Colorado Rockies roster news: Musgrave up, Rusin to DL

One day after the Colorado Rockies made a flurry of moves in an attempt to shore up their position players, Colorado made another on Monday to bring a fresh arm into Denver.

As first reported by Thomas Harding of MLB.com, 26-year-old southpaw Harrison Musgrave has been added to not only Colorado’s 40-man roster, but also the team’s active Major League roster. This is the first call-up for Musgrave, who has spent the last two-plus seasons with Triple-A Albuquerque.

During his time with the Isotopes, Musgrave compiled an 11-9 record and 5.01 ERA in 34 starts spanning 178.0 innings. Opponents hit .259 against him during that span.

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This season, Musgrave has gone 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA in three starts covering 10.2 innings. He has surrendered 11 hits but only walked two batters while striking out 10.

Musgrave has been with the Rockies in spring training every offseason since 2016, including last spring when he threw in eight games out of the bullpen. Again, strikeouts were a key stat as he notched 15 in 10 innings of work.

Going on the disabled list to make room for Musgrave on the roster is the versatile Chris Rusin, who often bridges the gap between the rotation and Colorado’s “super bullpen.” He has a right intercostal strain.

In eight games this season, the left-handed Rusin has a 4.97 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched. Last season, he was one of the stars of Colorado’s relief corps, going 5-1 with a sparkling 2.65 ERA, allowing just 75 hits in 85 innings pitched.

To make room on Colorado’s 40-man roster, Carlos Estevez was moved to the 60-day disabled list with elbow strain.

We talked to Musgrave a few moments ago and he had this to say about what he’s worked on this year.

"“[I’ve] been trying to stay steady, not trying to do too much, cut back on overthrowing, and executing pitches.”"

He also said that he has been worrying less about the ball after he releases it. As long as he executes his pitch and the batter still gets a hit, he said that he can’t get rattled if he threw it as best as he could.

For Rusin and his right intercostal injury, depending on the severity of it, will be out for a few weeks. If you think back, in 2014, Rockies outfielder Dexter Fowler had an intercostal strain and he was out two months, but Rusin, if he has a lower grade of a strain could only be out two weeks. You can read more about an intercostal strain here.

Next: 3 things to look for in the Rockies series with the Padres

Stay tuned for more information as we hear more from the Rockies at Coors Field. Also, you can stay tuned on Twitter, @RoxPileFS.