DENVER -- Rockies left-hander Jose Quintana theorized that spending the season-opening road trip conditioning on artificial surfaces could have contributed to the right hamstring injury that has landed him on the 15-day injured list.
Quintana went 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision in Sunday’s 4-3 loss in Miami, but the injury occurred during subsequent conditioning in Toronto.
“We spent a week on turf -- Miami and Toronto -- and it’s probably coming from there,” said Quintana, who played catch before Friday’s home opener against the Phillies and thinks he could return without a Minor League rehab assignment. “It’s hard to tell, but I was doing my routine and I felt it. I think it’s going to be good, but we don’t want to be rushing and have it get worse.”
Quintana is eligible to return from the IL on April 14.
The Rockies have not announced a starter for Saturday’s second game of three against the Phillies. Manager Warren Schaeffer said righty Chase Dollander -- a young starter being trained in the bullpen -- is in line to pitch a bulk of the innings. However, Schaeffer has not decided if Dollander will pitch them at the beginning or have an opener.
Dollander earned the win after pitching the final four innings in relief -- four runs, five hits, five strikeouts -- in Tuesday’s 14-5 win in Toronto. Dollander acknowledged feeling a little extra juice going out for the ninth inning even though his effectiveness was spotty toward the end of his 74 pitches.
“The way it was unfolding and we were scoring a bunch of runs, I was trying to make sure I was staying locked in,” Dollander said. “When I went out for the ninth inning, it did cross my mind -- to throw four innings like that was pretty cool.”
Righty Valente Bellozo, who pitched for the Marlins the last two seasons and developed a rapport with then-Miami assistant pitching coach and current Rockies pitching coach Alon Leichman, was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque. Bellozo allowed three runs on five hits in three innings for Albuquerque on a cold night in Oklahoma City last Friday, and said he is able to throw upwards of 60 pitches.
As expected, the club reinstated outfielder/designated hitter Mickey Moniak from the 10-day injured list, where he landed after sustaining a right ring finger injury late in Spring Training.