CINCINNATI — Chris Rusin sat by himself on a folding chair in the tunnel behind the Rockies' dugout Tuesday, studying a scouting report of Reds hitters. Up the stairs toward the Ohio River, where he'd make his season debut, rain poured down in sheets.
It was a lonely snapshot. Rusin, who made 24 off-and-on starts for the Chicago Cubs over three seasons, was waived last year and picked up by the Rockies for depth, then stashed in the minor leagues.
When the Rockies called on him to replace injured ace Jorge De La Rosa on Tuesday, Rusin said maybe three words to another human being in the hours before the game — when fellow pitcher Christian Friedrich asked what he was watching on his phone.