GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- C.J. Cron’s hard-hitting Spring Training continued with his 425-foot, two-run homer off the D-backs’ Madison Bumgarner in the Rockies’ 5-2 split-squad loss at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Sunday.

Cron is hitting .462 with three doubles and the homer this spring, after leading the Rockies with 28 homers last season.

But after the homer came a scary moment. A pitch from reliever Mark Melancon hit him in his left shoulder and bounced against his helmet in the sixth. The Rockies removed Cron as a precaution.

“I just got a report that he was fine,” manager Bud Black said. “He went through all of the concussion protocols. It hit him on the shoulder and then the helmet.

“He’s had a very good spring. Last spring, he got off to a slow start, then turned it up in the end. Every spring is different, but it’s good to see that. Guys like hits, whenever they come.”

Taking their time with Lambert
Righty Peter Lambert, who broke in as a rookie in 2019, but underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020 before returning to make two starts in ’21, has not appeared in a Cactus League game. Black said Lambert felt some small right elbow soreness toward the end of the lockout, so the Rockies have slowed his pace. The care with Lambert will continue.

“We're being extra cautious, also knowing that there's gonna be an innings limit on Peter this year,” Black said. “I don't see Peter grinding out 200 innings from where he was the previous couple of years, so we'll be judicious with how we use Peter.”

Minor League camp, but still big-time production
Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, sent to Minor League camp on Saturday, made the trip to Goodyear, Ariz., and delivered an RBI double down the third-base line in the 4-4 tie with the Reds. He also made a fancy, over-the-head catch on a soft pop into short center field.

Strikeouts are great, but consistent outs are good, too
Righty reliever Alex Colomé showed a solid 95 mph fastball and struck out two D-backs in a scoreless one-inning outing in his Rockies debut.

Black has not identified a closer. It's important to note that Colomé has the most closer experience of the Rockies’ three options, which include Daniel Bard and Carlos Estévez. Whatever the case, Black said that all will have to pitch well. Colomé had an up-and-down season with the Twins last year, but finished strong.

If Black pinpoints a closer, strikeouts may be a major separator, but not the only or necessarily the most important factor.

Colomé’s strikeout rate peaked at 11.3 per nine innings in his All-Star year of 2016 with the Rays and was 9.5 in 2018 with the Mariners and Rays. But it was in the low 8.0s the last two full seasons. For comparison, Bard fanned 11.0 batters per nine innings last season and Estévez’s rate was 8.8.

Last season, however, Colomé had the lowest WHIP of the three, 1.400 to Estévez’s 1.492 and Bard’s 1.599, so the evaluation scale could slide.

“You like the strikeout … the WHIP is as important as a closer,” Black said. “If you walk guys, you’d better get the strikeout. If you don’t walk guys and you get your outs via the ground ball or the mishit or the high fly ball, that counts, too. It depends on the talent of the pitcher.

“But generally speaking, over the history of the game, the best closers usually have strikeouts. They usually have good stuff that produces the strikeout, and that can come in a lot of different ways.”

There isn’t an answer to “Who’s the closer?” in there, other than the fact Black wants effective pitching in the late innings.