedia5 25 homers in 50 games via @EliasSports at #EliasSays http://t.co/zsJtYy2cSf pic.twitter.com/KDkuCjFncm
— Rockies Club Information (@RockiesClubInfo) September 4, 2015

Oh, and this:

What more can you say about this guy? I really like the MLB.com piece about CarGo for one really simple quote that he gave to the website about his approach at the plate during this hot streak:

“I just go to the plate with no worries.”

Ya don’t say, Carlos? It’s amazing how simple baseball can be when you make it simple (and yeah, when you’re on a white-hot streak of good luck, good fortune, hard work, and great talent).

Next: Jeff Bridich talks to MLBTR's podcast

Aug 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; General view of signage inside the media center at Coors Field before the start of the game between the Kansas City Royals against the Colorado Rockies. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Jeff Bridich talks to MLB Trade Rumors

(via MLB Trade Rumors)

The folks over at MLB Trade Rumors spoke to Jeff Bridich, the general manager of the Colorado Rockies, about his time with the club and his plans moving forward.

We’ll have quite a bit more about Bridich this winter, since that will (hopefully) be when he earns his keep making smart moves to keep rebuilding the Rockies, but for now that’s a good interview and some good to enjoy.

Next: The Rockies' base running blunders, quantified

Sep 27, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder C. Blackmon (19) slides under Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop M. Rojas (72) for a stolen base in the fifth inning of the game at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Rockies aren’t awful at base running?

(via Rockies Zingers)

The Colorado Rockies are pretty bad at baseball, or at least that’s what it feels like to those of us who watch the team day in and day out — but is that really true? (I’d still submit that yes, it is true.)

More than feelings, though, Adam Peterson over at Rockies Zingers brought some facts to the table, and did what we all probably should have done: he looked at a lot of the numbers to determine whether the Colorado Rockies are awful at base running. The answer? Not really.

As you can see in some of the tables listed in Peterson’s post, the Rockies are not only not the worst base running team in the league this year, but they’ve actually gotten significantly better at it than in 2014, when they were nearly the worst on the base paths in most categories.

But maybe that’s just because Corey Dickerson wasn’t running much of 2015? (Zing. I’ll see myself out.)

Next: Beer Fest, baby!

Apr 1, 2015; Salt River Pima-Maricopa, AZ, USA; A beer vendor looks on during the game between the Colorado Rockies and the Texas Rangers at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Mmmm, beer

(via MLB.com)

The Colorado Rockies are holding a BeerFest tonight!

The third annual Brew Fest at Coors Field starts at 4pm, and features tastings from more than 15 regional breweries (and yes, it’s on the Rooftop).

There’s more information here, but the really cool thing about this is that you can vote on which brewery’s offerings you like the best, and the winning brewery tonight will get to have their beer on tap at Coors Field for all of 2016. That is pretty damn cool. (And yes, it’s so Colorado.)

So show up early tonight, or buy tickets if you are reading this early enough, and you can have a say in what beers are available at Coors Field next season.

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