Injury to Thairo Estrada hinders Rockies' lineup in early season

While one injury may not spell complete doom early into a 162-game schedule, its clear that the fractured wrist sustained by second baseman Thairo Estrada has had a negative ripple effect on the Colorado Rockies lineup in March and April.

Signed in the offseason to take over at second base after the Rockies chose to part ways with Brendan Rodgers, Estrada was intended to be an answer for a big infield question.

However, the 29-year-old Estrada was also expected to be a key component to Colorados plan to put the ball into play more in 2025.

Estradas 19.9 percent strikeout rate last season marked the third time in four campaigns he had whiffed in less than 20 percent of his bats.

That kind of ability to put the ball into play was needed for a team that struck out a franchise-record 1,617 times last season, an average of just under 10 strikeouts per game.

However, a wayward pitch on March 20 struck Estrada in the right wrist, causing a non-displaced fracture that will eventually cost Estrada anywhere from four to eight weeks once he returns.

Estradas bat-to-ball skills have already been missed by the Rockies.

Through their first 14 games, Colorado was averaging 10.86 strikeouts per game and hitting just .200 with runners in scoring position.

During that same stretch, Colorado struck out an MLB-high 29.4 percent of the time.

While there is no crystal ball that would have shown the results had Estrada been in the lineup, Colorado manager Bud Black admits the possibility of what Estrada could have done to help boost the teams early chances for success.

When we talk about our strikeouts, we felt going in that he was going to put the ball in play, Black said.

At the time of the injury this spring, Estrada was primarily hitting in the middle of Colorados lineup and was batting .400 (14-for-35) while adding in three stolen bases.

Yes, the numbers were in the spring, but for a Rockies team that scored just 40 runs through its first 14 games (the fewest in Major League Baseball), any kind of potential to boost the offense is tantalizing.

He came into camp looking great, moving well, Black said Black.

He was having a good spring with the bat.

It looked to be a really good fit.

This (injury) is part of what happens in professional sports.

It happens across the landscape of the game.

Estradas injury has also short-circuited Colorados plan to move utility player Kyle Farmer (also signed in the offseason) around the infield and allow third baseman Ryan McMahon and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar to have early off days in the hopes of conserving them for later in the season.

Farmer has been a pleasant surprise, stepping in at second base for Estrada and hitting .375 in his first 40 at-bats with the Rockies.

With that and Colorados early schedule that has included a pair of off days built into it, Black believes his team has weathered the early storm of McMahon and Tovar playing nearly every day so far.

Farmers provided exactly what we needed in the event that one of our guys would go down, Black said.

Hes been pretty steady offensively and made some really good plays in the field.

He's proven to be everything that we thought it was going to be so far.

The calendar, however, may test Colorados ability to continuously play its regulars soon enough.

After an off day on April 22, the Rockies dont have an off day again until May 5, a stretch of 13 consecutive games.

Depending on his rehabilitation schedule, Estrada may well be on his way back to the Rockies at that point.

Black said that Estrada was starting to ramp up the intensity of his workouts, but has yet to do anything with a bat.

When that might happen will likely depend the results of another X-ray on Estradas fractured wrist that is scheduled to happen over the next week.

Once he likely returns sometime in May, Estrada will certainly be given an immediate chance to make an impact on Colorados fortunes.

From there, its a matter of just how much of what could have been the Rockies will see after more than a month with a lineup that desperately needs someone like Estrada in it..

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