When Antonio Senzatela first felt the pang, he thought it was his left hamstring barking at him.
It was only after Senzatela dropped to the ground on Aug. 18 amid a start at St. Louis that he knew it was his knee. And he only learned the magnitude of the injury after reading the face of longtime Rockies trainer Keith Dugger, who had the unfortunate job of informing Senzatela that he’d torn his left ACL.
Even then Senzatela didn’t know the implications of such an injury.
Initially, he thought he might be able to return in 2-3 weeks. That optimism drained when he learned that his target return would be sometime next season, after a six-to-eight month recovery. At this point, barely a month since the injury, he can’t even play catch. In fact, the right-hander is still prohibited from doing any baseball activities with his lower body.
That hasn’t lessened his optimism, though.
“I feel really good,” he said. “I can walk.”
Credit Senzatela, too, for not being too pessimistic about his situation.
“It’s part of life,” he said.
The truth is that his torn ACL — sustained on a fluke play while running toward first base — was the final note on a tough year for him physically. Despite an offseason dedicated to maintaining his health, he was hampered by a spate of injuries, initially to his shoulder and back.
“Each month, something happened to me,” he said. “… It’s a bad year.”
On Deck
Rockies RHP Chad Kuhl (6-9, 5.48 ERA) vs. Padres RHP Yu Darvish (15-7, 3.05), 6:10 p.m. Saturday, Coors Field
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
Kuhl’s bloated ERA is due, in part, to a rough few months. The 30-year-old hasn’t yielded less than three earned runs in a start since June 27. Across four starts in September, he’s allowed 16 earned runs in 20 innings, including six home runs. His last win came back on July 8. When Kuhl took on the Padres on August 3 in San Diego, he got knocked around for nine runs in five innings. On a positive note, Kuhl’s logged 23 strikeouts to just six walks in September. Darvish comes to Coors carrying all sorts of momentum. He’s earned a win in each of his last five starts. In his last two, he’s scattered only three hits across 14 innings, including 15 strikeouts. Despite wanting to get his young players big-league at-bats, Rockies manager Bud Black may need to consider playing some of his veterans to help combat Darvish’s dominance.
Trending: After a rough road trip in Chicago (vs. Sox, then Cubs), first baseman Michael Toglia has six hits in his last four games, and has hit safely in three of four. He had a career-high three hits (two triples) in Monday’s loss to San Francisco.
At issue: Colorado’s four-game sweep by the Giants marked the eighth time this season the Rockies have lost four straight games.
Pitching probables:
Sunday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (9-10, 4.38) vs. Padres RHP Mike Clevinger (6-7, 4.23), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
Monday: Off
