The Colorado Rockies’ season is entering development mode with their playoff hopes dashed. In light of their struggles, the club is parting ways with veteran Chris Iannetta.
In his stead, the club has chosen to promote Dom Nunez from Triple-A Albuquerque. Due to ankle soreness for Jon Gray, Jeff Hoffman was also recalled to start Tuesday. Chi Chi Gonzalez will be optioned in a corresponding move.
For Iannetta, the dismissal from the club ends what was the most active career for any catcher in franchise history. He leads the franchise in both games played (820) and started (579) in their near-27-year history.
On the year, Iannetta hit .222 with six home runs and 21 RBIs in 52 games. More importantly, he led the breakout of Kyle Freeland in 2018, as well as welcomed in Peter Lambert to the club and served as his primary catcher.
The loss of Iannetta adds to a growing list of leaders that have been ousted by the club in recent years. Carlos Gonzalez, Gerardo Parra, Mark Reynolds and DJ LeMahieu have all left the franchise as well.
Part of the reasoning behind Iannetta’s decreased playing time in his 14th season was the resurgence of Tony Wolters. He’s hit .286 with 17 extra-base hits and thrown out 16 baserunners this season, a mark that’s good for fourth in the National League.
Now, Nunez will take over in the backup catcher role. The move comes just two days after the backstop nailed a walk-off home run to propel the Isotopes to a win over Triple-A Round Rock.
For the Isotopes, Nunez has hit .244 this season with 17 home runs across 61 games. He’s also struck out 69 times with 35 walks.
Hoffman, in eight starts this year, has a 6.57 ERA. Across 38.1 innings, he’s allowed eight home runs and struck out 40.
