Ryan Feltner had a scary moment in his first start of the season, but it wasn’t as frightening as the one the Colorado Rockies’ right-hander experienced three years ago.
Feltner took a line drive off his hip in Toronto on Tuesday and left the game after three innings with tightness in his right glute, but he won’t miss any playing time.
Feltner (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his scheduled start when Colorado faces the Houston Astros on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series in Denver.
Houston will send right-hander Cody Bolton (0-0, 3.00) to the mound.
It is a testament to Feltner’s mental fortitude that he didn’t have a big reaction to taking a liner off his hip. On May 13, 2023, Feltner suffered a fractured skull when Nick Castellanos, then with Philadelphia, hit him with a 92-mph liner behind his right ear.
Feltner missed four months before starting two games that September and then made 30 starts in 2024, but injuries limited him to six outings last season for the Rockies.
He looked sharp in his three scoreless innings against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, giving up only one hit, one walk and striking out four.
“He pitched awesome,” catcher Hunter Goodman said. “He had command of all of his pitches. That was the best I have seen him throw this year, including spring training. I’m excited for his next few outings. I think he can build momentum off those.”
Feltner has faced the Astros once in his career — on June 26, 2024, in Houston. He allowed four runs — two earned — on six hits over six innings and was the pitcher of record in Colorado’s 7-1 loss.
He will try to pitch the Rockies to their first winning streak of the season. Colorado salvaged the finale of a three-game series with Philadelphia on Sunday, 4-1.
Houston is coming off a disappointing 12-10 loss in 10 innings to the Athletics on Sunday and enter the series in Denver with some uncertainty. Astros ace Hunter Brown was slated to start Monday night but went on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain.
“He’s disappointed,” Houston manager Joe Espada told reporters on Sunday. “Never been injured, and this is new for all of us, so we’ll see. He didn’t sound concerned, which is good. But also, it’s new, right, so we’re going to let the doctors evaluate him and then we’ll see where we go from there.”
Before deciding on Bolton — who pitched one scoreless inning in his lone career appearance against the Rockies in April 2024 — to start, the Astros were considering bringing up Jason Alexander from Triple-A Sugar Land.
Alexander last pitched Wednesday and would have been on four days’ rest.
Other options went away Sunday when Espada used Christian Roa, who was recalled from Sugar Land before the game, and AJ Blubaugh out of the bullpen. However, either could have served as an opener Monday night but would have been limited in innings.
Houston’s offense has been putting up runs heading into hitter-friendly Coors Field. The Astros, who had won five games in a row before losing two of the three games against the A’s, have scored 10 or more runs three times already this season. They have 21 in the last two games and are averaging 8.5 runs over the last eight.
–Field Level Media
