Rockies Magic Number

Opinions about the Rockies

2008-02-06T00:25:00.000-07:00

The Rockies will compete for the Wild Card again this season. I find Arizona's pitching too strong to overcome. This time, however, San Diego won't be nearly as in contention as they were, as they have no bats.

I'm glad to see Holliday sign for 2 years, 23M, but I'm concerned that he's just throwing us a bone before he leaves forever for BIG money. But you know, I think that he's in his prime right now, and in 2 years, he'll be on the decline, and he won't be worth what he is now.

I nearly jumped up screaming for joy when I heard Tulo had signed for 6 years. Awesome signing, and Tulo's the kind of attitude and player any team should want around forever.

Kip Wells is gonna get rocked. Josh Towers will take his place, and then he'll last 3 months and then get rocked, and then Franklin Morales will take HIS place and never look back.

Francis, Cook, Jimenez, and Hirsh will all laugh at Kip Wells and Josh Towers.

Fuentes will get traded at the deadline. Corpas will reign supreme. Ramon Ramirez will have a solid comeback.

If they're gonna sign Hawpe for anything longer than a year, please, Lord, don't let it be longer than 3-4 years. Hawpe's the kind of batter that will peak fast and decline horribly. Not to mention inconsistent.

I understand not making BLOCKBUSTER TRADES, but why haven't we inquired about Brian Roberts or Orlando Hudson more? I mean, we have the payroll, and it's not like we're taking on another Helton-sized contract or anything. Frankly, despite his injury troubles, Orlando Hudson between Helton and Tulo is a wonderful idea. I'm not saying sell the farm or trade Holliday, but, you know, maybe we could wheel and deal a LITTLE? I mean, the other floundering clubs are saying "Hey Colorado, quit hogging all the has-been-looking-to-bounce-back pitchers!" I get it, stay the course, but how long do we have to wait for Chris Nelson or EYJ or someone similar to arrive in the majors? Oh, wait, we have Marcus Giles! We're saved!

If Nix shows up defensively, I'll shut up entirely about the prior paragraph.

Speaking of Mark Prior, is anyone else terrified that now he's away from Dusty Baker, he'll suddenly re-blossom into MARK PRIOR, GOD OF THUNDER or whatever he was, and suddenly make the San Diego pitching staff this horrible 4-headed hydra of doom?

And speaking of Hydras of doom, Webb, Haren, Big Unit, Doug Davis, Micah Owings? I just messed myself a little.

And NOT speaking of doom, how about the Dodgers? Well...you know, I have no idea how to feel about the Dodgers. Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier? i'll admit I'm concerned. Andruw Jones? Not concerned. Nomar? No more. Kent? Can't. Pierre? Poor. I don't know. Kuroda might be something.

Anyhow, it's late, and I'm done blogging for one night.

Lack of posting

2007-10-06T11:04:00.001-06:00

For anyone who's remotely followed up with this blog, apologies for not having it updated more often. I (Andrew) have been doing some more posting on Purple Row, which is one of the more comprehensive Rockies rundowns I've ever seen. You might wish to check it out.

I'll try to put a few more of my rants and ravings on this site, but until then, GO ROCKIES!

Hey, DENVER! Welcome to the Bandwagon!

2007-10-06T11:02:00.000-06:00

Oh, Hiiii, disgruntled Broncos fans! Good to see you! Now that the Rockies put a near-historic winning streak together at the end of the season, not to mention fielded a MLB-historic team ALL season, it's good to see that you've come crawling the 3 miles from Invesco to watch the team that WE'VE been watching ALL SEASON!

It's kind of pathetic to think that so many of the people chanting "M-V-P" during the 3rd Rockies AB every game didn't actually start watching until he had already hit his 100th RBI of the season.

Were you there to see Tulowitzki's unassisted Triple Play (live, not during Sportscenter), or did you turn off your TV after the 10-16 April?

Remember Willy Taveras?

How about Byung-hyun Kim?

Has Ryan Spilborghs always been a part of your Rockies experience?

What about Tom Martin? Did you watch to see if he'd keep it together, or is that just a weird memory from 2006?

Does the name Rodrigo Lopez mean anything to you?

If none of that stuff made any sense, then I'll let Clint Hurdle do the talking for me:

"Shame on you for not seeing our club more...We've been on a nice roll." - Clint Hurdle, postgame press conference, 10/4/07

If any of that applies to you, and you think you're hot shit because you have NLDS tickets, you need to forfeit them and give them to someone like my Dad, or someone else who started cheering for the 2007 season on April 2nd and hasn't stopped cheering since.

Nobody's saying you shouldn't cheer for the Rockies. I love to see you pack out Coors Field and let our Boys on Blake St know how you feel about them. But how about you start a little earlier than September 27th next season?

Wyoming?!

2007-06-06T07:04:00.000-06:00

Greetings, sportsfans! This is Andrew, reporting from Casper, WY, home of the Rookie league Casper Rockies! Regrettably, their season hasn't even begun yet, so we'll have to suffice with points from last nights' defeat by the Astros.

Personally, I hate the Astros. Our boys seem to have so much trouble with them, and they just always have that knack to do exactly what we need them NOT to do. For example, last season, Jason Jennings took a game where he had allowed only 1 run into the 7th, where on a crucial 2 strike count, painted the corner beautifully against Morgan Ensberg, only to have it called a ball. Ensberg watched for that pitch again, and drove it over the LF wall for a 3-run jack.

Jason Hirsh pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 runs and striking out 4. Jorge Julio, Jeremy Affeldt, and Yorvit Torrealba bailed Hirsh out of a 2nd and 3rd, nobody out jam in the 7th. Torrealba picked off a runner at 3rd and Affeldt forced a 463 DP from PH Mike Lamb. LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless 8th, striking out 2, allowing no hits. Corpas had an off inning, allowing a 2-run homer to Luke Scott to leave the Astros' run tally at 4. He also pitched behind Carlos Lee, eventually plunking him. We'll touch on that later.

This is the point where I'd love to say "And despite that 2-run homer, it was too little too late, as the Astros were already down by 6." Not this time. The Rockies stranded 7, wasting a double by Willy Taveras AND one from Garrett Atkins, and two of THREE triples. Holliday was driven in on one of Atkins' 2 doubles, and Helton was left stranded at 3rd on BOTH of his triples. Overall, the Rockies left 7 men on base while only scoring 1 run.

Touching on Corpas pitching behind and hitting Carlos Lee, give me a break. Do you see any real hostility there? Corpas is a young pitcher and hasn't really had time to work up any rivalries. Phil Garner must have had a mouthful of bitterness after the game. It sounded like he said "There wasn't any (history between Corpas and Lee). There is now." - when we all know it was "Corpas is a young pitcher, and it was a tight game. I doubt it was personal." Please, Phil. Give it a rest. Your team isn't going anywhere for awhile here, and I know you're just protecting your overpaid star, but take the dramaqueen routine somewhere else. We're not interested.

Back to the team though.

Something's gotta give. The series win against Cincinatti came in exciting fashion, with the Rockies rallying from a 2-8 deficit to win 10-9 in extras. Very exciting. It would just be nice if we could beat up on starting pitchers a little earlier, and maybe support our own for a change of pace. I know that's not the team philosophy, but I think it should really become one. These bats just aren't firing. I've seen too many bases-loaded 2-out popouts to end rallies before they start. This team isn't pitching badly, even Tom Martin has an ERA under 4, but the bats just seem to hate producing.

Yes, I'm aware Colorado just got off of a 7-game winning streak, but if you look back at them, it's a lot of late rallies, and a lack of consistent offensive production. As a Rockies' fan, I'll take the wins where they come, but I'm still looking for real improvement from the team before I can say we're even remotely contenders.

It'll come around, I'm sure. But honestly, I'd rather see big things happen in the front office before I expect to see them on the field.

Until later, this is Andrew, signing off.

7 in a row? Inconceivable!

2007-05-29T21:33:00.000-06:00

My last post must've lit a fire under the Rockies, because somehow, they've eked out a few wins.

Things that have worked:

Starting Pitching. Maybe not completely lights out, but consistent enough to give the bullpen a fighting chance.

The bats have slowly started clicking. The boys are STILL leaving an obscene number of runners on base, but as long as the pitching and defense are trying, wins are coming in.

Ryan Spilborghs. 'Nuff Said.

Players coming back off of the DL. Namely, Rodrigo Lopez, who had a solid start against StL, allowing 3 runs over 6 innings in his first start since his return.

Good play from utility players and spot starters. I mentioned Spilborghs. Taylor Buchholz has strung together 2 straight quality starts, allowing only 3ER over 14 innings of work and has watched his season ERA drop 2 full runs. With Josh Fogg going to the DL with a groin strain, Buchholz looks to build on these quality outings, and make himself a more dependable member of the Rockies pitching staff. (Don't count on it. Buchholz, while a hard thrower and a spot starter, isn't really the 'anchor' type of pitcher.)

The bullpen has looked mildly more solid since the Royals series. Jorge Julio has watched his ERA drop from 12.5 to 10.2. DRASTIC improvement. But in all seriousness, the core of the pen has remained solid - and by core, I mean Affeldt, Fuentes, Corpas, and hopefully Ramirez will regain his form.

Many problems still remain with this team, but for now, let us bask in the glory of the Rockies firing on enough good cylinders to provide some solid wins the rest of this homestand. Although, I am going tomorrow night, so if they lose, yeah, my bad.

Until next time, sports fans, this is Andrew, wishing you all a great night.

Quarter of the season away, and ever so far to go.

2007-05-25T02:15:00.000-06:00

The Rockies are 20-27 overall this season, and only 10-13 at home.

The Rockies bullpen is the worst in the majors. The pen’s ERA is just under 9, and starters’ confidence is being repeatedly shot with zero run support and this shaky bullpen to back them up.

Management isn’t sure how to handle this pitching quagmire, and it’s showing game in and game out.

On Friday against the Royals, Jeff Francis allowed 2ER over 7 1/3 innings pitched. Francis gave up a leadoff single and then struck out the next batter before being pulled by manager Clint Hurdle in favor of typical 8th inning setup man Manny Corpas.

Up until this outing, Corpas had been stellar, carrying an ERA of 1.35 into the 8th against the Royals.

I’ll interject into this general analysis of the team at this point with my own personal commentary.

Has Clint Hurdle been watching his own team for the past season? Manny Corpas and Ramon Ramirez are absolute garbage handling inherited runners. They’re both still young relievers, and they need the freedom to walk one or give up a single before they can close out their inning. And if those inherited runners, say, score on these singles, they will completely go on tilt and opposing batters will begin teeing off on them. Given their own innings, the two combine to be reliable relievers whose bad outings are far outnumbered by their lights-out innings.

Additionally, what was Hurdle thinking with Francis? Jeff Francis is NOT Jason Jennings, as much as that might help the team. Francis is not an inning eater; he’s a solid 6- or 7-inning starter who can give the bullpen something to work with on a regular basis. The point being is that after pitching the 7th inning, Francis tends to become shaky and gets himself into trouble. HAD Hurdle been watching the previous inning, he’d have remembered Francis’ 1st and 3rd jam with nobody out that he lucked himself out of with no runs scoring, and maybe had thought twice about pulling Francis after only one out, the game would’ve resulted in a win. I mean, we lost 2/3 to the ROYALS! I hope that we kept Girardi’s number when we traded him in ’95.

Corpas proceeded to walk his first hitter and allowed 5 runs to score, one being Francis’ leadoff single. Corpas only managed 1 out before Hurdle turned to recent callup Darren Clarke, who proceeded to get out of the inning with no further damage. (Clarke had been called up from AA that day to take the place of Zach McClellan who had just gone on the DL.)

Now, all the blame being placed on Clint Hurdle isn’t entirely fair. The Rockies hit the DL hard early in the season. Kaz Matsui went down fast with lower back spasms (after batting ~.360 with 5 SB), Rodrigo Lopez dropped with an arm strain, Byung-Hyun Kim, LaTroy Hawkins, and Ramon Ramirez soon followed. AAA RHP Zach McClellan was brought up, and was an effective replacement for the 14.0 innings he spent with the club before himself falling to the injury bug. Willy Taveras spent some time sitting with a groin strain, giving Steve Finley plenty of time to be old in the lineup.

When injuries weren’t a factor, lack of bats came to play. Uber-utility player Jamey Carroll was soon (and still is) battling the Mendoza line from the losing side, as well as young catcher Chris Ianetta. Tulowitzki was having trouble finding his swing from early on, and prospective lineup fixture Garrett Atkins still hasn’t really moved beyond .240. Bench production was at a minimum, besides Carroll, as Finley and Mabry failed to crack .200 and were a relative non-factor off of the bench. Omar Quintanilla, who has been up and down since his acquisition by the Rockies, was brought up to fill out the void in the infield, and batted above .250 during his short time back in the majors.

Good news soon came, however, as some creative lineup moves began to bring out some production from some of the Rockies. With Matsui still on the DL, Tulowitzki was moved to the #2 spot, and while batting in the 2, his AVG has been .284 with 2 homers and 14 RBI.

Atkins was dropped to the 5-hole and Holliday was moved into the 3. A good move, but it could’ve been done sooner.

Brad Hawpe, while batting poorly through April (although taking more walks, a good improvement for those who’ve been following), began to find his stroke in the early weeks of May, and was soon moved to the #5 spot, dropping the still slumping Atkins to #6.

Willy Taveras began to look like the CF that Coors has needed, and his batting average is still sitting around .300 with an OBP of .375+, and he is still a constant threat to steal.

Holliday has been nothing but astounding so far this season, and Todd Helton is looking like the 1B foundation that the Coors Faithful have been so accustomed to before the past 2 seasons.

And that brings us to today. Kaz Matsui has returned to 2B and the #2 spot in the lineup, and has quickly returned to fine form. John Mabry has been sent down to AAA Colorado Springs, and OF Ryan Spilborghs has been called up, much to the excitement of many in Coors. The downside of these roster moves is that with the return of Kaz, either Carroll or Quintanilla would need to be sent back down to make room on the 25-man roster.

Now let’s look at this objectively. Carroll has gotten himself caught in at least 2 rundowns this season, if not more. He is, to date (5-23-07), batting .184. Defensively, there’s not an issue. So look at Quintanilla, who batted about .070 above Carroll, shows the same, if not better, defensive prowess at both 2B and SS, has the same speed on the basepaths, but is not under a $4M/2year contract. It would seem that Carroll is retaining his spot on the active roster because he is being paid for it, and not the other way around. The front office’s excuse is that they already have 2 young players on the roster trying to find a consistent swing on off-the-bench duty and irregular starts in Ryan Spilborghs and Jeff Baker, they don’t want a third.

Honestly, if I’m going to be fed this much boloney from the front office, I want a weenie whistle.

The Rockies are one of the most promising squads out there, with young stars like Corpas, Tulowitzki, and Taveras, potential superstars such as Matt Holliday, a solid veteran cornerstone in Todd Helton, and even a few players finding a second chance with the Rocks like Kaz Matsui.

It’s not a bad team, overall. I refuse to say it’s completely garbage. But something is not clicking, and if previously performing pieces aren’t moving together like they should, maybe it’s time for a change.

And I don’t mean trade Todd Helton.

Until next ranting update, Coors Faithful, this is Andrew, wishing everyone a fine day.

Inconsistency reigns on high

2007-04-20T10:35:00.000-06:00

On a Thursday afternoon in Coors Field, against division quasi-rivals the LA Dodgers, Aaron Cook finally pitched a game where the offense provided the right amount to actually make Cook the pitcher of record.

Mind you, I didn't say anyone played well.

Yesterday was a cool day in section 331, in the shade, where the LA Dodgers played Batting Cages with Rockies #1 Aaron Cook. It seemed a lot of bounces simply didn't go the Rockies way (including a chopper from Dodgers' starter Mark Hendrickson that rebounded juuuuuuussst over Cook's glove and ended up as a 6-3 RBI putout), but at the same time, the Dodgers simply outplayed them.

This is why I fear the Dodgers more than anyone else in the NL West. Their reserve #6 starter held the Rockies to 5 hits and 1 run through 5 2/3 innings of work and only 76 pitches. RP Joe Beimel went through 2 innings of work on 16 pitches (I pictured Beimel, Broxton, and Rudy Seanez all sitting in the bullpen betting on the next inning -

Beimel: "I bet I can pitch that inning in 20 pitches"
Broxton: "I bet I can do it in 17"
Seanez: "I can pitch it in 13"
Beimel: "I can pitch it in 10"
Seanez: "Pitch that inning!"
Beimel: "....crap"

Actually, Beimel finished the 7th inning in 7 pitches.

It wasn't a good start by Cook. The Dodgers just teed off on him, and while he only allowed 3ER, the hits all came as parts of massive rallies by the Dodgers, and then a 3rd inning rally-continuing error from Jeff Baker at 1st allowed another 2 runs to cross. Oh Jeff, if only we were in the AL, you wouldn't have to worry about all that nasty fielding.

The bullpen didn't look bad at all. And by that I mean Zach McLellan pitched 2 scoreless innings, only yielding 1 hit and no walks. Matt Herges, on the other hand, allowed a coffin-nailing 3 runs in the 9th to give the Dodgers a decisive 8-1 victory over the Rockies.

This is becoming a terrible cycle to watch, Rockies pitching being solid and dependable if not downright Good, and the bats piddling 3 hits or leaving 9 stranded. Baserunners being wasted on 1 out GIDP. That, or the starter gets shelled for 4 innings, and the bats provide 9 runs of support and the decision will go to LaTroy Hawkins who will somehow eke out a loss despite the Rockies winning.

Let's just take a look at the team in general for a moment here. From top to bottom.

Bottom: Minor Leagues - looking good. Woohoo.

Next: The Team

Bats - Still just bursting with potential. Holliday's hitting the ball well, but Atkins hasn't entirely found his stroke yet. Hawpe is batting .200 against lefties thus far, but he's batting .288 overall now, so I'm still expecting a good rest-of-April and then May out of Bradley. Helton is batting .340 thus far, eager to prove to the Coors Faithful that he's back. Willy Taveras laid down 2 bunts, one good, and singled on that bunt, and then used those wheels to score the Rockies only run. Carroll's batting a robust .242 so far, but he's only really appeared in utility. I'm looking to see a bit more production these next two weeks or so before Kaz returns. Oh, and Mr. Matsui was batting .361 with 5 SB before going down with back spasms. Tulo and Ianetta...well, let's just say we're gonna need some drastic improvement and soon or else they might get that time in AAA that they missed out on last year. Torrealba is batting .296 and doing a good job making up for Ianetta's battles with the Half-Mendoza line. Baker hasn't had a hit since April 9, and is staying above .300 on the virtue of a hot hot hot first week.

Defense - Defensively, this is a more or less a pretty solid team. Helton still a GG contender at 1st, the OF is learning better tracking on the ball, and Hawpe still has a cannon. Kaz and Carroll don't cause stress at 2nd and Tulo, while still solidifying his defensive range, has made some nice stops this season. Ianetta is looking good throwing out baserunners, nailing both who tried in Thursday. Atkins however, needs some serious work fielding and throwing at third. Jeff Baker, also, is a defensive liability, but can play the positions in the interest of resting the starters and getting his bat in the rotation.

--In interest of tonight's game, I'll conclude this early-season analysis in a later post. Coming up - Pitchers, Managers, and OWNERSHIP dun dun dunnnnnnn

Continuing with the apologies

2007-04-14T17:58:00.000-06:00

It's been a topsy turvy week or so, culminating in my current trip to New Jersey, watch this space for potential live blogging of the "Storm of the Decade."

Normal blogging activities should resume mid-week.

--Brian

P.S. Eric Byrnes is working his way up to Khalil Greene levels of animosity in my mind.

Apologies for the absences

2007-04-14T17:32:00.000-06:00

This'll be a quick post. Rockies Pitchers have been competitive, if not straight up good. But, as we keep seeing it, the bats are having trouble firing and the talent is going to waste.

As a bright note, last night we DID put up 6 against the Diamondbacks, 5 off of reigning Cy Young champion Brandon Webb. A pleasent relief from the 1-run nonsense we've been playing in this past week.

Tonight, the Rockies come around the horn with Aaron "Iron Chef" Cook taking the mound against Arizona Inning Eater Livan Hernandez. Something to watch for: Todd Helton is a career .510 hitter against Hernandez.

Apologies for the short post, but that's what we're getting tonight. Fare thee well, Rockies faithful!

Rockies in Home Openers: 2-1. After that, 2-3.

2007-04-10T19:54:00.000-06:00

You know, if every game was a home opener of some sort, we'd be playing absolutely amazing baseball, that's for sure. Jason Schmidt left the game in the 5th with an apparent hamstring injury while the Rockies drove on to win 6-3. Reports say that he'll be just fine for his next start, nothing severe.

Jeff Francis, in other news, dropped the appeal of his 5-game suspension and will begin said suspension on Tuesday night. He will miss his next scheduled start, and Rodrigo Lopez will start on 4 days rest.

Lopez pitched 6 innings of 1-run ball, scattering 5 hits while striking out 2 and denying the Dodgers the longball. Kim gave up 1 in 2IP of relief.

The real news of the night was Brett Tomko. Tomko pitched a solid 6, allowing 0 runs on one hit while fanning 9. 9. The Rockies struck out a combined 13 times tonight, while mustering a mighty 4 hits.

Perhaps it's time to take the focus off of PetCo and look at the bats. This was our crippling problem last year, not being able to convert runners. When you have bases loaded with one out and Silver Slugger Matt Holliday coming to the plate, and you fail to convert a single runner, you know that there are problems somewhere.

Is it the lineup? Is it the matchups? Is it just the parks?

Or is the NL West pitching just going to dominate all season?

I personally see BAs dropping division-wide. When your pitcher allows 3ER in a start and you're not sure if your offense is gonna be able to pull out the win, you know that's a monstrous staff you're up against.

Every year Rockies fans just hope they can beat the Dodgers a couple more times, but this is not the season for picking on LA. They have a solid lineup and a pitching staff envied by so many contenders. They'll take this division. They have the best team. I'd argue the Rockies have better bats still, but the Dodgers have proven the ability to silence those bats, and the Rockies' pitching is still developing into a solid, cohesive unit. Add bullpen woes to the Rox' list and we'll be hoping for some pre-deadline moves sooner than later.

To finish up, Jason Hirsh takes the mound for his second start in Rockies purple against Dodgers' fireballer Brad Penny. Both pitchers had excellent first starts, Penny allowing 1 run over 7, Hirsh 1 over 6 2/3. Hirsh also piled 8K onto his impressive debut. Game time is 8:10pm MT.

Until next time, Rockies fans!

--Andrew

P.S. Posts may come somewhat sporadically in the next week here, but we'll try and throw some information up as we are able.

You're breaking my Tuscaloosa Heart, boys.

2007-04-09T07:55:00.000-06:00

Over the offseason, most Rockies faithful and then the occasional bored ESPN analyst (who am I kidding, they still ignored Denver) made thee healthy claim that the Rockies have a lineup that can contend with any lineup in MLB. During winter, I'd make claims that the Rockies DO have a shot at the division, but it was all gonna come down to Pitching again.

I think Aaron Cook heard me.

Cook scattered 5 hits through 9 innings, giving up the Padres' first run on a solo shot from Jose Cruz, Jr that bounced off the top of the wall about 6 inches in.

And yet, Cook is probably feeling like we're in 2006 again. Cook went through the season with one of the lowest run support tallies in all of baseball, and it resulted in a 9-15 record for Cook and a frustrating end to the season.

If this is what we are to expect for the season, expect to lose Cook. I wouldn't want to play baseball under these conditions. If Francis and Cook are going to get paltry run support all season, and pitchers like Fogg and Lopez are going be carried into winning records, then why should we try and make a winning team based off of pitching? Why not just recreate the Blake Street Bombers again, in their entirety, including 24 run games and #1 pitcher's ERAs above 5?

Anyhow, back to the game.

Ups:
* If this is the season we're gonna get from Cook, then we at least know that the top of the rotation is rock solid. Perhaps contract extensions (long ones?) are in order.
* Error-free game!

Downs:

* Hawkins. He gave up 2 consecutive hits in the 10th, one of which I'm not overly surprised by (I'm pretty sure Greene would be getting these hits off of Koufax the way he's batting this spring), and the other was a huge disappointment. Kouzmanoff's barely brushing the ball thus far this season, and last year he only mustered a .214 in his first stint in the Majors last year with Cleveland. Where does he get off making clutch hits like this? I mean, the pitch wasn't even terrible, he kept it down in the zone, and Kouzmanoff just kinda golfed it past a diving Helton (by the way, good to see him dive for a ball). I guess Hawkins wasn't even the worst part, it's just frustrating to see him giving up another game.

* Managing Decisions. Most of the game - not so bad. Not entirely sure about starting Finley, but when him and Willy are both competing for "Who can be the worst leadoff hitter", it's difficult to place blame in this situation. But the decision to put Hawkins in with the game on the line, not so much. How many games do we need to see him in this season? Does it really need to be 83% of them? Because he's on pace to pitch 108 innings in 135 games, and I really don't think we need to pitch someone who's supposed to be a sharp setup man like this. If Hurdle doesn't flex the rest of the bullpen, we'll have pitchers like Buchholz and Affeldt just getting rustier and worse with a lack of work. And does this sound familiar to LAST season? Pitchers (Fuentes) not getting enough work because the games were either tied or blowouts? Clint, pitch your pitchers or they're all going to leave after this season.

* Finally, THE BATS.
Words cannot describe the disgust. I'm not coming out suggesting that we should have lit up Jake Peavy, I'm saying we could have at least capitalized a BIT on baserunners. Let's break it down.

- First inning, one out (Finley, go fig), Kaz Matsui singles, and is then advanced on an Atkins groundout, only to be stranded by Helton looking at a 3rd strike.
- Second inning, Hawpe had a 1-out single, and was left looking on a flyout and lineout from Yorvit and Tulo.
- Jump to the 4th. Atkins singles, and then is advanced by consecutive groundouts (productive outs, boys?), until Hawpe decides to punt a 2-out single into center, scoring Atkins from 3rd. Hawpe was left out there.
- Jump to the 7th, Peavy's last inning. Bases loaded after Peavy issued a walk to Cook, and Ol' reliable Steve Finley grounds out to end the inning.
- The bullpen entered in the 8th, and simply leveled the Rockies for the remainder of the game.

Call me crazy, but judging by Finley's track record this season...maybe a PH would've been in order? By the name of Jeff Baker? I mean, as delicious as John Mabry's 3 PH outs have been, let's go with who produces. Bases Loaded, late innings, I would fear Jeff Baker almost more than anyone else in the lineup.

Blame it on PetCo. I'm not going to say that this is the way the season's going to end up. I'm not going to say anything beyond who's hitting well now until May.

Today, Jeff Francis will lead the Rockies in an attempt to foil another NL West Home Opener as the Rockies bring a 3-3 start into Dodger stadium. Dodgers' FA acquisition Kevin Schmidt will take the mound for the Blue in what will hopefully prove to be a futile effort from the Dodgers.

Until next time, Rockies fans!

--Andrew

I'm not gonna yell about Khalil Greene

2007-04-08T18:31:00.000-06:00

Seriously, I'm not. I didn't even watch the game, all I know is that Khalil Greene's breath smells like pillows.

What I am going to talk about is today's Tulsa Drillers game.

Ching Lung Lo got the start for the Drillers against Corpus Christi and looked shaky from the word go. He gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and hit a guy before he recorded an out. Fortunately, settled down and got Sadler to GIDP and then got Ash to ground to second. When the Drillers went in order in the bottom of the first, there was a general feeling of anxiety in the stadium.

In the second though, Lo was efficient giving up a single to Fernando but he was caught trying to steal third to end the inning. In the bottom half the Drillers scored 2 while only getting one hit as Barthmaier battled through the inning. The highlight of the inning was a double steal advancing Christian Colonel and Matt Miller to second and third. Guarno and Dragicevich got the RBI's for the drillers.

Top three was basically a rehash of top two. Bottom 3 saw the Drillers score another 2 runs off of 3 hits. Jonathon Herrera got a single when the infield was playing in and he hit a ground ball to the left side past the outstretched glove of Drew Sutton and into left field.

Top four was another efficient inning for Lo giving up only a 2 out groundball to Jonathon Ash. Lo struck out Caraballo to end the inning. Bottom 4, Barthwaite struck out the side, I don't wanna talk about it.

Corpus Christi came back to tie the game in the 5th when Osvaldo Fernando led off with a single, was bunted over by Barthwaite, moved to third on Suttons liner and then scored on a fielder's choice.

The sixth saw Lo work through a pretty tight jam. Santangelo grounded to short, Sadler drew a walk, Ash popped to third, Carabello walked and Fernando singled to load the bases. 2 outs bases loaded, Neil Sellers pinch hit for Barthwaite and smoked a ball that fortunately went right to Aaron Rifkin at first to end the inning. Tulsa added another run in the bottom of the sixth.

The 7th was the big inning for the Drillers. Three runs on five hits, including a Joe Gaetti two bagger that hit the 390 marker in straight away center, in Coors it's probably a long fly out but in Drillers Stadium it was oh so close to a dinger. Corpus would add a meaningless run in the eighth before Steve Register pitched the ninth for the save.

Time for the likes and dislikes...

Likes:

Joe Gaetti: 3-5 with a double, and a run scored. Really hit the ball well.

Herrera: 2 for 5 really made Corpus respect his speed. Takes after Willy Taveras though with 2 K's. Looked a little goofy trying the Ichiro trick of swinging and running at the same time and failing badly.

The guy sitting in front of me: Consistently had funny lines. For instance, in the 8th Noochie Varner pinch hit in the 9 spot for Corpus and he yells, "How do you come up with a nickname for a guy named Noochie? I bet his nickname his Charles, YOU'RE GONNA STRIKE OUT CHARLES!"

Dislikes:

Drillers hitters struck out 10 times, looked a bit like the big club honestly.

The weather: Overcast and cold made my hands cold as I kept score, couldn't even enjoy my Shiner since it made me shiver everytime I took a sip.

Hate:

Khalil Greene: Seriously, pillows.

==Brian

Good start overcomes low expectations

2007-04-08T01:46:00.000-06:00

Alright, call me crazy. Say I'm wrong, laugh or whatever.

Josh Fogg strung together 6 1/3 innings, allowing only 6 hits and 2 runs in a 2-3 loss to the division rival Padres.

After a 4-3 victory which displayed Jason Hirsh and his disgustingly breaking changeup, we find offseason stir Josh Fogg bringing his own changeup into PetCo. Through 101 pitches, Fogg struck out 3, forced 7 groundball outs, and began the season displaying the kind of expertise we'd like to see out of a $3.625M salary.

Despite Fogg's well pitched effort, the Rockies only mustered 2 runs on octogenarian David Wells, stranding 4. Interestingly enough, the statlines looked almost identical:

Fogg: 6.1 6 2 2 1 3 1
Wells: 6.2 6 2 2 1 4 0

For two #5 starters, this is a fine sign for two teams preparing for what is projected to be a very close division over the season.

Now, I've said this to people around here, and I'll say it now on here, I'm going to reserve all judgements until at least May. I mean, so far the 'worst' pitcher on staff is our #1 Aaron Cook, and our closer isn't looking so hot either...through 5 games. We'll let another 20 or so pass by and then start making predictions and what have you. I'm still very apprehensive about Josh Fogg and Rodrigo Lopez, and Hirsh is looking very promising, but we'll still have to see.

Anyway, moving back to tonight's game.

The ups:

Josh Fogg gave us a solid 6 1/3.
Willy Taveras made it through a game without striking out.

The downs:

The bullpen was unable to hold a lead - now this is only a minor down, because it's not as if they gave up a walkoff grand slam. It was 1 run in 2 innings of relief.
The bats were unsatisfactory. The Rox managed 7 hits, but only 2 runs scored on said hits. With bases loaded in the 7th and 2 outs, Chris Ianetta popped out to RF to leave behind what could have been a game-winning lead.

For one game, this isn't a lot to worry about. However, last season, cool bats with runners aboard led to many lost games, and contributed to a slump that took the Rockies from right around .500 down to an NL-West worst .469.

But in terms of pitching, this looks to be an almost promising season. We've made it all the way through the rotation once now, and Aaron Cook will wrap up the 3-game series tomorrow afternoon at PetCo against Padres #1, Jake Peavy. Peavy's opening day gig included shutting down the Giants' lineup for 6 innings and getting his season off to a grand start. Rockies starter Aaron Cook is looking to rebound from a 6-inning, 5ER start that came down to dueling bullpens.

However, for those of you watching from last season, you may recall a few forgettable starts for Peavy, namely another Sunday in early April start in PetCo, involving Cory Sullivan performing a feat that hadn't been accomplished in 50 years and Peavy sucking up 8 ER in just 4 IP.

Peavy has a 4.79 career ERA against Colorado.

So for those of you in the SD area, head your way down to PetCo and watch your Colorado Rockies drop yet another division foe. Until next time, Let's Go Rockies!

--Andrew

I could learn to like Hirsh, maybe

2007-04-07T13:27:00.000-06:00

WHen I looked at the pitching matchup I was filled with dread. Greg Maddux, he of 333 career wins and a place in Cooperstown guaranteed, faced off against Jason Hirsh, he of 3 career wins and a place on my my list of players to hate for being involved in the JJ trade. Here are the two lines by the starting pitchers.

5.1 IP 5 H 4 ER 4 K 1 BB

6.2 IP 6 H 1 ER 8 K 0 BB

Which belongs to the Cooperstown bound legend and which belongs to the untested rookie that Brian was bound and determined to hate?

(Hint: before Fuentes gave up a 2 run dinger the score was 4-1 rockies)

Hirsh was disgusting last night. I made homemade pizza for dinner last night and when Hirsh started moving his changeup all over the place I vomited it all back up. The changeup has a sick downward late break that looked borderline unhittable last night. Only two of the hits he gave up were for extras. One was a home run to Termel Sledge and the other was a double to Asshole Khalil Greene. Hirsh's night was over when he gave a shattered bat infield single to Termel Sledge.

Maddux on the other hand....

....was all over the map. Walked four, hit one, and threw a wild pitch that allowed Kaz Matsui to score from third. Maddux also gave up a Jap Home Run to Matsui when Matsui got to first, stole second, advanced to third on a sac fly and then scored on a wild pitch. Then Maddux walked Helton and gave up a 410' dinger into the pen and Maddux would spend the night wondering what might have been.

Tonight, we also got a visit from old friend, "The Brian Fuentes Heart Stopping Save Experience." He hit Mike Cameron, gave up a deep fly to Asshole Khalil Greene. Then he settled down and retired the next three batters including getting Jose Cruz Jr. looking to end the game.

Likes:

Hirsh: Andrew will remind me that this is only one start, but it was still awesome.

Kaz Matsui: 3 for 4, with a triple, a stolen base, and a RBI

Matt Holliday: 2 for 4 with a dinger

Dislikes:

Willy "Seriously guys, I'm better than Cory Sullivan" Taveras: he's now up to 7 K's in three games

Fuentes: Got the save but had to make it interesting

Hate:

Asshole Khalil Greene: go roast in hell you golden-locked cake eater.

Revoltion

2007-04-05T11:25:00.000-06:00

It's April 5, 2007, and I would like to welcome everyone to a new season of Colorado Rockies Baseball!

After what proved to be a tumultuous offseason for the Coors Field Faithful, including the trade of Jason Jennings, the acquisition of Rodrigo Lopez, and the eventual retention of Todd Helton, the Rockies have jumped up to a 2-1 start.

A quick breakdown of the first 3 games:

Opening day was sunny and breezy. The lineup for CO looked as such:
1. CF Willy Taveras
2. 2B Kazuo Matsui
3. 3B Garrett Atkins
4. 1B Todd Helton
5. LF Matt Holliday
6. RF Brad Hawpe
7. SS Troy Tulowitzki
8. C Chris Ianetta

SP Aaron Cook

The score was 3-2 after the 1st, 5-5 after the 6th when Cook finally got the hook. Pinch hitter Jeff Baker pounded one to deadaway center to give the Rockies a 6-5 lead. After a scoreless 7th from righty Manny Corpas, the Rockies handed a 1-run lead to offseason acquisition LaTroy Hawkins. Hawkins surrendered 3 runs to the Dbacks on a handful of base hits and a double to perennial Rockies killer Eric Byrnes. A fierce battle between Byrnes and Hawkins had taken place, ending with Byrnes pounding a poorly positioned fastball to the wall for Willy Taveras to chase. No production in the 8th, with Ramon Ramirez holding the defecit in the top if the 9th. Despite a 0-out double for Helton in the bottom of the 9th, Snakes closer Jose Valverde proceeded to strike the next 3 batters out to end Opening Day at Coors, 6-8 Diamondbacks.

Game 2 showed the same lineup with Jeff Francis (still in the appeal process of his 5 game suspsension) facing off against Livan Hernandez. Bench Coach Jamey Quirk took the helm for the Rockies, as Clint Hurdle was serving his 1-game suspension (from the same incident Francis was appealing). Both pitchers carried a 2-2 game through the 6th. Rockies relievers held that 2-2 game until the 11th inning(including a 3-groundout inning from LaTroy Hawkins and the first Brian Fuentes sighting of the season), when newly-demoted Byung-Hyun Kim took the mound for his first relief appearance since entering the rotation in 2005 after Shawn Chacon's hamstring injury. Kim worked himself to 2 outs before walking Chad Snyder and hitting Alberto Callaspo. Facing Stephen Drew with 2 on, 2 outs, Kim sent a low fastball in, which Drew bounced between the chasing gloves of Matsui and Helton to bring in the go-ahead run. In the Rockies turn, Helton (later PR for by Jamey Carroll) was driven in on a RF double by Troy Tulowitzki, who was then driven in on a seeing-eye grounder up 3rd from Chris Ianetta. Final score 4-3 Rockies.

Game 3 featured the premiere of inning-eating RHP Rodrigo Lopez. Steve Finley got the start in CF, and Jamey Carroll made his first start at 2B. Through 7 innings of fine work, Lopez allowed 6 hits, 2 runs through only 76 pitches, yielding a 4-2 margin going into the 8th. Earning a chance for redemption, Hurdle turned to LaTroy Hawkins for a 3rd straight game. And as Hollywood-esque as it may seem, Hawkins found himself with 2 outs and Eric Byrnes at the plate. Hawkins effectively worked Byrnes to swing on a late slider to get a very satisfying K. In the bottom of the 8th, the Rockies proceeded to tee off on Snakes RHP JD Durbin, notching 7 runs in the inning. Regular closer Fuentes was sat in favor of Jeremy Affeldt for one out, and then making his Coors Field debut, Taylor Buchholz. Buccholz allowed 2 runs before notching the final out, making the final tally Rockies 11, Dbacks 4.

The Ups of this series: Troy Tulowtizki and Chris Ianetta seem to be fitting in well thus far. Kaz Matsui has produced in the 2 games he has played, and Todd Helton looks like the clutch machine we all know and love. Additonally, Francis and Lopez are displaying what appear to be the signs of solid seasons. And despite Cook's 5ER in 6IP on opening day, he showed the familiar capacity to induce countless grounballs as a point of success. Hawpe hit well all 3 games, even against lefties! Holliday tallied himself a single, 2 doubles, and a solo shot to straightaway center on Wednesday, and is showing the signs of the power we've come to expect from him.

The Downs: Willy Taveras misplayed a couple of balls in 2 games he played, and after a leadoff walk, SB, and eventual run, earned the Golden Sombrero (4 strikeouts) on opening day, and did nothing to excite on tuesday. Tulowitzki also earned himself that same Sombrero on Wednesday, fanning 4 times. Atkins has more or less struggled at the place this first series, and his glove has been nothing to write home about either (notched errors in his first chance in game 1).

MAJOR Downs (Double entendre?): Dan O'Dowd and Clint Hurdle both received 2-year extensions. Why? Well, I'm pretty sure the general state of the minor-league system saved O'Dowd's job, as it really is one of the stronger systems in baseball. And honestly, I have trouble blaming O'Dowd for the team's general failure in the past 3 years (except for him not keeping Eric Byrnes...I mean, look at the damage that guy does here in Coors!), but I can't stand Clint Hurdle. The guy just doesn't have the fire it takes to be a winning manger. He hasn't had a winning season as the Rockies' manager, and has taken the team to two straight last-place finishes in the division, despite relatively good play earlier in the season. I frankly don't see this Rockies team doing anything meaningful under the uninspiring leadership of Clint Hurdle. But O'Dowd made it clear that if he's gonna stay, Hurdle's staying with him.

I say let Quirk be the manager. Let Hurdle go interview.

But in the meantime, we're going to get our first look at Jennings' replacement, Jason Hirsch, who squares off against Greg Maddux for the beginning of our road trip, the first stop being a 3-game series in SD. Then, it's off to LA to ruin their home opener. Then, down to Phoenix for the Diamondbacks to attempt to claim revenge.

But in the meantime, keep checking back, and we'll try and keep posting and keep you knee deep in Rockies information. Until next time!

Lord, do I hate the Diamondbacks.

2006-07-22T22:46:00.000-06:00

No fancy header with standings today, you have an idea of what they may be.

I'm just going to put up some numbers.

I'll comment on them in the next writing.

Last 12 games: 1-11, 2 sweeps

During those last 12 games:

*Batting Stats*
*	H-ABs	BA	BBs	OBP	Runs	RBIs
Carroll	11-47	.234	9	.357	5	5
Barmes	13-40	.325	4	.386	6	5
Helton	7-42	.167	4	.239	3	5
Holliday	9-43	.209	3	.261	4	3
Atkins	16-43	.372	5	.438	11	5
Hawpe	9-37	.243	4	.317	3	1
Torrealba	9-35	.257	1	.317	7	9
Freeman	8-22	.364	3	.440	4	4
Sullivan	6-22	.273	1	.304	3	2

*Pitching Stats*
*	IP	ER	ERA	K	BB	Wins	Losses	Saves	Blown Saves
Jennings	20.0	9	4.05	14	6	0	2	--	--
Cook	18.0	9	4.50	4	6	0	1	--	--
Francis	13.0	5	3.46	11	3	1	1	--	--
Fogg	13.0	4	2.77	8	3	0	0	--	--
Kim	12.0	6	4.50	10	4	0	2	--	--
Ramirez	4.0	0	0.00	4	4	0	0	0	0
Martin	4.2	4	7.71	4	2	0	0	0	0
King	2.0	2	9.00	1	1	0	0	0	0
Mesa	6.1	5	7.10	0	2	0	2	0	2
Dohmann	2.1	4	15.43	1	2	0	1	0	0
Cortes	1.1	0	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fuentes (CL)	3.0	9	27.00	4	2	0	2	0	1

Note: Scott Dohmann, David Cortes sent to AAA Colorado Springs

Still in the hunt

2006-07-21T07:20:00.000-06:00

Date: 7/21/2006
Position: 5th NL West
Games Back: 4.5
Elimination Number: 64

For those of you who haven't been keeping up with the Rockies, I'll begin by rehashing the ups and downs of the past 2 weeks.

UPs: Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes were both selected for the All-Star game. Fuentes pitched a scoreless 6th inning, and Matt Holliday went 0-3 in RF.

Since the Rockies last won a series, the Starting Pitchers have compiled an ERA of 3.31 in 65.1IP.

Yorvit Torrealba has turned his game around, batting .314 with 8 runs and 9RBI in his last 10 games, seeing his BA jump from .200 to .250. While I was down on Torrealba earlier, I think he's snapped out of his funk and is displaying the bat that we expected to see when he was signed on. Torrealba has also caught 7/14 potential basestealers, making him, by far, the best at picking off on the staff.

Additionally, Barmes has slowly started batting again, but I still say ship him off. Lugo's available, right?

DOWNs: Everything else. The bats have been silent for the starters, and the bullpen has been absolutely awful.

And by awful, I mean that Scott Dohmann and David Cortes were sent down. Dohmann's ERA had started crawling up, despite the fact that most of the earned runs had come off of Ray King failing to strand inherited baserunners.

Manual Corpas, Jason Smith, and Ryan Shealy were all brought up.

NOTE - this posting will be cut short due to lack of motivation and joy.

Apologies

2006-07-14T08:26:00.000-06:00

To my (any) readers -

Sorry about the lack of posting activity of late. My computer is in the shop for the time being, and any updates I make are from my computer at work.

As soon as my computer returns, I'll back, updating every game.

Until then, I'll throw a few more updates in.

Ray King is still terrible in my mind. Watching the Rockies down 3-4 to the Reds in the 8th last night, Scott Dohmann gave up a solo shot to Griffey, which almost missed, by the way (hit the foul pole), before getting to 2 outs with men on 1st and 2nd. Rather than trusting Dohmann to get himself of of the jam, Hurdle decided to go with Unreliable Lefty, Ray King, to face a right-hander. King gave up a single to the first batter faced to score 1 run, and then a 3-run homer to put the game out of the Rockies reach. He then put 2 more men on base before finally getting a groundout. The Rockies came back 4 runs in the top of the ninth, but too much damage had been done.

As a note, I am fully of the opinion that Hurdle pulls relievers entirely too fast. Someone on the Rockies homepage forums alerted me to this, I'd never really thought about it before.

Example: the earlier paragraph. Whether or not Dohmann could get himself out of the jam he'd put himself in, I don't know. But Hurdle showed zero confidence in Dohmann, and Dohmann had to suffer 2 more earned runs because of King's incompetence on the mound. I really feel that Dohmann could've gotten out of that jam with minimal damage.

Although, if Dohmann had gotten out of the jam, the score would still have been 5-3, and we might've seen Guardado earlier than we expected, and we wouldn't have been able to rough up a Reds' RP for 4 runs.

The point is, Hurdle isn't letting relievers clean up their own messses. With the exception of King. I think Hurdle leaving him in after giving up 4 runs is a way of punishing him.

Bottom line is, we need another lefty who isn't Ray King in our bullpen.

I'll try and update again sometime soon, but no promises.

Tonight, Jason Jennings (6-6, 3.67) will start against Reds' Strikeout Master Aaron Harang (9-6, 3.70). Last time Harang faced the Rox, he managed a career-high 12 strikeouts. He has pitched pretty consistent ball his last 10 starts, seeing his 3.70 ERA waver between 3.40 and 3.92. Jennings, on the other side, has not allowed more than 2ER in his last 5 starts, including 15 innings of shutout ball between Washington and Oakland.

Expect a lot of K's from Harang, and 6-7 innings of solid ball from Jennings. I expect a low-scoring game, that's for sure.

Bay vs. Holliday

2006-07-06T14:06:00.000-06:00

Can anyone explain to me what the fuss is over Jason Bay? Why is he so much better than Matt Holliday?!

*Holliday vs. Bay*
*	ABs	BA	HRs	RBIs	Runs	SBs	Home/Away	Strikeouts
Bay	316	.282	20	62	53	6	.273/.291	78
Holliday	322	.339	16	56	60	4	.363/.315	54

Bay is batting a full 57 points BELOW Holliday, he has 6 more RBIs, 7 less runs, 4 more homers and 2 more stolen bases. Bay's OBP is a full .005 over Holliday's(.391 - .386). Matt also hit slightly bigger, as his OPS is 59 points higher than Bay's (.979 - .920). Splits? Give me a break. Holliday is batting better than Bay both home AND away. Holliday has more ABs, and he even strikes out less.

So, therefore, Holliday hits more than Bay, hits better than Bay, and is younger than Bay. Bay has a couple more RBIs, which may be competely different in 3 games.

East Coast Bias is all I can think. Nobody takes the Rockies seriously because A. They're such a young team, and notorious for losing, and B. They're in the NL West, which, despite how close it is, is completely swept under the rug by the Mets and the entire AL. The WORST TEAM IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL is getting better attention than the Rockies. "Oh, it's just the humidor, no need to take them seriously!"

I'm not even really referring to specific All-Star votes. It's more just the lack of recognition. Everybody considers Bay to be just so much better, and I completely disagree.

Source of disdain and anger: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sportingnewsmidseasonall&prov=tsn&type=lgns

5 series in a row!

2006-07-06T07:26:00.000-06:00

Date: 7/6/2006
Position: T-1st NL West
Games Back: -
Magic Number: 77

Apologies for the lack of updates, a trip to Houston combined with shipping my computer in for warranty work resulted in not being able to write about our team.

To start, Seattle.

The Rockies came into Seattle after 3 series wins against the A's, Rangers, and Angels. Looking to finish off Interleague play in good form, Josh Fogg led off the series with a 1 hour, 52 minute complete game shutout, the shortest in Rockies' history. The Mariners struck back, rallying from a 7-2 deficit to take game 2 8-7. Late-inning bats arrived in game 3 to steal the 3rd game, and the series, from the Mariners.

After coming back off of their AL West road trip, the Rockies stayed in good form, taking the first series of the 6-game homestand from the San Francisco Giants.

Game 1, Aaron Cook allowed 4 runs in 6.1 innings, and the Rockies carried a 5-4 lead into the 8th, where Ramon Ramirez and Ray King gave up the lead and allowed a total of 3 runs. David Cortes then topped it off by giving up a 2-run homer to complete the 6-9 loss.

Game 2, the Rockies rebounded, and despite a 2-hour rain delay, pitched 8 innings of shutout ball before a solo shot from Lance Niekro in the 9th to finish the game 6-1. Francis allowed 1 hit over 5 innings, Tom Martin 1 hit over 2, Mesa 1 hit in the 8th (along with 2 walks), and Ramirez 1 hit...a home run over the left field wall. Ramirez has allowed 8 ER in his last 9IP, raising his season ERA to 2.75, and proving that the Rookie is, in fact, mortal.

Game 3, Josh Fogg came back out in excellent form, allowing 2 runs and 7 hits over 7 innings pitched. The Rockies had a 4-run 2nd inning, and Josh Fogg had his first hit of the year in the bottom of the 6th to add another run. King pitched a scoreless, hitless 8th (I'm as surprised as you!) and Fuentes gave up a solo home run to catcher Eliezer Alfonzo (his second of the game) on route to his 16th save of the year.

In other news, Luis González has been recalled and Ryan Spillborghs send down. Why? My only guess is to keep Spillborghs playing. Spillborghs has the potential of starting in CF or RF, whereas González has more the look of a Utility infielder.

The entire pitching staff has been commendable, if not very good these past 2 series. The starters have, for the most part, given the bats enough breathing room to take games away, and the bullpen, while not as lights-out as they were earlier in the season, is staying solid: where one pitcher falters, another steps up to pick up the slack. Example, Ray King, beside being a constant reason to criticize the bullpen, has struggled as of late, what with his inability to strand inherited baserunners and all, whereas Tom Martin has stepped up his performance and become a solid reliever once again.

Taking another series at home is good for the momentum, as the Arizona Diamondbacks are coming in hopes to reclaim their 1st place spot in the division. Friday evening, Byung-Hyun Kim (5-4, 4.83) will lead off the series against Miguel Batista (8-5, 4.94). Kim has a career ERA of 7.88 against the Diamondbacks, but is posting a 3.26 ERA at home over 6 starts. Batista is posing a career ERA of 5.56 against the Rox, with a 3.99 ERA on the road this year; however, he has also allowed 6 or more runs in 3 of his last 5 starts. If the Rockies can take advantage of Batista's recent struggles, they have a good chance of starting this series off well.

So until then, Rockies fans, enjoy the game, Good Luck, and GO ROCKIES!!!

Who is this guy and what did he do with Josh Fogg?

2006-06-30T23:40:00.000-06:00

Date: 7/1/2006
Position: T-2nd NL West
Games Back: 1.0
Elimination Number: 83

Quick update from Houston, Josh Fogg pitched a complete-game shutout in a record 1:52, the fastest in Rockies history. Fogg faced all of 27 batters (and for you mathematicians, that's the minimum amount you can face), including 1 walk, 2 hits, and 3 double plays.

Brad Hawpe provided all the offense, singling and then being driven in by Carroll, and later hitting a solo home run.

Normally, this would be a game that you talk about Jamie Moyer being the winner, scattering 5 hits and allowing 2 runs in his complete-game effort.

However, Fogg outshone Moyer tonight, allowing only the 2 hits and 0 runs.

Tomorrow, Byung-Hyun Kim (5-4, 4.31) will take the mound against Joel Piñeiro (6-7, 5.38) in a bid to take the series from the Mariners, and come out far, far ahead in interleague play. Having already knocked down the Mariners' Ace, hopefully the rest of the series will fall like Dominoes.

Until next time, Rockies fans, good night, Good Luck, and GO ROCKIES!!!

Response

2006-06-29T07:58:00.000-06:00

"Please tell me you're joking about the Zito trade. First, Shealy is an unproven talent and Barmes has only proven that he's inconsistent.
Second, in your second trade you propose the Rockies trading one of their draft picks, that's not possible either b/c baseball doesn't allow teams to trade picks.
If you're gonna propose a trade at least make it believable for the Rockies to land Zito they would have to give up Ian Stewart or Troy Tulowitzki and one of their top pitching prospects at a minimum."

Having not watched the Free Agent market as much as I should have, I didn't realize that Zito is a free agent at the end of this season. So unless the Rockies suddenly made a rush to a 10-game lead, and put themselves in serious playoff contention, this WOULD, in fact, be a bad trade. If they were seriously interested in Zito, making a move over the offseason would be a better idea.

In regards to giving up prospects, I'd almost suggest passing along Atkins before Stewart. If we can't find anywhere to put Atkins, we'll end up with another Shealy-Helton type situation, and if O'Dowd decides to go with Stewart for the future, we might as well get value for Atkins.

In regards to Shealy, recall last season when Helton made his first-ever trip to the DL. Shealy was called up, and played a very excellent 1B in Helton's absence. Shealy was also brought up as the DH during the 2005 interleague play. So while Shealy still lacks an entire season's experience in the majors, he showcased a firey bat and good defensive play at 1B to anyone watching. If this Zito trade is not to happen (which it probably won't just a pipe dream), perhaps we should shop towards Seattle, or another team hurting for a 1B with Shealy's skills.

For anyone suggesting that Zito in Coors would end up another Hampton or Neagle, I remind them of the fact that breakers are breaking again, thanks to our field-leveler, the Humidor. Imagine how well Neagle or Hampton might have pitched if they had the benefit of balls that break and fly balls that didn't land in the stands.

Thanks for the comment, I'm glad to see somebody's reading this!

Another AL West team bites the dust

2006-06-29T07:22:00.000-06:00

Date: 6/29/2006
Position: T-2nd NL West
Games Back: 1.5
Elimination Number: 84

For those of you not sold on Jorge Piedra, I'd like to use this series to cite specific examples.

In Game 1, after the lead was blown by the bullpen, Piedra knocked a first pitch of F. Rodriguez to bring the Rockies within 1.

Game 2, Piedra went 2-5 with a run and an RBI.

Game 3, after the lead was blown, the Rockies squeaked one more run out of Garrett Atkins before getting the bases loaded on a walk to Brad Hawpe. Piedra then came up and pounded one into deep right center, one of the notorious power lanes at Angel Stadium, clearing the bases and solidifying the Rockies' position with a 4-run lead.

As exciting of a win as this was, the Rockies again failed to provide Jeff Francis with any run support. The Rox had 2 runs going into the top of the seventh, where Francis found himself with 2 outs, a runner on 2nd, and a struggling Vlad Guerrero at the plate. Hurdle, trusting a pitch count of 112 rather than his young southpaw's ability to get himself out of this jam so late in the game, turned to Ramon Ramirez to get the final out.

Now, if you read my additional note from yesterday, you'll see my problem with this situation. To quote,

"...Ramon Ramirez, who will either strike/pop out the next batter, or give up a single. Ramirez seems like the type of pitcher who needs an inning to himself, so he can give up that single and then work around it without letting runs in."

So while the Rockies ended up with the lead and the win, which is the most important thing in a division so tight, the Rockies failed to produce early for Francis, who pitched 6.2 innings of 1-run ball in this winning effort with nothing to show for it.

Hurdle, in my humble opinion, should have turned to David Cortes or Tom Martin, neither of whom have had much playing time lately. (Martin has not given up a run since June 3rd against the Marlins.) Hurdle has been overly reliant on Mesa and Ramirez of late, which I think is starting to show with their sub-par performances. Mesa pitched well last night, yes, and Ramirez by himself hasn't really given up any runs, but with such an excellent bullpen, Hurdle is going to have to start using all of his options, or else the pen is going to start getting rusty.

Friday, the Rockies will start their closing series of interleague play against the Seattle Mariners, where Josh Fogg (5-5, 5.08) will try and start things off right against Jamie Moyer (5-6, 3.51). Seattle has been playing excellent ball as of late, taking 8 of 10 against the NL West.

Basically, the Rockies and Mariners have been playing equally well against each other's divisions. The Mariners swept the Giants, took 2 of 3 from the Dodgers, Padres, and are about to do the same tonight against the struggling Diamondbacks. Meanwhile, the Rockies swept the Blue Jays (not AL West, but sweeping an AL East team? I'll take it.), took 2 of 3 from the Angels, Rangers, and Athletics. All the interleague steam will have built up for both of these teams, and when they collide, it'll either be some great baseball...or a trainwreck.

Some players the Rockies will have to watch out for include Ichiro, for obvious reasons. Also, Kenji Johjima, who sent 2 yard and drove in 5 on Tuesday night. Left Fielder Raul Ibanez is proving quite the threat as well this year, comprising a .288 average with 16 homers and 62 RBI.

So while many other teams may shake, quake, and collapse in the face of interleague play, the Rockies have been standing up strong and showing the AL that the NL isn't just a league of pushovers. Nuts to your moneyball play, the Rox can manufacture runs like it's going out of style (which it very well might be)!

So until next time, Rockies fans, enjoy the game on Friday, as I'll be missing the series while I'm in Houston for the weekend. But for now, I just wanna say enjoy the series, Good Luck, and GO ROCKIES!!!

King then Ramirez? Not liking it.

2006-06-28T10:11:00.000-06:00

As an additional few comments, I've noticed a trend when the bullpen is blowing the game.

Ray King comes in, and will either walk a few or get himself into a jam. Then, when the lead is about to be blow, Hurdle pulls King and goes to Ramon Ramirez, who will either strike/pop out the next batter, or give up a single. Ramirez seems like the type of pitcher who needs an inning to himself, so he can give up that single and then work around it without letting runs in.

It's similar to Brian Fuentes. Fuentes tends to walk one or two and give up a hit, but will then get the clutch strikeout to end the game.

This is why it's key for the Rockies to have a lead going into the later innings of the game. That way, you can have Ramirez, Mesa, and Fuentes pitch their 7th, 8th, and 9th with no hassles.

We've only seen the bullpen in strange situations lately, as well. The Rockies haven't really carried a 3-run lead into the 7th, it's either tied up or a blowout, one way or another. We've been seeing more of Martin as well.

Strangely enough, we haven't seen Cortes pitch much as of late.

Other Rockies news, Shealy is being eyeballed by the Baltimore Orioles. Who we'd receive in trade, I don't know, but the point is that we need to get value for him, somehow. He's stuck behind Helton, and the OF isn't going to work for him.

I propose Clint Barmes and Ryan Shealy for Barry Zito. That, or Barmes, Shealy, Mike Esposito, a 20th round pick for Barry Zito and Bobby Crosby.

Just a thought.

See you tomorrow, Rockies fans!

Continuing AL West Dominance, the Colorado Rockies

2006-06-28T07:28:00.000-06:00

Date: 6/28/2006
Position: 3rd NL West
Games Back: 1.5
Elimination Number: 85

As Ray King grounded Adam Kennedy out to short, Aaron Cook breathed a sigh of relief. Not over Ray King, who allowed a solo homer over 2IP, but finished the game well. Not over the offense, which pounded in 12 runs to the Angels' 4.

Aaron Cook breathed that sigh of relief over the Win, his first in over a month. Not for any lack of effort, however. Aaron Cook (along with Jeff Francis) is one of the least run-supported pitchers in the majors.

But not on Tuesday night.

The Angels struck first with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st on 3 hits.

And then the Rockies proceeded to score runs in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th innings. Mostly singles and doubles, as well, including 3 doubles from Matt Holliday, 2 resulting in him being driven in for runs.

Atkins and Barmes had big nights as well, Atkins going 2-5 with 3RBIs and 2 runs, Barmes 2-4 with 1 run and 3 RBIs. Interestingly, Barmes, despite his .212 average, is 4th on the team for RBIs with 41. His defensive prowess and apparent ability to hit in the clutch is what is keeping Barmes in the lineup on a daily basis.

It also should be noted that the Rockies have scored early in nearly all of their last several games, within the 1st or 2nd inning. It's been a struggle for the Rockies all season, making their starting pitchers go 6-7 innings on no runs' support, maybe tallying 1 or 2 in the 5th-7th inning, oftentimes leaving an excellent starter without a decision. And while I can't say that they're doing a completely splendid job of it, scoring in the early innings helps the starter's confidence and helps them take command of a game.

I'd like to come out again and say that the bats are back. The Rockies are producing more runs than before, not leaving quite as many runners aboard, and helping win games for their starters.

Tonight will be a big challenge. Firstly, because we have struggled as a team against the Angels. Secondly, despite all the writing done about how the Rockies will not support Aaron Cook on the mound, they've somehow given Jeff Francis even less run support. Only by like .10 runs, but you have to realize that Cook and Francis are both sitting at under 3.75 runs/start for support (before last night's game).

The Rockies will hope to rectify this tonight in the series finale against the Angels. Francis (5-7, 4.37) will attempt to win his 6th of the season to join Cook and Jennings in the 6-win club against Ervin Santana (8-3, 4.03). Santana has never faced the Rockies, and has pitched EXCELLENT ball this season. Santana has only allowed more than 3 ER 4 times this season, in 15 starts, the most being 6 against Toronto back in the beginning of May in a 3-13 routing.

Francis has also never started against the Angels, and has been roughed up his last two outings, allowing 11 ER over 11.2 IP, watching his ERA jump into the low 4's. Francis is looking for a hot start to bring him another win, lower his ERA, and most importantly, take the series for the Rockies.

So until next time, Rockies fans, enjoy the game, Good Luck, and GO ROCKIES!!!