Colorado Rockies: Kyle Freeland exits Tuesday’s game with a left shoulder strain

The Colorado Rockies just announced that left-handed starting pitcher Kyle Freeland exited Tuesday’s game against the Oakland A’s in the third inning due to a left shoulder strain.

You can watch the video of it below.

The injury was suffered after he threw the first pitch in the third inning to Mark Canha and he was holding his left arm. Rockies shortstop Trevor Story and mamager Bud Black came to the mound to talk to Freeland before he left the game in favor of Yency Almonte.

With the injury, the chance that Freeland will be ready for Opening Day is in serious question but the timetable for his return is not yet known.

The Rockies now have a few pitchers that might be on the bubble to make the Opening Day roster due to injuries including Scott Oberg, Antonio Senzatela, Tyler Kinley, and, now, Freeland.

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Freeland was likely going to be the Rockies starter for the second game of the season but now that he will likely be out, the Rockies rotation (especially if Senzatela isn’t ready either) would likely feature German Marquez, Jon Gray, Austin Gomber, Chi Chi Gonzalez, and Dereck Rodriguez.

The Rockies could, however, decide to turn to Robert Stephenson (who does have experience starting games), Ryan Rolison, Ryan Castellani, or Antonio Santos.

Freeland, 27, went 2-3 with a 4.33 ERA in an NL leading 13 starts in 2020. He had an ERA+ of 122, a FIP of 4.65, a career-low walk-rate of 2.9 per nine innings but also a career-low in strikeouts (5.9 K/9).

In 2019, he had a disastrous season after his phenomenal 2018 season, as he went 3-11 with a 6.73 ERA in 22 starts. He only had 22 starts because the Rockies sent him back to Triple-A Albuquerque for six starts. There he went 0-4 with an 8.80 ERA.

Rockies manager Bud Black will be speaking with the media, including Rox Pile, after the game finishes so we will update this article with his comments.

UPDATE: Bud Black confirmed it was a shoulder strain of “some degree. I think we’ll know more in the ensuing days after some imaging.”

Black went on to express concern about a situation that is still evolving.

“It’s a sickening feeling for all of us,” Black said. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed and hopefully we get some good news out of this, but I’m concerned.”

What might happen if Freeland were to miss some time? The Rockies could call on Chi Chi Gonzalez or Ryan Rolison possibly, as MLB.com’s Thomas Harding noted below.