DENVER — Right-hander Zach Davies didn’t have a warm welcome in the Mile High City, and the Rockies made it a long night for him during their 13-6 victory Tuesday against the Cubs. Davies was thought to be a player who could be moved at the trade deadline, but in his first start after the deadline, things didn’t go well.
The Rockies got to Davies in the second inning. He allowed a double, a single and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. The next batter, Elias Diaz, had the biggest swing of the inning, crushing a no-doubt grand slam to give Colorado a 4-0 lead.
The Rockies increased the lead in the fourth inning on Sam Hilliard’s three-run blast to make it 7-2. Davies allowed seven runs and six hits in four innings before being lifted for a pinch hitter.
Injury updates
Right-hander Rowan Wick (intercostal injury) has been progressing in his rehab assignment. Wick has been pitching for Triple-A Iowa and has a 9.64 ERA in five games this season.
The Cubs have been happy with Wick’s progression from his unusual injury. If things continue to go well, there’s still a chance that he can make some appearances for the Cubs this season.
“He’s still building up in his spring-training routine,” manager David Ross said. “I know his last outing was a limited pitch count. . . . I think he’ll just continue to develop and hopefully get all of his innings under him. He’ll be back as long as he stays on track.”
Things don’t appear to be close for second baseman Nico Hoerner, who went on the injured list Thursday. He is on the trip with the team but hasn’t begun any baseball activities and is still just getting daily treatment.
“It’s not season-ending,” Cubs president Jed Hoyer said. “I don’t want to give exact dates, but it won’t be a minimum stint [on the injured list].”
He said it
Hoyer on the Cubs’ plan for 2022 and beyond: “I never want to be disingenuous and say, ‘Yeah, here’s the exact plan,’ when the fact is, you can’t really lay out an exact plan when there are so many things that are uncertain in front of you. . . . This is not going to be a 2012-13 situation in any way. I think that we’re going to be looking to compete right away. But what exactly that looks like? I think that we want to make sure that the goal here is to build the next great Cubs team.
“That, to me, is the No. 1 goal I have. I don’t have any interest in just sort of patching things up and saying this is good enough. . . . The legacy of this group, ultimately, is that we changed the expectations here.”
