De La Rosa unlikely to make Monday's start

PHOENIX -- Rockies left-hander Jorge De La Rosa probably will not make his scheduled start on Monday against the Cardinals at Coors Field because of a sore left thumb, manager Walt Weiss said.

"On De La, yeah, it looks like he's not going to go on Monday," Weiss said prior to Saturday night's second game of a three-game series against the D-backs at Chase Field. "We've got to decide who's going to make that start. We haven't figured that out yet. But it doesn't look like he's going to be able to make his start Monday."

De La Rosa left Tuesday's start against the Giants in San Francisco during the second inning with left thumb and index finger discomfort. He continued to have pain during a bullpen session before Friday's 7-5 Rockies victory at Chase Field.

The thumb has been a chronic problem for De La Rosa throughout a season in which he's 16-6 with a 3.49 ERA in 30 starts. He's 8-1 since July 10.

"I've been pitching like that for something like two months," De La Rosa said. "In the last game, it started to bother me a little more than normal. I feel fine. I told them I can be ready for my next start so we'll see."

Weiss said that with 14 games left in the regular season, he wasn't ready to say that De La Rosa wouldn't pitch again. Monday's start will likely go to someone from a group that includes Jeff Francis, Jeff Manship and Chris McHugh.

"We're not sure how much we'll push him back," Weiss said about De La Rosa. "We haven't gotten as far as shutting him down for the season yet. Just push back his start a little at this time. We have guys down there in the 'pen, who have made a number of starts so we wouldn't have to piece it together."