Yesterday, left handed pitcher Jorge de la Rosa suffered a complete tear of his ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow and odds are he will need Tommy John surgery.

The Rockies now will have to find a replacement for De la Rosa who was putting up pretty good numbers so far. Troy Renck of the Denver Post suggests that the Rockies should keep  Kevin Slowey ’s name in mind if they decide to go outside the organization for help.

A couple of days ago, we learned that the Twins were still looking for a trade partner for Slowey.

Manager Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson met with the right hander over the weekend about his role on the club, and Gardenhire believes the best thing is to find Slowey a place to start.

“I honestly think the right thing [is to let Slowey start somewhere], and that’s what we’re trying to talk about now,” Gardenhire said on a radio show on 1500ESPN. “We talked with Kevin, we’re going to talk with Billy [Smith, Twins GM] when we get home and try to figure out the right thing for Kevin to make sure he keeps his arm in good shape and all those things.”

Slowey told Gardenhire during the meeting that it’s tough for him to work coming out of the bullpen, and after Sunday’s game he suggested he might be better off elsewhere.

De la Rosa was 5-2 with a 3.51 ERA in 59 innings throughout 10 starts with the Rockies this season. Slowey has a 4.91 ERA in 14.2 innings throughout six relief appearances for the Twins so far, but the team is considering sending him to Triple-A Rochester to stretch out as a starter.

Image by mwlguide under the Creative Commons License.