Eddie Butler, the Colorado Rockies No. 2 prospect in their farm system, thought his spring training was over for a little bit earlier this week. When he left Monday’s start with shoulder issues, it appeared his chance at breaking camp in his first Major League rotation went out the window. How quickly things can change.
Butler, who wound up being diagnosed with right shoulder fatigue, threw long toss yesterday. It went well and it seems as if the 24-year old righty is ready to pitch this Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers. If that goes well, Butler should slip into the third slot of the Opening Day rotation.
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“He has a a good chance of pitching that third game — if he’s healthy,”manager Walt Weiss told the Denver Post. “But that’s a big if. As we sit here today, that’s a really big if. I mean, he came out in the first inning of his last start.”
The problem is that it is Butler’s right shoulder. It is not the first time that it has been a problem for Butler, and the Rockies are concerned it will not be the last. Butler, in fact made his Rockies’€™ and Major League debut last season in June, but was shut down. It was not because he let up 12 runs in his first 16 big league innings. It was because the right shoulder once again flared up and caused discomfort.
Butler was the first round draft choice of the Rockies in the 2012 draft. He has since climbed to not only the No. 2 prospect for the Rockies, behind Jon Gray who is also challenging for a rotation spot, but he is a Top 100 prospect in baseball, coming in at No. 36 on MLB.com and as low as No. 77 on Baseball America.
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Butler has a Major League ready five pitch arsenal. His sinker is sharp and comes across in the mid-90s, which is offset but his changeup that has a bit of a sink to it itself. Butler gets in trouble when he is inconsistent with the sinker and he doesn’t get it to drop. When Butler keeps the ball down, he generates a high roundball rate, which, as everyone knows, is a huge advantage in Colorado. He adds in a four-seam fastball, curve and a slider to his reperoitre.
He hasn’t had the sharpest of springs, sitting at 1-3 with a 3.07 ERA while allowing 15 hits and five walks over 14 innings. That has not hurt his chances for Opening Day, and when the Rockies expand to a five man rotation, he and Jon Gray, who could win that fifth slot, could be featured in the 2015 Rockies rotation.
Weiss has decided to roll with a four man rotation with the early season off days, and won’t need a fifth starter until mid-April. Butler is competing with Christian Bergman and Chad Bettis to see who will slip in to the third slot between Opening Day starter Kyle Kendrick, Jordan Lyles, and home opener pitcher Tyler Matzek in the four slot.