The Colorado Rockies completed the list of their attendees for the Salt River Rafters with the addition of four pitchers. Two of the four pitchers were picked up in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade: Drew Pomeranz and Joe Gardner. Pomeranz is scheduled to make his major league debut on Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds. He may only make one or two starts for the Rockies before heading to Arizona. He threw six perfect innings before losing it in the seventh inning in his first start for the Triple-A Drillers and then had an appendectomy. He returned on Monday for three more perfect innings of pitching.
Joe Gardner was the fourth player the Rockies needed to make the Jimenez trade go down and he has had a nice run with the Rockies. He went 3-3 with a 2.48 ERA in six starts. Quite impressive, he picked up four ground ball outs for every fly ball out he recorded. He struck out 22 and walked eight. Talk of moving him to the bullpen appear to be tabled for the moment.
The Rockies will also send Parker Frazier, son of Rockies broadcaster George Frazier. He finally spent a full season with the Modesto Nuts and went 11-11 with a 4.50 ERA. He allowed more hits than innings pitched (171 in 154 innings) and struck out 105. While preseason talk said he had an outside chance of making the majors in 2011, that will more than likely happen in 2011.
The final pitcher is Casey Weathers, taken eighth overall in the 2007 draft. It's been a long journey to reach this point, including Tommy John surgery. He posted a 5.32 ERA in 46 innings while walking 48 and striking out 48. Once thought of as the Rockies' future closer, Weathers future is murky.