Ezequiel

Tovar

It appears to be a routine off-day for Tovar. Hopefully you dropped him early if you drafted him, as his .209/.256/.333 line has been extremely disappointing this year. Cole Carrigg will get the start at shortstop — it sure would help next year’s fantasy value for Carrigg if he could get enough starts at the position to be eligible next year, but that seems unlikely.

Tovar wound up only missing one contest after suffering a left wrist strain when he attempted to make a diving catch in shallow left field during Monday’s series opener. It appears he’ll avoid a trip to the injured list, but wrist issues tend to have an adverse impact on a hitter’s on-field performance, especially from a power perspective.

It’s a bit surprising that Tovar hasn’t hit the injured list after exiting Monday’s series opener against the Nationals with a left wrist strain. It’ll be Ryan Ritter taking over at shortstop in his absence.

Tovar was lifted from the contest after landing awkwardly while trying to make a diving catch in shallow left field in the fifth inning. He was 2-for-2 with a solo homer prior to departing. He’ll undergo further evaluation and imaging to determine the severity of the issue. It certainly looks like an injured list situation. It would likely be rookie Cole Carrigg taking over as Colorado’s shortstop in his absence.

Carrigg has hit a bit of a rough patch recently, hitting .230 (17-for-74) with zero homers and four steals across 20 games since the start of August. It’ll be Ezequiel Tovar handling shortstop with Mickey Moniak, Jake McCarthy and Zac Veen in the outfield for this one. The 24-year-old rookie offers enough all-around fantasy production to hang onto a roster spot in deeper mixed leagues, but can be cut loose in shallow formats with five weeks left on the calendar.

Tovar was removed from Friday night’s contest due to illness and then sat out on Saturday as he was still feeling under the weather. While his health has improved, his offensive game hasn’t, as he’s slashing a cringe-inducing .204/.251/.326 with just nine homers and 38 RBI on the season.

Tovar will take a break for the second time in the series against the D-backs. The 25-year-old will begin Wednesday’s game on the bench with Cole Carrigg handling shortstop duties.

Even though Tovar is on a long-term deal, it’s pretty crazy that the Rockies have just let him spend the year as the game’s worst regular instead of sending him down for a spell at any point. He still might have a run in him, though. He just has a lot to make up for. He entered tonight hitless in his last four games. He was 6-for-59 since his previous multihit game one month ago on July 3.

It has been a brutal season offensively for the 24-year-old shortstop, hitting a paltry .199/.244/.327 with just eight homers, 32 RBI and five stolen bases in 348 plate appearances. Willi Castro will start in his place at shortstop and bat fifth against Reds’ right-hander Hunter Greene.

He also knocked in run with a sac fly. It’s the sixth time in those 500 games that Tovar has both homered and walked. He has eight homers and 17 walks while batting .209/.252/.345 in his 321 plate appearances this year.