Rockies' Anderson On The Mend — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

DENVER—Lefthander Tyler Anderson is confident the second stress fracture in his left elbow that caused him to miss all of 2014 is fully healed. Confirmation came in the Rockies’ Dominican Instructional League program where Anderson recovered quickly from two three-inning starts.

Anderson, 26, was the Texas League pitcher of the year in 2014 when he went 7-4, 1.98 in 118 innings for Double-A Tulsa. He missed two starts that year in May with left elbow soreness, which caused him to leave after three innings in a championship-round playoff game in September.

“I never started throwing,” said Anderson, the 20th overall pick in the 2011 draft. “Just took the time off, and I first got a CT scan in January. And it showed there wasn’t much healing. With a bone like that, if you take a week or two off, you feel great. So I felt great the whole time, which is the most frustrating part. You feel like you can go out and do everything, but if it still shows up on a CT scan, then there’s a chance it might flare back up on you.”

Anderson said his last CT scan in late September was clean.

He’s 23-10, 2.39 in 328 minor league innings but has been plagued by injuries, including a sports hernia in 2012 that required surgery after the season, left shoulder soreness that sidelined him for nine weeks in 2013 and a stress fracture in his elbow that caused him to miss the 2013 Arizona Fall League.

Player development director Zach Wilson said Anderson was far along in his development when he finished up the 2014 season, so some Triple-A experience this year should put him very close to the majors.

“The fact that we were able to knock the rust off in the Dominican was a huge step towards getting him ready,” Wilson said. “I’m very optimistic about what’s going on with him.”

ROCKY ROADS

• Righthander Alex Balog, whose 2015 debut for high Class A Modesto was delayed until June 14 due to a groin strain, finished with 144 innings, including 47 in the Australian Baseball League where he went 5-2, 1.35 in eight starts.

• Center fielder Wes Rogers was successful on 46 of 50 stolen base attempts while hitting .278/.358/.392 in 77 games for low Class A Asheville last year and is 68-for-73 in steals in two professional seasons.