Carlos Gonzalez exits game with right ankle injury

Already without shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, the Colorado Rockies will now be without the other half of their star duo for an unknown period of time.

Carlos Gonzalez, who has been banged up all season, was forced to exit the team’s game on Friday night against the Detroit Tigers due to a right ankle injury. He sustained the injury while making a nice sliding catch out in right field.

Gonzalez had dealt with ankle injuries previously in addition hand and finger injuries that dated back to last season. While the Rockies do not know how long he will be out with this ding or if he will have to be placed on the disabled list, manager Walt Weiss did not exactly exude optimism in post-game interviews (from MLB.com):

"“The ankle doesn’t look great,” Weiss said. “We’ll see how he shows up tomorrow.”"

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The play appropriately illustrates the conundrum that has been Gonzalez’s career. In this case he made a great catch in a relatively high-leverage situation, as the Tigers had two runners on for Victor Martinez with two outs. To make this kind of catch to get his pitcher off the hook and end the inning shows just how valuable Gonzalez can be.

But then he got injured in the process, something that has continued to be an issue. When Gonzalez busts it and makes all of the plays of which he is capable in the outfield and on the base paths, he simply does not stay healthy. That has prompted position changes and a different style of play at various points.

Here the Rockies find themselves once again, in last place and with both star players hurt. They’ve seen this movie before in Colorado.