Jorge De La Rosa Expected to Rejoin Rockies Rotation

Colorado Rockies left-hander Jorge De La Rosa is poised to make his season debut for the club this week, reports Troy Renck of The Denver Post:

"There’s a strong chance he will start for us, but I don’t know when until I hear from the training staff," manager Jim Tracy said Sunday.

De La Rosa last appeared for the Rockies in May of 2011, as he required elbow surgery which cut short his season. The 31-year-old has been rehabbing in the minors, allowing seventeen runs over twenty and one-third innings over seven appearances between four levels of Colorado’s farm system.

Renck adds that Colorado’s success in 2013 will hinge in part on the health and production of pitchers such as De La Rosa and Juan Nicasio. The Rockies are reverting back to a standard five-man rotation rather than the four-man staff they’ve experimented with this season.

De La Rosa has spent four seasons with the Rockies, maintaining an ERA of 4.38 over ninety-one appearances, including eighty-five starts.