SAN DIEGO -- This winter, Ryan Hanigan entered the uncertain world of a catcher without a clear place. He hopes to have found one with the Rockies, who selected his contract from Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday and placed Tony Wolters on the seven-day concussion disabled list.
"The doctors think that he should be ready to go in seven days, and we hope so," said manager Bud Black of Wolters, who was hit in the head on a backswing by the Padres' Hector Sanchez. "But we'll continue to monitor Tony. Still today he had a little bit of a headache and didn't feel all that great."
Hanigan, 36, signed as a non-roster invitee with the Phillies during the offseason and hit .389 in Spring Training, only to be told the team was going with younger players. Hanigan signed with the Rockies, who have young catching of their own, but saw a fit. He's up after hitting .289 in 13 games.
"I've been in the big leagues for 9 1/2 years now, so I have a good repertoire of how to pitch teams," Hanigan said. "I've just got to learn these guys. That's the toughest thing for me, trying to learn a new staff."
Before this year, Hanigan played in the Majors with the Reds (2007-13), Rays (2014) and Red Sox (2015-16) before trying to latch on with the Phillies. After developing relationships with Phillies pitchers, Hanigan found himself on the move.
Of course, the Rockies have Dustin Garneau, and at some point, Wolters will return. Also, Tom Murphy is slowly but surely recovering from a right forearm hairline fracture. But Hanigan saw a fit with the Rockies, who were intrigued by his experience.
"After the conversations I had with the front office and Bud, I saw it was an opportunity," Hanigan said. "They're trying to win games. I don't want to speak for anybody, but they probably take some pride in having a veteran guy around.
"I've got to produce, just like anybody else. We'll see what happens. I'm going to try to help these guys with whatever we can, with my knowledge, and try to produce on the field. The organization has a lot of talent offensively and a lot of talent that's being developed with pitching. I feel I can help."
Worth noting
• Ian Desmond has started two of the first three games at first base since debuting Sunday, after missing nearly the first month with a fractured left hand. Mark Reynolds, who hit eight home runs and was productive offensively in Desmond's absence, most likely will be coming off the bench with Desmond making most of his starts at first.
"Where he is in his career and mentally, he'll always be ready to come off the bench and give you a good at-bat," Black said. "And he has a volume of at-bats where he feels comfortable. He's been through this before, and he'll continue to get his starts, too."
Against difficult left-handers, the Rockies can start Desmond in left field in place of the left-handed-hitting Gerardo Parra and Reynolds at first base.