After a rash of pitching injuries contributed to last year’s 103-loss season, the Rockies have their first significant health issue on the mound in 2024.
Colorado placed Kyle Freeland on the 15-day injured list on Friday with a left elbow strain, a move retroactive to April 16.
In four starts this season, Freeland is 0-3 with a 13.21 ERA. In his last start on Sunday, the Thomas Jefferson product allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings in a 5-0 loss in Toronto.
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He then hurt his right shoulder pinch-running in a 2-1 loss to Philadelphia the next day when Phillies right-hander Jeff Hoffman landed on him in a play at the plate in the ninth inning. Friday’s IL designation is unrelated to that play.
This is the latest blow to a club that’s reeling through the first month of the season and is off to a franchise-worst 4-15 start. Freeland has played a role in that awful start, as he didn’t make it through the fourth inning in either of his first two starts.
On Opening Day in Arizona, he was shelled for 10 runs in two-plus innings in a historic 16-1 loss, then the Cubs got nine runs off him (seven earned) in his next outing in Chicago.
In a corresponding move, the Rockies recalled Noah Davis from Triple-A. Davis will presumably take Freeland’s scheduled start on Saturday at Coors Field against the Mariners. Davis is 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA in nine games (six starts) in his big-league career.
This story will be updated.
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