Anderson (knee) lands on IL, Rox recall Almonte

DENVER -- With lefty Tyler Anderson on the 10-day injured list with left knee inflammation, the Rockies have a start to fill -- Wednesday afternoon against the Braves.

The club recalled righty reliever Yency Almonte from Triple-A Albuquerque to augment the bullpen. And manager Bud Black ruled out a “bullpen day,” where the game is turned over to a string of relievers.

“I hope the guy who starts throws a complete-game gem -- old school,” Black said.

Black declined to go into specific candidates, but the pitching schedule at Albuquerque offers just two possibilities. Here is a look at both:

RHP Jeff HoffmanJeff Hoffman: His first start was rough -- six hits, four earned runs, three strikeouts and, most concerning, four walks in a Triple-A opener loss to Salt Lake.

His spring was all over the place. Three of his appearances were electric, especially a five-strikeout, four-inning game against the D-backs in Monterrey, Mexico. But in his final two Cactus League games, he gave up 10 earned runs and 11 hits, but fanned nine, in nine total innings.

But Hoffman, 26 and long expected to live up to his promise -- first as the ninth overall pick to the Blue Jays in 2014, and with the Rockies after arriving in a trade involving shortstop Troy Tulowitzki -- has some advantages. One is Major League experience, with 23 starts and 37 games in the Majors over three seasons. Another is the potential for an overpowering fastball, thanks to a velocity increase after refining his workout program and motion during the winter.

RHP Peter LambertPeter Lambert: Lambert, 21 until April 18 and in Triple-A after excelling at the lower levels, began his first start on Saturday by striking out the first three Salt Lake batters and going three scoreless innings. But he yielded three runs on four singles and a walk in the fourth and that was all.

During Spring Training, Lambert accounted for himself well -- 3.38 ERA in five appearances covering 13 1/3 innings. The 10 strikeouts were a positive, the five walks not so much.

Lambert has yet to appear in a Major League regular-season game. But pitching for Albuquerque against the Rockies in a March 25 exhibition, Lambert struck out seven and walked one in five innings. But he gave up home runs to Nolan Arenado and Ryan McMahon.

If Hoffman starts Wednesday, he will be on five days’ rest. Lambert would have the normal four days.

This has been going on for a while

Anderson (0-2, 11.00 ERA) has been pitching through the knee issue since Spring Training, but the two starts showed that continuing without addressing the injury is a bad idea.

“From talking to Tyler, as each game went on, as the game unfolded, he got a little sore, more sore than when he started the game,” Black said. “There was some tentativeness in finish and release point as he got into the middle part of his game.”

Putting spring behind

Almonte’s chance to break Spring Training with the Rockies evaporated with his 8.44 ERA and four walks in 5 1/3 innings pitched. After being optioned to Minor League camp well before the end of spring, he found his location and in his first Triple-A appearance struck out all three batters he faced to earn a save.

“I feel better than I’ve felt all spring and my slider is better than it was going through Spring Training,” Almonte said. “Going out and getting the three strikeouts showed me that I’m in a good place.”

He can relate to something completely different

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado was a second-round pick in 2009 who excelled through the Minors and now owns six Rawlings Gold Glove Awards.

But his cousin, Joshua Fuentes, 26, who made his Major League debut with a single in Saturday’s 7-2 loss to the Dodgers, wasn’t drafted out of Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis, after attending Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo, Calif.

Progress was so slow that he nearly called it quits while repeating Class A Asheville in 2016, at 23 (old for that league). One game turned it around.

“It was one game, when I was struggling a lot and I just remember, ‘This is the game right here. If I can’t hack this, maybe I’ll quit or maybe I’ll find something else to do,’” Fuentes said. “I dug within myself. I was in a corner. There’s only one way to go.

“It was in West Virginia. I was 0-for-2 with two K’s and I was like, ‘Is this it? Is this my last game?’ Then the next at-bat I hit a homer, and I hit a double and thought, ‘Maybe I should keep playing.’”