Opinions about the Rockies

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

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!

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?!

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!

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.

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

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

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

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!