Marking Time

It's always funny watching the reactions of fans to the day to day ups and downs of a sports team, but it's even funnier to watch sports reporters especially the beat reporters do it.

After Olivo's HR beat the Phillies they latched onto Jim Tracy's "turning point" comment and mused about the coming good times. And after the Rockies literally got swamped by the Nationals last night, it's all about the starting pitching, and any momentum from Wednesday is gone, ignoring the fact that the Bullpen gave up 8 of the 14 runs in what I will refer to as "the game that should have never started."

First of all here is the "Turning Point" comment according to Dave Krieger of the Post: "There are games that spearhead a club and trigger a club in the direction that you know it's more than capable of going," Tracy said. "And this one may be just that one that we were looking for. We're not at full strength just yet, but as I've said, nobody's complaining about it."

Key words: "may be". Or "Maybe not".

Truth is, the Rockies have neither been sensational or awful in the first 6 weeks. Over the first 34 games, they have never been better than 2 games over .500 and never worse than 2 games under .500. Their longest winning streak has been 3 games, and their longest losing streak is also 3 games. They have yet sweep a series, but have yet to be swept.

You could say the Rockies have no real direction so far.

The Starting Rotation should get back to some semblance of order this weekend, dropping out Greg Smith and adding Jason Hammel and Jeff Francis. Give them each a couple of starts, see how Chacin rebounds in his next start and by the time the Rockies return from Kansas City next weekend, we'll have a better idea about the direction they are going.

PHANTOM TRANSACTIONS It was reported Wednesday in the MLB Transaction report that Hammel had been activated from the DL and then Mora was on the DL saving Eric Young from being sent to the minors. It turns out now that EY is going on the DL. But none of the above transactions have actually taken place (although the first two appear in the Rockies Transactions on their website


When all is said and done though, the Rockies current 25 Man Roster is this:
Starting Pitchers
Jimenez,
Cook,
Chacin,
Rogers,
Smith,

Relief Pitchers
Beimel,
Belisle,
Daley,
Betancourt,
Flores,
Corpas

Catchers
Olivo,
Phillips

Infielders
Helton,
Barmes,
Tulowitzki,
Stewart,
Giambi,
Mora

Outfielders
Gonzalez,
Fowler,
Hawpe,
Smith,
Spillborghs,
Young

Hammel and Francis should be added this weekend with Young, and one of the relievers deactivating.