DENVER -- Tomoyuki Sugano’s next turn in the Rockies’ rotation is on hold after a breakage of the nail on his right middle finger, pushing his return back to the weekend.
Sugano, who is 8-4 with a 4.80 ERA, will not need to go on the injured list and is likely to make his next start in a home series against the Giants. The issue surfaced after Friday night’s outing, when he allowed seven runs in five innings in Colorado’s wild 9-8 loss to the Twins.
“It started bothering me during my last outing - it kind of bled a little bit,” Sugano said through interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “It was a little different in terms of weather conditions from here versus Minnesota.
It was more humid there. So it was a little easier for it to get cracked and bleed.
“It happens sometimes. It just happens every season. I just want to make sure I take precautions.”
With Sugano delayed, Tanner Gordon is set to come off the injured list and start Tuesday against the Marlins. Gordon has been out nearly a month with a right hip impingement and owns a 0-1 record with a 6.37 ERA in nine games, including two starts. His most recent big league outing came May 31, when he gave up four runs and six hits in three innings in a home loss to the Giants.
Gordon said the decision to rehab before the injury got worse made sense. He also logged four scoreless innings and allowed one hit in a Minor League rehab appearance for Triple-A Albuquerque against Salt Lake last Wednesday.
The Rockies were expected to formally name Gordon the starter after Monday night’s game against the Marlins.
Elsewhere on the injury front, left-handed reliever Welinton Herrera had a follow-up exam on his left elbow and is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery as early as Wednesday. Herrera, the Rockies’ No. 14 prospect, made three scoreless appearances before landing on the injured list.
Manager Warren Schaeffer also said center fielder Brenton Doyle will keep moving through his rehab assignment at Albuquerque. Doyle is scheduled for a full game in the lineup Tuesday at Round Rock, then a full game as designated hitter Wednesday before being reevaluated. He missed Friday and Saturday because of groin tightness after dealing with a left oblique contusion.
The Rockies also ended Jordan Beck’s rehab assignment over the weekend and optioned the outfielder back to Albuquerque. Beck began the season as a regular in the outfield corners but hit just .183 with one home run and 10 RBIs before the injury. The right-handed hitter was 3-for-44 against right-handed pitching.
“He’s been out a long time and he needs to get [at-bats],” Schaeffer said. “We definitely see him as a part of the future and a mainstay in the lineup against right and left, and he hasn’t gotten that here this year. If he came up right now, he wouldn’t get that right now.
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