Juan Nicasio’s recovery from a broken neck has gone so well that he “will have no limitations this spring,” according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
Rockies manager Jim Tracy told Renck that Nicasio “has a very, very good chance to be a member of our rotation” and “is coming into camp with the mindset that he’s making the team.”
Colorado has plenty of young rotation options, so Nicasio will definitely have to pitch his way into a starting role, but the fact that he’s simply in the mix is pretty remarkable just seven months after a line drive to the head left him with a fractured C-1 vertebrae.
Prior to the scary injury Nicasio made 13 starts with a 4.14 ERA and 58/18 K/BB ratio in 72 innings as a 24-year-old rookie making the jump directly from Double-A, and his minor-league track record includes a 3.40 ERA and fantastic 467/104 K/BB ratio in 471 innings.
