Blackmon out of lineup with stomach bug

SAN DIEGO -- What appeared to be a 24-hour stomach bug felled Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon during Thursday's day off. Although Blackmon reported feeling better, manager Walt Weiss went with Drew Stubbs in center and moved DJ LeMahieu to the leadoff spot Friday night against the Padres.

The good news is, at least as of Friday afternoon, the bug had not spread through the club. Hitting coach Blake Doyle had a rough Thursday night, as did some clubhouse staff.

Batting primarily from the eighth and ninth positions (the Rockies are one of several clubs to experiment with the pitcher hitting eighth), LeMahieu entered with a .406 batting average -- second in the Majors. The success has come not from a spot in the order but subtle changes that have allowed him to hit balls harder -- something he has been working on since the Rockies obtained him from the Cubs in a December 2011 trade.

"I've showed it before, just not as consistent as I've been to start the year this year," said LeMahieu, who hit .297 in 81 games in 2012 and .280 in 109 games in 2013, but dipped to .267 last year.

Worth noting:

• Righty LaTroy Hawkins played catch at Petco Park on Friday. It was his first such activity since going on the 15-day disabled list April 22 with biceps tendinitis. Hawkins (1-1, 10.50 ERA) began dealing with pain during Spring Training and was removed from the closer role when he blew two of his first three save opportunities.

"It's calmed down a lot -- it was to the point where you couldn't touch it," said Hawkins, who plans to play catch again Saturday but won't know how well he is recovering until he begins to increase intensity.

• First baseman Wilin Rosario hit .250 with a double in his first four games at Triple-A Albuquerque going into Friday. The Rockies sent him down to increase to eight relievers because the bullpen was being taxed. That condition hasn't changed much, and re-adding Rosario to the Major League roster depends on when manager Walt Weiss feels comfortable reducing the bullpen by one.

"We had the rainout [Sunday] and we had the off-day, so our bullpen is in a better position than it was a week ago," Weiss said. "One of the reasons why we've gone with eight out there is they've had to pitch some innings. With seven guys, that would be a tall task to put together four innings, not on a nightly basis but pretty regularly."

Weiss said long reliever Christian Bergman (1-0, 0.73 ERA in five games, one start) could still step up and start a game if necessary, although he wouldn't "throw 100 pitches his first time out."