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Colorado Rockies Welcome Veteran Charlie Blackmon Back From Injured List

Charlie Blackmon has been absent from the Colorado Rockies' lineup for the past 10 days, but the former All-Star has been ruled healthy enough to rejoin the team for their game against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

Sam Connon

Jun 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Colorado Rockies designated hitter Charlie Blackmon (19) hits a single against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning at Target Field.
Jun 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Colorado Rockies designated hitter Charlie Blackmon (19) hits a single against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning at Target Field. / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
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The Colorado Rockies have reinstated outfielder Charlie Blackmon from the 10-day injured list, the club announced Saturday morning.

Blackmon, who turns 38 years old on Monday, hasn't appeared in an MLB game since facing the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 18. He left that contest early with right hamstring tightness and was ultimately placed on the injured list with a hamstring strain a few days later.

The veteran spent the minimum amount of time on the IL, though, and he is starting at designated hitter and batting leadoff against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

Prior to his injury, Blackmon was batting .266 with three home runs, 26 RBI, five stolen bases, a .747 OPS and a 0.3 WAR. In the 12 games before he went down, Blackmon was batting .400 with a 1.071 OPS.

To make room for Blackmon on the active 26-man roster, Colorado optioned outfielder Sean Bouchard to Triple-A Albuquerque.

This was Blackmon's first stint on the injured list this season, and it wasn't an extended one. Given the direction his career appeared to be trending in, that is a promising sign for the Rockies.

Blackmon tore the meniscus in his left knee at the tail end of 2022, then showed up to 2023 Spring Training with lingering back stiffness. He appeared in just 96 games last regular season, missing two whole months with a fractured right hand.

Between 2014 and 2021, Blackmon missed a total of 76 games. Just in the last season-and-a-half, Blackmon has missed 85.

Blackmon isn't the perennial All-Star he used to be either, batting .270 with a .760 OPS and an average of 15 home runs, six stolen bases and a 0.9 WAR per 162 games since 2021. From 2014 to 2020, Blackmon averaged 28 home runs, 20 stolen bases and a 3.1 WAR per 162 games while batting .306 with an .880 OPS.

Colorado still decided to give Blackmon a one-year, $13 million extension last fall, keeping the veteran inside the organization for another season. He has been with the Rockies since the 2008 MLB Draft, and he is on pace to play his entire career with the franchise.

Blackmon currently ranks second in Rockies history in games played, hits, doubles, runs and stolen bases.

First pitch for Blackmon's return to the lineup is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET.

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Sam Connon

SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a Staff Writer for Fastball on the Sports Illustrated/FanNation networks. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's All Bruins, 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' Bruin Blitz, the Bleav Podcast Network and the Daily Bruin, with his work as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk.

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