Q&A with Rockies mainstay Blackmon

DENVER -- Rockies veteran Charlie Blackmon is performing all the baseball activities one can with one hand.

But Blackmon can't return to the lineup until he is fully healed from a right hand fracture that has kept him off the field since June 10. He is out of the brace he wore for most of the last 5 1/2 weeks and gaining strength. Here are some questions which can be addressed:

The big one: When can he return?

There’s a reason Blackmon, who turned 37 on July 1, is going full-speed with activities that don’t involve his left hand.

“I feel like I won’t be waiting on anything other than my hand,” Blackmon said, taking a break from pregame work before the Rockies’ game against the Astros on Tuesday night. “I’ve been running. I’ve been throwing. I’ve been taking my reads in the outfield. I’m swinging with my left hand.”

Again, when? And will he need a rehab assignment to answer that?

“I’ve been out five weeks or so, something like that, so I think it’s not the worst idea to get some at-bats somewhere,” he said. “But I don’t want to take more than I need. I’ll have to play it by ear and see how I feel.”

The Rockies figure to be active at the Trade Deadline. Where does he stand on the idea of being a veteran cog on a contending team?

Blackmon is in his final contract year, and as a 10-and-5 (at least 10 years’ service time and at least the last five with the current team) player, he has discretion in whether he will be dealt and where.

“At this point, it’s not really worth talking about until I’m back and healthy,” said Blackmon, hitting .265 with five home runs, 14 doubles and a .769 OPS, mostly as a designated hitter with limited duty in right field. “I need to be playing well at that point. So I don’t really want to get ahead of myself.”

What’s his view of rookie outfielders Brenton Doyle, a natural center fielder, and Nolan Jones, who was converted to the outfield last year by Cleveland and has played it extensively with the Rockies?

“I’ve talked to both of those guys at length,” Blackmon said. “They’ve got some really impressive tools. That always helps. Ultimately, you’ve got to learn to play the game at this level and make your adjustments at this level. That’s the hardest part for everyone. That was certainly the hardest part for me."

Blackmon has played center and right during a career that has taken him to four All-Star Games, but also required him to deal with the extreme area and weird flight paths of batted balls at Coors Field.

“Doyle’s looked really good out there and he’s made some adjustments on the fly, and certainly we’ve seen Nolan throw the ball well,” Blackmon said. “This outfield takes some getting used to -- there’s so much space out there. One thing that comes to mind is throwing to the right bases, because you’re always a little bit deeper here. There’s such an importance to keeping the double play in order. You have to develop that internal clock.”

What’s his overall impression of a season that has gotten away from the Rockies?

“If everybody goes out and plays like they can, we have a good team, but that doesn’t always happen across the board,” Blackmon said. “We’ve done a really good job out of the bullpen. We’ve been able to stay in some games and come back in some games and hold some leads because of the bullpen. Outside of that, we’ve had a lot of injuries in our starting rotation and we’ve had some guys get banged up. We’ll get some back on the lineup side.”

Will Blackmon try to re-sign or play elsewhere in 2024?

“It’s a little early,” he said. “I need to get back on the field and see how things go before I start declaring anything.”