Ubaldo

Jimenez

Jimenez tried to make a comeback with the Rockies this spring after not pitching since 2017, but didn’t make the team or player pool, and now he’s decided to hang it up again. Assuming he is done, the right-hander retires with 114 wins against 117 losses and a 4.34 ERA accumulated with Colorado, the Orioles and Cleveland.

Jimenez was a surprising signing by the Rockies before the COVID-19 pandemic, as he hadn’t pitched in an MLB game since 2017. He wasn’t placed on the 60-player pool, and now he’s free to try and continue his comeback with another club, if he so chooses.

Jimenez was not one of the players who was added to the players pool by the Rockies in June, and while it’s possible that he gets added to that roster later, it doesn’t appear he’s in the plans for Colorado during the shortened season. The right-hander is trying to make a comeback after not pitching in the majors since 2017. It’s unlikely the market for Jimenez’s service is a robust one.

It could be that the team is reworking his minor league contract and will add him later. Ryan Rolison, the top pitching prospect in the Rockies’ system, is listed among the players who will train at Coors Field, but he has yet to appear in a game above High-A ball and probably won’t be active for the regular season.

Jimenez is attempting a comeback after not pitching in the majors since the 2017 campaign. Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters that the 36-year-old was willing to go to the minor leagues, and it sounds like that’s where he’ll begin the 2020 season; whenever it begins. Diaz was attempting to win a job as the backup backstop for Colorado, but that job is going to Dom Nunez.

Jimenez, whom some consider the Rockies’ top pitching prospect, has been sidelined five weeks. He’s expected to resume his season around mid-July.

“He felt some tightness in his shoulder, so we’re going to take it day-to-day and see what it is,” Visalia manager Stu Cole said. “It was something new, and hopefully it’s not something serious. Hopefully it can heal itself before his next start.”

Jimenez had been out since mid-May with a strained muscle in the back of his shoulder. “He said he couldn’t get loose,” Visalia trainer Jason Skolnick said. “He’s still battling what the injury he had before. I would say he’ll see a doctor [today] or Tuesday.”

No injury, apparently. It’s a Rockies rule that minor league starters are removed from the game once they exceed 35 pitches in an inning.

Jimenez was obliterated in Saturday’s Cactus League start against the Dodgers -- giving up seven runs (three earned) in just 1 1/3 innings. There’s a chance that he’ll throw meaningful innings in the big leagues for the Rockies this season, but there’s no reason to go anywhere near him for fantasy purposes.