Charlie Blackmon Placed on 15-day DL by Rockies

Battling turf toe on his left foot, Charlie Blackmon was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday afternoon prior to the Colorado Rockies’ series-clinching win over the San Francisco Giants.

Colorado’s center fielder and leadoff hitter, Blackmon was hitting just .185 with three RBI before being placed on the DL. His average dipped as low as .105 before going 2-for-5 with a double and a triple in Colorado’s 10-6 win over the Giants on Wednesday night. Blackmon also scored two runs in the game.

Blackmon stole a career-high 43 bases in 2015, the third-highest total in MLB and the fifth-most in Colorado franchise history. He also hit a Rockies-record six leadoff homers last season and his 12 career leadoff round-trippers established a franchise record. He also set career highs in games played (157), runs (93), hits (176), doubles (31), triples (nine), walks (46), extra-base hits (57), and on-base percentage (.347) last season.

After such a career year in 2015, Blackmon started this season slowly before Wednesday night’s offensive outburst and has yet to steal his first base of the year.

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With Charlie Blackmon out of the lineup, DJ LeMahieu shifted up in the order to bat leadoff on Thursday afternoon against the Giants and extended his hitting streak to nine games with a 1-for-4 outing. The All-Star second baseman will more than likely continue to bat leadoff in Blackmon’s absence.

Defensively, the Colorado outfield shifted on Thursday afternoon as Gerardo Parra moved to center field (Blackmon’s usual position) and Ben Paulsen took over in left. Parra has played 186 games in center field in his seven-year career so the position will not seem foreign. Paulsen, who platoons with Mark Reynolds at first base for the Rockies, showed off his outfield skills last year with one of Colorado’s best catches of the season.

Charlie Blackmon’s injury will also probably mean additional playing time for Brandon Barnes, who has seen just nine at-bats this season.

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Catcher Dustin Garneau was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque to take Blackmon’s spot on the roster. With current backup catcher Tony Wolters able to play middle infield and catcher, Garneau was added to give more flexibility to what can always be a shifting lineup during a National League game.