Jorge De La Rosa will be the Rockies’ Opening Day starter, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. The Rockies haven’t made an official announcement yet. It doesn’t come as much as a surprise as his only real competition for the honor was Jhoulys Chacin, but Chacin is dealing with a shoulder strain and may not be ready for the start of the regular season. Renck adds that the top of the rotation is looking like De La Rosa followed by Tyler Chatwood and Brett Anderson.
De La Rosa, 32, posted a career-best 3.49 ERA in 167 2/3 innings of work last season despite his strikeout-to-walk ratio falling to a six-year low. The left-hander has started 30-plus games in a season just twice in his career, but the Rockies are hopeful he can continue to be an anchor in their rotation.
The Rockies picked up De La Rosa’s $11 million option for 2014 in October, meaning he can become a free agent after the season. If the Rockies have no plans to extend De La Rosa, they could trade him by the July 31 deadline.