Colorado Rockies: Kyle Freeland done for the season?

One of the last hopes for the Colorado Rockies to have a member of the Opening Week rotation return from the injured list before the end of the season may have taken a big hit in recent days.

Speaking to Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post before the Colorado Rockies took on the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, Kyle Freeland said he was “frustrated” by the lack of progress coming back from groin strain. Saunders added that Freeland wasn’t sure if he would pitch again in 2019.

You can see the tweet from Saunders regarding Freeland’s status here.

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Freeland, the eighth overall pick in the 2014 Major League draft, went on the injured list on August 22 (retroactive to August 21) with a left groin strain. It was thought that Freeland would return to the mound this year to try to measure more progress from a disappointing season that has seen him post a 3-11 mark with a 6.98 ERA in 20 starts (covering 99.1 innings). However, slow progress back from the injury may mean that Freeland is on the shelf for the Rockies until spring training.

The 21-year-old southpaw joins Tyler Anderson, Chad Bettis, Jon Gray and German Marquez as members of the Opening Week rotation who are all currently on the injured list. Only Freeland and Marquez are potential returns from the IL in 2019 as Gray, Anderson and Bettis all have had season-ending surgery.

Coming off a season where he went 17-7 with a 2.85 ERA (164 ERA+) over 202 innings and a fourth-place finish in the National League Cy Young voting, much was expected from Freeland this season. However, he was demoted to Triple-A after posting a 7.13 ERA in 12 starts.

It is part of an overall disappointing and injury-filled campaign for the Rockies, who made consecutive postseason appearances for the first time in franchise history in 2017 and 2018 but have fallen to the bottom of the National League West standings this season.