Trail Droppings 2042-17 Rios Finally Back From Injury

[indiansfan]

Rios Finally Back From Injury

Pioneer second baseman Jose Rios is back in the lineup after missing most of the season with a herniated disk in his back. His injury caused chaos for Calgary’s infield and the return of his bat is sorely needed. This was the first major injury of his career.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to have Jose back,” manager Terry Cochran said. “Offensively we just never were able to replace his bat.”

When Rios went down the team decided to move rookie Scott Bell from 3B to 2B and then a parade of players tried to fill in at the hot corner. The team tried Jack Douglas and even recalled Terry Rowland to try to at least provide solid defense, but neither hit over .200. Next the team signed veteran free agent Gerardo Guzman, but after hitting .139 he was quickly waved. Robinson Trujillo was the next man up and managed to at least hit above .200, barely. Trujillo will get a chance to play some CF with the team now where his glove is a real asset.

“Now Bell can go back to where we really wanted him to play and hopefully Jose can bounce back,” Cochran said.

Rios has played over 150 games in each of his 7 previous seasons with the team. During 2038 he had back problems for half the season, but he played through the pain and won a Puckett Award. The team brought him straight of the DL without a rehab assignment.