After a phenomenal spring performance–for which he won the team’s Abby Greer Award and his first ever spot on an MLB Opening Day roster–Colorado Rockies outfielder Stephen Cardullo will take a step back from the Majors for now, as he heads back to Triple-A, the Rockies announced Tuesday.
“Cardullo will head to Albuquerque and get his at-bats with Isotopes,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He had a great spring. Again, deservingly made the team based on Spring Training. We had a couple spots open on the pitching staff and on the position players side, and he won a spot.”
But, as luck would have it, the starting rotation didn’t remain completely healthy–namely, rotation pitcher Jon Gray. That meant that the adjustments were needed, prompting the Rockies to call up 22-year-old pitcher German Márquez. With first baseman Ian Desmond and outfielder David Dahl finishing their recovery from injuries soon–and Desmond, to whom Black alluded would return in the very near future–that left the roster, and consequently Cardullo, in a vulnerable position to shakeup; and Cardullo was pushed to the wayside to once again complete the rotation.
That’s not to say, however, that Rockies fans outside of New Mexico won’t be seeing Cardullo sometime down the road this season–depending, of course, on how the injury card plays out and if he can balloon his numbers down in Triple-A.
“Things didn’t go well here performance-wise as we went on here through the first four weeks of April, but I suspect that if he plays well at Triple-A, and there’s a need, he could be that guy coming back,” Black said.
In playing 15 out of the Rockies’ 20 games of the season thus far, Cardullo had been batting .143 with four hits, three RBIs, two runs and three walks.
Marquez is set to start Tuesday’s game against the Nationals in Gray’s spot, as the latter pitcher mends from a fracture in his foot.