After Enduring 'Difficult' Year, Gonzalez Ready For New Challenge
DENVER (CBS4) - Call him Cargo 2.0.
In spring training Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez looked like he had packed on some pounds. Actually, it was just the opposite.
"You're not heavier, you're lighter?" CBS4's Vic Lombardi asked Gonzalez.
"That's right," Gonzalez said.
"What are you at right now?" Lombardi said.
"215. Last year I was 235."
The weight loss came on doctors' orders. He was told he needs to lessen the strain on his knees.
"The more weight I put on the knees the worse they're going to feel, so it feels really strong, of course, and I'm lighter. So things are coming together and I'm really happy."
RELATED: Gonzalez Says He Is OK After Spring Training Knee Scare
Surgery on his left knee ultimately cut last season short, but it wasn't Gonzalez's only time to go under the knife. He also had to have surgery for a tumor on his left index finger.
"The doctor told me from all the years of hitting the ball, and sometimes you get it jammed, something there was growing and growing. And he told me that at some point it was going to explode. And that point was last year," Gonzalez said.
When the finger did explode so did Gonzalez's world, and it had nothing to do with his health. His wife was five months pregnant with twins when complications arose.
"The next thing I know I'm in Cleveland getting ready for surgery and then my wife told me that they were going to take the babies out. So by the time I got back home in Denver two days later the babies were (born) at 30 weeks."
Gonzalez said the babies are doing great, and said it's a "miracle" that everything wound up okay for his wife and the twins.
"Last year was a difficult year for me on and off the field, but I'm glad everything happened at the same time. Now that I feel healthy, my family feels healthy, I feel like I can concentrate on the things that I normally do in the past. You just continue to get better, work really hard and just one goal: win games every day."
Gonzalez is switching positions this season.
"I'm the guy who always plays three different positions, so I started in center field and then they decided to move me to left field and I'm in right field now. It doesn't bother me. I think when you play center field you can handle the corner. I'm ready for the challenge."
One more change Gonzalez hopes to see in 2015 is a Rockies season that ends with success. He figures the offseason upheaval in the front office could be a good start.
RELATED: Rockies New GM Takes A Different Approach To Baseball
"We knew that a lot of changes were going to happen in the offseason because it was another losing season for the Rockies and you see the result. Now we have a new GM," he said.
"We know that this is our chance now. This is our opportunity to step forward and win games and change the culture of the franchise and I'm sure the fans are too."
The Rockies season starts on the road this week. The home opener at Coors Field takes place on Friday.
