The Rockies have signed 35-year old righty starting pitcher Roy Oswalt to a minor league deal.  He pitched in 17 games (9 starts) for the Rangers last year and he was 4-3 with a 5.80 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP.  Oswalt has now pitched in 356 games (335 starts) in his first 12 years in the majors and he is 163-96 with a 3.28 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP.  The Rockies aren’t going to rush Oswalt too much, but I really like this signing for them.  He could really help them some time in June until the end of the 2013 season.

26-year old lefty swinging outfielder Charlie Blackmon is ripping the ball in AAA for the Rockies so far this year.  Blackmon has played in 22 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 29 for 78 (.372 avg, 1.113 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 3 homers, 18 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.  Blackmon has played in 69 games in his first two years with the Rockies and he is 57 for 211 (.270 avg, .659 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 3 homers, 17 RBIs and 6 stolen bases.  Blackmon will be the first outfielder called up with the need arises with the Rockies.

The Rockies have acquired 21-year old righty swinging outfielder Jose Monzon from the Astros as the player to be named later to complete the deal that also brought Wilton Lopez to Denver.  Monzon has yet to play in a game in the minors in 2013.  He played in 45 games in Rookie-ball last year for the Astros and he was 25 for 117 (.214 avg, .583 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 2 homers, 11 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  Monzon has now played in 183 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 124 of 582 (.213 avg, .610 OPS) with 91 runs scored, 6 homers, 50 RBIs and 34 stolen bases.  Don’t expect to see Jose Monzon in Houston for a long, long time….if he ever makes it there.

32-year old lefty starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa is off to a great start for the Rockies in 2013.  He has pitched in 5 games (all starts) for the Rockies so far this year and he is 2-2 with a 2.86 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.  He has given up 22 hits and he has walked 11 batters in his first 30 1/3 innings for the Rockies this year while whiffing 26 batters.  He is in the last season of a 3-year, $31.5 million dollar deal that he signed back in the winter of 2010.  In the first two years of that deal, De La Rosa pitched in 13 games (all starts) in which he was 5-4 with a 4.39 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP.  The Rockies hope that De La Rosa can stay in one piece for the entire 2013 season.

The Colorado Rockies have called up 22-year old righty swinging 3B Nolan Arenado.  He came into this season as the Rockies’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America.  Arenado played in 18 games in AAA-ball this year for the Rockies and he was 24 for 66 (.364 avg, 1.059 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 3 homers and 21 RBIs.  He has played in 432 games in his five years in the minors for the Rockies and he was 501 of 1,675 (.299 avg, .818 OPS) with 224 runs scored, 49 homers, 286 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  Arenado will likely take over as the Rockies’ starting 3B starting today.

The Rockies have designated 27-year old righty swinging 3B Chris Nelson for assignment.  Nelson played in 21 games for the Rockies this year and he was 16 for 66 (.242 avg, .600 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 0 homers, 4 RBIs and an amazingly bad 19 strikeouts.  Nelson played in 212 games in his four years with the Rockies and he was 172 of 616 (.279 avg, .738 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 13 homers, 73 RBIs and 6 stolen bases.  The Rockies will likely try to deal Nelson, as there is no way I see him getting through waivers.  This was a surprising move to me as Nelson has played well for the Rockies in the past.

UPDATE:  (5/2/2013) - The Rockies have dealt Chris Nelson to the New York Yankees for either a player to be named later or cash.

The Rockies have placed 39-year old lefty swinging 1B Todd Helton on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 20th due to left forearm inflammation.  Helton has played in 13 games for the Rockies so far this year and he is 11 for 41 (.268 avg, .748 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 10 RBIs.  The Rockies have called up 24-year old lefty swinging 1B/3B Ryan Wheeler and he will likely share P.T. with 27-year old righty swinging Jordan Pacheco until Helton returns to action.  Wheeler has played in 1 game for the Rockies so far this year and he is 1 for 4 with a double.  He also played in 15 games in AAA-ball for the Rockies earlier this year and he was 16 for 46 (.348 avg, .973 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 2 homers and 16 RBIs.  Pacheco has played in 13 games for the Rockies so far this year and he is 12 for 38 (.316 avg, .692 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers and 4 RBIs.  The Rockies should be o.k. until Helton returns to action.

The Rockies have called up 23-year old righty starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood to replace the injured Jhoulys Chacin in the rotation.  Chatwood pitched in 3 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Rockies this year and he was 1-0 with a 1.84 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP.  Chatwood pitched in 19 games (12 starts) for the Rockies last year, his first year with the team, and he was 5-6 with 1 save, a 5.43 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP.  The Rockies need Chatwood to pitch better this time around.

Righty starting pitcher Armando Reynoso pitched for the Rockies before they started using the humidor there.  In the Rockies’ inaugural season (1993), Reynoso pitched in 30 games (all starts) in which he was 12-11 with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP.  He finished 11th in the N.L. Rookie of the Year voting in 1993.  Reynoso pitched in 89 games (87 starts) in his four years with the Rockies and he was 30-31 with a 4.65 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.  He is still tied for 10th in games started (87) in Rockies’ history with Jason Hammel.  He is also #5 in ERA (4.65), #8 in WHIP (1.47) and he’s tied for #5 in complete games with 5 of them in Rockies’ history.

24-year old righty swinging catcher Wilin Rosario enjoyed a breakout season in 2012.  He played in 117 games for the Rockies last year and he was 107 of 396 (.270 avg, .843 OPS) with 67 runs scored, 28 homers, 71 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  Rosario is off to a fast start with the bat in 2013 for the Rockies, showing that last year was not a fluke but a glimpse of things to come.  He has played in 15 games for the Rockies so far this year and he is 16 for 53 (.302 avg, .874 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 4 homers, 13 RBIs and 3 stolen bases.  The Rockies hope that Rosario keeps up the good work with the bat.