After visa delay, lefty arrives with new contract, bright outlook By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | 02/17/11 6:58 PM EST http://0rz.tw/809lc SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Rockies left-handed pitcher Jorge De La Rosa has a new home just 15 minutes from new Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, yet getting there was a bear. De La Rosa went to his hometown, Hermosillo, Mexico, to obtain his work visa, something he has done for 13 years now. But not even a new house near the new complex nor a new contract that should keep him with the Rockies for at least three years could help him. Because of a system change in Mexico, his paperwork slowed into a daily soap opera, "Wait 'Til Tomorrow." De La Rosa had to miss the first two days of workouts. He finally worked out with the team Wednesday. 墨西哥工作签证延误，让JDLR周四才回到洛矶队上 This is a guy who really wanted to be here. De La Rosa was a free agent this winter. In the past, Rockies free-agent pitchers were happy to go to higher-paying teams, and escaping hitter-friendly Coors Field was a bonus. But as soon as the Rockies offered him two years at $21.5 million, with a player option for 2013 valued at $11 million and a club option for $11 million in 2014, De La Rosa signed. "It was strange, just sitting and waiting," said De La Rosa, who said he threw a 45-pitch bullpen session Tuesday in Mexico. "You can't control those things." But the contract came under criticism when Cliff Lee, the most-coveted lefty on the market, signed a five-year, $120 million contract with the Phillies in mid-December. Had De La Rosa waited, many speculated, teams such as the big-bucks Yankees would have turned their attention to him. Who knows where his salary would have gone? 如果JDLR在Cliff Lee投奔费城之後才签约，那合约会不会变更肥呢? But De La Rosa spent years bouncing around several organizations -- the D-backs, the Red Sox and some time in the Mexican League before making the Majors, then the Brewers and the Royals -- before joining the Rockies in 2008 and finding his career footing. Knowing he could be a successful pitcher on a team in position for yearly championship aspirations won out over chasing dollars. 长久以来都是浪人，JDLR最後决定与有夺冠希望的洛矶签约，而不是追逐金钱。 "A lot of people tell me that, but I don't know if I was going to get more money or what," De La Rosa said. "I'm just trying to be happy. That's it. I didn't think of anything else, be happy. I am, and my family is comfortable here. Maybe other teams wanted to sign me, but I like it here. "我不知道是否该追逐金钱，我只想快乐打球。"JDLR表示 "我家人喜欢在这里。" "I like Denver, and the coaches know me. This is where I started doing better in my career." In 2010, De La Rosa finished 8-7 with a 4.22 ERA, but the season could be broken into three parts, two of them stellar, the other painful. 回顾JDLR的2010球季，可以拆成三个部分： He began the season 3-1 with a 3.91 ERA through his first four starts but suffered a torn pulley tendon in his left middle finger. After returning, he went 0-2 with a 6.53 ERA in July. From Aug. 1 to season's end, however, he was 5-4 with a 3.69 ERA with 65 strikeouts. In all, De La Rosa struck out 113 in 121 2/3 innings. In 81 games with the Rockies, De La Rosa has 434 strikeouts against 200 walks. Before arriving, he had a less-dominating 196 strikeouts to 159 walks in 97 games while bouncing between the rotation and the bullpen. 开季表现极佳，随即受伤。伤後挣扎了一段。八月之後又威起来。 "There's a sense of appreciation on his part in realizing where he was when he first showed up as a Colorado Rockie, which was well before I came here, the development that took place once he got here, and the people in this clubhouse that were responsible for helping to bring him along and get him to the point where he's at," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "You really feel as though he recognizes that." The Rockies are happy with De La Rosa's continued conditioning. Before the 2010 season, De La Rosa's wife, Martha, was pregnant with twins. De La Rosa went to the dietician with her, and ended up asking for advice. As a result, he reported to Spring Training some 18 pounds lighter than the previous year. While it's sometimes tough to connect scale reading to performance in many cases, the lighter frame helped in a tangible way. De La Rosa struggled with bunts and other fielding plays in the past, but with better conditioning he was able to hone those skills in Spring Training. It made a difference. 2010季前，JDLR老婆怀着双胞胎，JDLR一起饮食控制，加入春训时瘦了18磅。 让他的表现亮眼起来。 On Thursday, De La Rosa said he had not weighed himself, but he felt he had increased his muscle. He said the 13-month-old twins, Matias and Bernabe, unknowingly contributed to his conditioning. JDLR说 "我今年的肌肉更大啦" "I worked in the winter with the Hermosillo team," he said. "My boys are doing very good, getting big and they've started walking. That's my second conditioning workout." It's not as if re-signing with the Rockies is a way of avoiding pressure. De La Rosa will be No. 2, behind Ubaldo Jimenez, in a rotation that's expecting to help lead a team with World Series aspirations. "I'm just going to try to do my job; I don't have to do anything different," De La Rosa said. "I was in a good place when that [finger injury] happened to me. But things happen for a reason. I think I needed the rest. I threw too much. But I think I can stay healthy." --

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