Rockies place Jose Quintana on 60-day IL with left elbow sprain

The Rockies turned Jose Quintana’s left elbow sprain into a longer-term roster problem by moving the veteran left-hander to the 60-day injured list, a shift that pushes the organization deeper into its Triple-A pitching pool. Quintana had already landed on the 15-day IL on May 25 after a short, rough start in Arizona against the Diamondbacks, and the new move on May 28 signaled that Colorado expects him out for a long stretch. He was 2-3 with a 5.27 ERA when the club made the transfer.

The immediate domino was Jeff Criswell. Colorado activated the right-hander from the 60-day IL and optioned him to Triple-A Albuquerque, where he will remain on assignment after spending the entire season on the shelf while finishing rehab from Tommy John surgery in March 2025. Quintana’s move opened a 40-man roster spot, giving the Rockies a small bit of flexibility even as they continue to juggle injuries across the staff.

That is where Albuquerque matters most. Criswell is not arriving there as a fresh bullpen arm looking for innings in a vacuum. He is returning to the next rung of the ladder after a year-long recovery, and the assignment gives Colorado a live option if the big league rotation loses another starter. In that sense, Triple-A Albuquerque is serving two jobs at once: emergency cover for a major league club scrambling for healthy arms, and a proving ground for a pitcher trying to show he can again handle the workload after Tommy John surgery.

The Rockies have been forced to live with the depth chart they have, not the one they planned. Colorado’s pitching staff is already carrying injuries to Chase Dollander, Pierson Ohl, Ryan Feltner and McCade Brown, a list that leaves little margin for another setback. Quintana’s elbow issue does more than remove a veteran starter from the rotation. It tightens the call-up ladder, increases the value of every healthy arm in Albuquerque and makes each rehab assignment part of a bigger organizational test.

For Colorado, the question now is not just when Quintana returns. It is whether the first answer behind him is already in Albuquerque or still being built there.