Boswell lowers the boom in Ubaldo's return to the Rockies

It looked like the Colorado Rockies were in for a lackluster loss at the hands of the Texas Rangers on Wendesday afternoon but Bret Boswell kept his hot spring alive with a huge late swing of the bat to give his club a 4-3 win.

Player of the Game: Ubaldo Jimenez

He wasn’t anything special on the mound, giving up a run on a pair of hits over two innings without striking out a batter, but it was just good to see Jimenez back. And back in purple. He is as long a shot as there is to make this Rockies rotation but you can’t help but applaud his return after two years away and his competitive mentality.

(Really it was Boswell but we will get to that.)

Runner Up: James Pazos – 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 B, 1 K

Pazos jumps to the top of the lefty reliever depth chart with a strong start to his spring, keeping his ERA at 0.00 and showcasing some wicked stuff. The stronger he is throughout this spring, the easier it will be for Colorado to swallow the pill of a potential parting with Jake McGee despite still owing him $9 million.

Turning Point – Bret Boswell 3-Run Jack

Boswell continues to turn heads with his sixth hit in eight at-bats so far this spring. He has looked good at the plate but not especially scary with a series of singles until launching an impressive three-run homer against Rangers reliever Jason Bahr in the bottom of the eighth. He now leads the team comfortably with six RBI.

That swing of the bat also swung the score from a 3-1 defect to a 4-3 advantage and eventual win for his club.

Stat of the Game: Jairo Diaz – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Nothing too exciting here but Diaz is likely to be a key player in Colorado’s bullpen in 2020 so starting things off with a clean inning is nice.

Diamond Details

• Joe Harvey made his spring debut out of the ‘pen and gave up five hits over an inning and a third but kept the damage to just one run
• 23-year-old Jose Mujica made his debut with the Rockies and pitched a pair of innings, giving up a run on one hit and walking a batter. It was the first time he has pitched since 2018, missing all of last year after Tommy John surgery.
• Nolan Arenado doubled in the first with a screamer off the left-field wall for his first hit of the spring

Final Thoughts

After putting up 12 runs in back-to-back games, it was reasonable to expect a bit of a downturn for the offense but only recording four hits in the game is pretty underwhelming. They did not manage to score a run until Alan Trejo laced a double to left in the seventh, scoring Colton Welker who had drawn the base on balls.

Up Next

The Rockies take on the Athletics Thursday at 1:05 Mountain Time.