DENVER — Chi Chi González was not supposed to be a starter this season. But here he was on Thursday night, making his 17th of the season for the Rockies.

As a fill in man, he’ll never know when his time in the rotation will start, or end. This year, every starter, aside from Germán Márquez, has seen time on the injured list, making it necessary for the Rockies to pull González out of their bullpen. He’s only made five appearances as a reliever.

On Thursday, González took the mound, taking the place of Jon Gray, who went on the injured list for the second time this season with another forearm injury. The Rockies were hoping for five innings from González, but had to settle for 3.2. He gave up three earned runs, keeping the Rockies in the game, but the Braves defeated the Rockies 6-5, for a rare home loss.

“I’m happy that I was able to be the guy that had that start,” he said. “I’m blessed that I get to continue to pitch at this level.”

He may not be the guy they go to for that start next year. The Rockies have more depth on the way, with Ryan Rolison and Peter Lambert both on the come up. If they re-sign Jon Gray, as they are expected to, that’ll give them seven starters, with enough options to sub someone in if a core pitcher gets injured.

It’s not the first season González has had to go back and forth between the bullpen and the rotation, and he tries to keep himself as built up as possible. He has held his own in most starts, but has had his share of bloopers he’d like to erase, including a particularly bad outing in Miami when he gave up eight runs on 11 hits, including three home runs.

Walks have been a problem for him in the past, and he had four this night. He said he felt like the umpires were a bit tough on some of those calls on Thursday. Jorge Soler hit a home run off him in the first, the 18th long ball he’s allowed this season.

“Chi Chi hung in there,” manager Bud Black said. “Today he wasn’t as sharp as we’ve seen him at times.”

González will likely enter next spring training as the front runner for the long reliever spot, but still needing to fight for it.

Yency Almonte will be in a similar position, in need of securing his spot in the bullpen after a stellar 2020 campaign went south in 2021. He’s shown improvements since coming back from the injured list due to MLB’s COVID and contact tracing protocols, but he gave up three runs on Thursday. Lucas Gilbreath and Tyler Kinley though both put in two scoreless innings.

One player who has had his future secure for longer than most of his teammates have been in the big leagues is Charlie Blackmon, who showed his veteran prowess once again. The Rockies loaded the bases in the third, and Blackmon skyrocketed a splitter 432 feet into the back of the bullpen. That was the only inning the Rockies were able to score in though, as the Braves relievers held them scoreless.