Chris Heisey, Justin Turner and Joc Pederson are silhouetted in a tunnel leading to Camelback Ranch on Wednesday. (Associated Press photo)

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Juan Nicasio had a bad day Wednesday, giving up four hits and three runs in his only inning of work against the White Sox. He knows it. For purposes of timing this was an unfortunate headline on today’s notebook, though not necessarily inaccurate.

Really, the headline is this: The Rockies were talking internally about giving Nicasio a chance to close games at some point before trading him to the Dodgers. In case you’re wondering whether I’m talking about the same Rockies that led the National League in blown saves last season — yes, those Rockies. Those Rockies, and these Dodgers, can agree that Nicasio is back-end-of-the-bullpen material. Strong enough that he’s not out of the April closer conversation yet, though a few more games like Wednesday’s could change the conversation.

Here’s more of what Rockies manager Walt Weiss and general manager Jeff Bridich had to say about Nicasio during our recent interviews:

Walt Weiss:

Great kid. Great competitor. It’s tough losing guys like that. I think Juan’s been in that stage where there’s been an evolution from starter to reliever, having to deal with that process, but he’s got a great arm and like I said, a model citizen. The Dodgers got a good one.

 

That’s a big transition (to the bullpen). I thought he handled it well actually and pitched pretty well in that role. I thought that was his niche. We don’t like to turn away starting pitching so I felt like we rode that out as long as we could. We felt he was more geared to being a reliever. His personality, his mindset, his weapons, just felt it was a better fit for him ultimately. … Big power fastball and a slider that can miss bats.

Jeff Bridich:

He’s been through a lot physically. This is a kid that broke his neck at the major-league level. Took a comebacker a few years ago off his head, a direct hit. The ball hit him, he hit the ground, broke his neck, he was out for the season. This guy’s persevered. he’s a tough, tough, tough kid. For one reason or another, he’s struggled to stay on the field and pitch a lot of innings. He’s a big kid. There’s some effort in there, his delivery. There’s certainly not a lack of arm strength. Just knowing him, having him grow up in the organization, people in the organization felt like all that combined with his natural mentality and what he brought to every outing, his future was probably in the ‘pen in shorter bursts. He expended a lot of energy every time he went out there. So he’s a great kid. He’s a great person. Certainly hope for the best.

 

You might say there’s a chance for closer’s stuff there. Closer’s makeup, I don’t know. You would hope so. You would hope that over time with experience and success, that he would believe in himself and get the job done in the ninth inning. A lot of that is up to him, just pure confidence and belief. I guess some of that remains to be seen.

Today’s box score is here.