The Colorado Rockies have lost five of their last six games to bring their record below .500 at 9-10. This Rockies team didn't come into the year with very high expectations, but like usual it has one of the best offenses in all of Major League Baseball.
Of course the fact that the Rockies play in Coors Field is helpful to their offensive production, but they also have some extremely good hitters. The two guys that pop up immediately when thinking of their great hitters are Nolan Arenado and rookie sensation Trevor Story. Colorado is in the top six in the majors in runs scored so far this season, but they have done that without center fielder Charlie Blackmon, who may be nearing a return.
Blackmon was placed on the disabled list about two weeks ago with turf toe, an injury he initially suffered in 2012. Blackmon aggravated the injury a couple of weeks back, and when he initially went on the DL he was unsure how much time he would have to miss. Over the weekend, though, the 29-year-old outfielder made significant progress, and it now looks like he may not miss much more than the minimum 15 days.
Blackmon was able to participate in outfield drills last weekend and was running around in turf shoes. He eventually progressed to running in cleats, and the hope is that he could be back for the Rockies' series against the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend. Before coming back to the big league club Blackmon may need to go on a rehab assignment, but manager Walt Weiss is confident that it will be a short one, maybe two games.
In Blackmon's absence the Rockies have been going with a combination of Gerrardo Parra and Brandon Barnes in center field. Parra is the team's everyday left fielder, and they would like to keep him there, but Barnes hasn't provided much of anything offensively so they haven't had a choice but to play Parra in center.
Before Blackmon got hurt he was off to a slow start, but it was only eight games and his track record suggests he will hit. Blackmon was an All-Star in 2014 and followed that up with another good year in 2015 when he hit .287 with 17 home runs, 58 RBI and 43 stolen bases. Blackmon has just a .185 batting average through 27 at-bats this season, but the rehab assignment should help him get back on track for when he returns to the Rockies' lineup in the near future.
