Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon left Wednesday’s game against the San Francisco Giants early after suffering a toe injury, and the timetable for his return is uncertain.
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Blackmon Placed on 15-Day DL
Thursday, April 14
According to the Rockies, Blackmon was officially placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday due to turf toe on his left foot.
In his third season as a regular starter, Blackmon is hitting .185/.241/.575 with no home runs and three runs batted in so far in 2016 to go along with one stolen base.
The 29-year-old was extremely productive in 2015 with a .287 batting average, 17 homers, 58 RBI and 43 steals.
The Rockies outfield entered the season in a state of flux. Gerardo Parra signed a three-year deal in the offseason, creating a logjam, which Blackmon was initially not a fan of.
“I was [a] little perplexed at first,” Blackmon said, according to Nick Groke of the Denver Post. “Because I didn’t really see it coming. Going into the offseason, I didn’t know that was in play, really. But after looking at it, he’s a great player. I’ve played against him, seen him play. He’s got one of the best arms in the league. He can only make our team better.”
Luckily, Colorado’s depth should allow it to withstand Blackmon’s absence to some degree.
Parra and Carlos Gonzalez make up the rest of the outfield, while utility man Ryan Raburn can fill in for a period of time, particularly against left-handed starters.
In addition to that, shortstop Trevor Story, third baseman Nolan Arenado and second baseman D.J. LeMahieu are off to red-hot starts.
Assuming they can keep up their level of play and LeMahieu replaces Blackmon effectively as the leadoff man, Colorado is capable of playing winning baseball even without Blackmon’s services.
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