From bad to worse: Rockies’ Kyle Freeland exits with shoulder injury

Never say, “It can’t get any worse” regarding this Colorado Rockies’ season. It always can, and Sunday’s game saw yet another foul turn o fate.

In the seventh inning at San Francisco in the Rockies’ final game before the All-Star break, pitcher Kyle Freeland appeared to injure his right shoulder while diving to field a bunt.

Freeland spoke with media after the game and said that X-rays on the shoulder were negative.

#Rockies Kyle Freeland on his right shoulder injury. Not a lot of athletes would talk in this situation. He’s a class act. pic.twitter.com/ZiVbP5VIAK

— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) July 9, 2023

“Right now, it just looks like it was a dislocated shoulder that went back in on its own,” Freeland told media in a video posted by Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post. Freeland added that further testing would happen when the Rockies returned to Denver.

“That was one of the worst feelings I’ve had pitching-injury wise,” Freeland continued. “First time I’ve ever dislocated a joint in my life.”

If Freeland misses a significant amount of time, it deals yet another blow to a Rockies rotation battered by injuries. Ryan Feltner hasn’t pitched since May, when he suffered a concussion on a line drive to the face. German Márquez’s season ended in late April, with an elbow injury necessitating Tommy John surgery. And Antonio Senzatela has been on the 60-day injured list with an elbow injury of his own, although he avoided Tommy John surgery which would have sidelined him well into 2024.

Prior to the injury Sunday, Freeland was enjoying one of his best starts of the season. He allowed a single earned run in 6 1/3 innings, keeping the Rockies in the game. But the offense let him down in what proved to be a 1-0 loss, hitting into two double plays and going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

The Rockies limp into the All-Star break with the National League’s worst record, and the second-worst record at the break in club history. And now they might be without their steadiest pitcher — although his injury may not be as bad as initially feared.

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