The Rockies’ hopes for their first-ever division title are finished, but they’re still in good shape to make the playoffs as a wild card. But losing your closer to a non-baseball related injury won’t help. On Wednesday, manager Bud Black revealed Greg Holland is day-to-day after cutting the index finger on his throwing hand in a “kitchen accident.”
From ESPN:
“He cut his index finger on his throwing hand,” Black said. “It’s really day to day. We’ll see how it progresses the next five or six hours.
“He gave it a shot [Tuesday night]. He got up and threw but it wasn’t going to happen. This is one of those Mother Nature things.”
The list of wacky baseball injuries in 2017 keeps growing, as this joins Brandon Finnegan tearing his labrum while jumping off a boat, Madison Bumgarner missing two months after wrecking his dirt bike, and Carlos Correa’s freak thumb injury on an routine swing. And don’t forget Raisel Iglesias falling in the shower.
Holland leads the majors with 33 saves, and his 1.64 ERA ranked fourth among closers. He earned a spot on his third All-Star team last month. So any time he misses as the Rockies hit the thick of the playoff hunt matters. The good news is Holland warmed up each of the last two games, even though he’s clearly not ready to pitch.
In the meantime, Mike Dunn and newly-acquired Pat Neshek will likely handle ninth-inning duties. Holland was also unavailable for Tuesday’s 5-4 win against the Mets, but the Rockies didn’t need him as they won on a walk-off. Black used Dunn during the ninth inning of a tie game.
We’ll see if the kitchen accident comes back to bite Colorado as they hold a comfortable 5.5-game lead over Milwaukee right now for the second NL Wildcard. And maybe Holland should just buy takeout for the rest of the season.
[ESPN]
