Rockies Assistant GM says Daniel Murphy is "closer than anyone realized"

DENVER – They may finally be getting the band back together.

Speaking at the Rocky Mountain SABR “State of the Rockies” banquet on Saturday, Colorado Assistant GM Zach Rosenthal shed some light on yet another potential impact returning to the lineup.

Daniel Murphy, who injured the index finger on his glove (left) hand in the third game of the season, was projected to miss at least a month but looks like he may beat that already optimistic window.

“Murphy is closer than anyone realized, including Daniel and us,” Rosenthal said the day after Murphy was seen packing a bag for Albuquerque just a few moments after Charlie Blackmon’s dramatic walk-off home run over the Phillies.

Rosenthal went on to explain that the term “rehab assignment” can be a bit misleading and that getting action down at the Triple-A level comes only after a player has been given a clean bill of health and is ready to knock off some rust and get over the hurdle of worrying about the injury before stepping back onto the MLB field.

Given that, and Murphy’s long tenure at the highest level in the land, it seems likely that we could even see him back in purple within a week or less, especially as Murphy was penciled into the Isotopes lineup playing first base and batting second on Saturday night.

Of course, how the “rehab” games go will matter. They need to make sure Murphy doesn’t experience any setbacks and that his swing is fundamentally strong.

Suddenly riding a five-game winning streak and the momentum that came with the returns of Ryan McMahon and David Dahl, the Colorado Rockies are on the brink of being able to put their best lineup back on the field as they march back into the race for the NL West.