Call-Ups: Colorado Rockies, Nelson, Eldred, Roe, Escalona, and Kaz Matsui
By Wally Fish
Once again it is collaborative post time here on Call to the Pen. This month’s topic is September call-ups. To get the ball rolling, I posed the following question to each of our Lead Writers, “Which player do you want your team to call-up in September and why?” It is a simple question but I think you will find the responses to be very diverse.
Taking the path less traveled this month, I decided to post each team’s write-up individually instead of grouping them by league or division as we have done in the past.
Representing the Colorado Rockies and Rox Pile is the site’s Lead Writer, Alex Barnes. Check out what he has to say after the jump.
Alex’s Take:
The Rockies should call up some reinforcements from Colorado Springs when rosters expand on September 1st. I believe the following players should be called up for the stretch run:
Chris Nelson*: The former 1st round pick had a brief tour in Denver earlier this season. He can play all over the infield, and provides some bench flexibility, especially if Ian Stewart’s oblique injury lingers.
*Update: Nelson was in fact called up today
Brad Eldred: The power hitting 1B will not help the Rox out defensively, but provides a right handed power bat off the bench. Eldred could team with Giambi to provide a righty/lefty pinch hit duo with a ton of power. However, Eldred is not currently on the 40-man roster, and would have to be added to receive a call up.
Chaz Roe and Edgmer Escalona: Both of these pitchers sport typically ugly PCL ERAs, but the Rox bullpen could use some extra arms. Additionally, they are both currently on the 40-man roster. Even if these two were to only pitch in blowouts, they would help by saving some wear and tear on the Rox ‘pen. Of the two, Escalona is the more likely call up, since he is a reliever and his innings count is lower than Roe’s.
Kazuo Matsui: Why not? He helped the Rox on their epic run in 2007. Maybe calling up Matsui will help recreate the magic down the stretch.