Carlos Gonzalez on recent play, his injury, and the Final Vote

Carlos Gonzalez has struggled in 2017 and has been hampered with injuries.

Carlos Gonzalez, before the today’s game against the Cincinnati Reds, will be activated off of the 10-day disabled list after a shoulder injury. He will also be in the starting lineup tonight, playing right field and hitting fifth. As a result, Ian Desmond will be put on the 10-day DL.

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

Gonzalez’s stats in 2017 in comparison to 2016.

Gonzalez has only played in 68 games thus far and he only has six homers, 20 RBIs, a .221/.300/.348 slash line, 54 hits, an OPS+ of 60, and a -0.9 WAR. 68 games into 2016, he had 15 HRs, 38 RBIs, a .313/.357/.548 slash line, 85 hits. Through the first three months of 2016, he had an OPS+ of 156.

Gonzalez’s thoughts on the series

In a discussion with our own Kevin Henry earlier this afternoon, Gonzalez said that “it’s a good time for us to finish strong in the first half…We’ve played really good here [at Coors Field] and we’ve got to get back on track and play good baseball again.” The Rockies, despite their eight game losing streak would still make the playoffs if the season were to end today so Gonzalez said, “…you’ve gotta look at the bright side [of things]. You can be negative and try to bring yourself down–there’s a lot of people out there [who are] already doubting us…We believe in ourselves [but] we’ve gotta get going. We’ve played really bad, really sloppy, during the entire roadtrip…”

In regards to his health, he said, “I feel good. I feel healthy…I’m excited to get back out there and grind with my team…”

Gonzalez’s thoughts on Mark Reynolds being on the Final Vote

Gonzalez said, in regards to his teammate not being on the All-Star but on the Final Vote, “He should already be on the team. He’s top ten in RBIs–he’s been tremendous for us–defensively, offensively…”. He also spoke to the fans and said “[f]or all the fans, vote for my guy. I think he deserves it. Let’s give him his first All-Star [appearance].

Analysis

The Rockies need Gonzalez to improve and perform like the player that he is capable of doing. If he gets back to his ways, he will provide the Rockies with tremendous help for their postseason run in the second half in chasing the Diamondbacks and Dodgers for the NL West crown.