The Rockies may have only gone 3-3 over the past week, but it's clear that their Hitting is starting to sizzle. After scoring 3 or less runs in 15 of 17 games, the Rockies have now had 5 or more runs in 8 of the last 9, a period in which they are 6-3.
The Rockies have found over the last several years that interleague play can be a big boost. Although the Rockies had their first inter-league game of the season last night, the rest of the division played 3 games in May while the Rockies were swept by the Brewers. Last night the NL went 4-10 against the Junior Circuit, with the Rockies, D-Backs, Cubs, and Nationals winning. I find myself rooting for the AL in the non-Rockies games, because we don't actually compete with the AL for playoff spots. Another reason I don't really like Interleague games.
The Rockies are now 29-8 at Home against the AL in the past 6 seasons and 49-30 overall.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Winning Streaks
The Rockies managed to hold on to a 6-5 win last night to get their 3rd winning streak of more than two games. The first two were their first two winning streaks of the year--a 4 and a 7 game winning streak en route to a 11-2 start.
Since then, the Rockies have won 2 consecutive games only twice, going 17-30 with 15 individual wins. Their longest losing streak this year has been 4 games (twice) and 3 games (twice).
If you can take a positive away from the winning streak drought, then you can take heart in the fact that nobody in the West or even the entire NL has run away with anything. Not one Major League team is over .600 going into Saturday's action. That has never been the case on June 10th, since before the Rockies came into the Major Leagues. This works in their favor if they are indeed in the middle of a turnaround.
Last night the Rockies strung together 6 consecutive singles scoring 4 runs and scored another on the 6th single in 8 batters. Just an example of how little hits can be productive. It also helped to have an error and a wild pitch, but contrast the game where they got 14 hits and only 1 Run on May 30th. In fact the Rockies over the past 3 games have had only 2 Home Runs both Solos, among their 40 hits scoring 23 runs. In the previous 9 games the Rockies scored a total of 16 runs with four home runs.
Since then, the Rockies have won 2 consecutive games only twice, going 17-30 with 15 individual wins. Their longest losing streak this year has been 4 games (twice) and 3 games (twice).
If you can take a positive away from the winning streak drought, then you can take heart in the fact that nobody in the West or even the entire NL has run away with anything. Not one Major League team is over .600 going into Saturday's action. That has never been the case on June 10th, since before the Rockies came into the Major Leagues. This works in their favor if they are indeed in the middle of a turnaround.
Last night the Rockies strung together 6 consecutive singles scoring 4 runs and scored another on the 6th single in 8 batters. Just an example of how little hits can be productive. It also helped to have an error and a wild pitch, but contrast the game where they got 14 hits and only 1 Run on May 30th. In fact the Rockies over the past 3 games have had only 2 Home Runs both Solos, among their 40 hits scoring 23 runs. In the previous 9 games the Rockies scored a total of 16 runs with four home runs.
Friday, June 3, 2011
The Flip in the Standings
Exactly 4 weeks ago, the Rockies headed into San Francisco sporting a 4 game lead over the 2nd Place Giants. The Giants promptly swept the 3 game series and have been rolling since going 16-9 in the past month. The Rockies as we know have gone in the opposite direction, going 8-18 in the past 4 weeks.
Tonight the Rockies head into San Francisco, trailing the 1st Place Giants by 4.5 games. Although not a must win situation for the Rockies, it's imperative that they avoid being swept again. By Sunday, they could be either 1.5 games or 7.5 games behind the Giants depending on the results, and they will not see them again until September 15th.
Tonight the Rockies head into San Francisco, trailing the 1st Place Giants by 4.5 games. Although not a must win situation for the Rockies, it's imperative that they avoid being swept again. By Sunday, they could be either 1.5 games or 7.5 games behind the Giants depending on the results, and they will not see them again until September 15th.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
It's J--imenez, U--baldo's N--ifty E--ffort!
Ok, so it's a new month and only one game, but it was great to see the old Ubaldo back. Getting his 2nd complete game of the season but only his first win.
It's hard to lose a shutout, and the Rockies only managed 3 runs on offense, but it's a win nonetheless.
An off day today, followed by 3 crucial games by the Bay. Juan Nicasio gets his 2nd start on Friday against Matt Cain.
STATS: The Rockies last won 3 games in a row April 13-15 at the tail end of their 7 game winning streak through Pittsburgh, New York and the first game against Chicago...The Rockies continue to score rather consistently during the first 8 innings, Ranging from 36 runs in the 1st Inning to 23 in the 8th, but still have only scored 3 runs in the 9th inning. Totals in inning order 36-30-25-30-29-32-34-23-3. Meanwhile the opponents are scattered from 17 to 36 runs in any given inning: 36-20-35-28-20-25-30-19-17...Only 13 of the Rockies first 55 games have been decided after the 6th inning. That means that 76% of the time you can turn off the game at the end of the 6th and know the decision...But wait, 5 of those games were tied going into the 7th inning and in 2 the team leading after 6 still won, so with 1 team leading after 6 innings you've known the outcome 88% of the time..The Rockies still have not had a walk-off win after 28 Home games...There have been 0 Grand Slams by the Rockies or their Opponents 1/3 of the way through the season...The Rockies have 10 3-Run, and 11 2-Run Homers to go with their 32 Solo Homers. That's 21 multi-run Homers vs. 32 Solo's.
It's hard to lose a shutout, and the Rockies only managed 3 runs on offense, but it's a win nonetheless.
An off day today, followed by 3 crucial games by the Bay. Juan Nicasio gets his 2nd start on Friday against Matt Cain.
STATS: The Rockies last won 3 games in a row April 13-15 at the tail end of their 7 game winning streak through Pittsburgh, New York and the first game against Chicago...The Rockies continue to score rather consistently during the first 8 innings, Ranging from 36 runs in the 1st Inning to 23 in the 8th, but still have only scored 3 runs in the 9th inning. Totals in inning order 36-30-25-30-29-32-34-23-3. Meanwhile the opponents are scattered from 17 to 36 runs in any given inning: 36-20-35-28-20-25-30-19-17...Only 13 of the Rockies first 55 games have been decided after the 6th inning. That means that 76% of the time you can turn off the game at the end of the 6th and know the decision...But wait, 5 of those games were tied going into the 7th inning and in 2 the team leading after 6 still won, so with 1 team leading after 6 innings you've known the outcome 88% of the time..The Rockies still have not had a walk-off win after 28 Home games...There have been 0 Grand Slams by the Rockies or their Opponents 1/3 of the way through the season...The Rockies have 10 3-Run, and 11 2-Run Homers to go with their 32 Solo Homers. That's 21 multi-run Homers vs. 32 Solo's.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Miserable May Ends 8-21
I've watched baseball for a long time, and I can never remember a team with so much promise having such a horrible month. I've seen bad teams have months like this, but this is hardly a bad team--or is it?
A lot of people are talking about turning the page to June, as if somehow magically with a new month comes new ability or luck. There is nothing that I've witnessed lately that indicates this team will play better. In fact, as much as I hate to say it, this team looks beat.
1. Gonzalez and Fowler collide in the outfield on Monday, letting a ball drop. This is not only fundamentally unsound, the fact that it happened 50 games into the season is inexcusable, and indicates lack of focus.
2. Troy Tulowitski is constantly chirping with the home plate umpires about bad calls, some warranted, but many are good pitches. This is not a leader, it's a chronic complainer. Man up and take the lead. Also a lack of focus.
3. Seth Smith overruns 2nd base with the play in front of him last week. Smith has been arguably one of a very few bright lights this season both in the field and at bat, but this is also showing a lack of focus.
4. Pitchers have very few "clean" innings. By that, I mean 1, 2, 3. They rely a lot on Double Plays to get them out of jams, but if the pitchers wouldn't constantly get into jams, especially with the significant rise in walks this past month. I'd say rarely do the Rockies have more than 2 defensive 1, 2, 3 innings in a game. In the meantime offensively, they seem to go 1,2,3--5 or 6 times a game.
There is absolutely no outward signs of life in the veterans or manager of this team. The one spark that I see is the exuberance of Eric Young, Jr, Chris Nelson, and a couple of the new pitchers they've brought up in the past week.
The season is not yet lost, but this team has to turn everything around quickly and that will be a daunting task. The saving grace is that no other team in the NL West has yet to run away yet. At this point last year the Rockies were also 4 games behind, but were at 27-24. In 2009, they were 20-29, 13.5 games behind and in 2007, they were 25-29 and 6.5 games out.
A lot of people are talking about turning the page to June, as if somehow magically with a new month comes new ability or luck. There is nothing that I've witnessed lately that indicates this team will play better. In fact, as much as I hate to say it, this team looks beat.
1. Gonzalez and Fowler collide in the outfield on Monday, letting a ball drop. This is not only fundamentally unsound, the fact that it happened 50 games into the season is inexcusable, and indicates lack of focus.
2. Troy Tulowitski is constantly chirping with the home plate umpires about bad calls, some warranted, but many are good pitches. This is not a leader, it's a chronic complainer. Man up and take the lead. Also a lack of focus.
3. Seth Smith overruns 2nd base with the play in front of him last week. Smith has been arguably one of a very few bright lights this season both in the field and at bat, but this is also showing a lack of focus.
4. Pitchers have very few "clean" innings. By that, I mean 1, 2, 3. They rely a lot on Double Plays to get them out of jams, but if the pitchers wouldn't constantly get into jams, especially with the significant rise in walks this past month. I'd say rarely do the Rockies have more than 2 defensive 1, 2, 3 innings in a game. In the meantime offensively, they seem to go 1,2,3--5 or 6 times a game.
There is absolutely no outward signs of life in the veterans or manager of this team. The one spark that I see is the exuberance of Eric Young, Jr, Chris Nelson, and a couple of the new pitchers they've brought up in the past week.
The season is not yet lost, but this team has to turn everything around quickly and that will be a daunting task. The saving grace is that no other team in the NL West has yet to run away yet. At this point last year the Rockies were also 4 games behind, but were at 27-24. In 2009, they were 20-29, 13.5 games behind and in 2007, they were 25-29 and 6.5 games out.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Bizarro World Continues
As the bizarre season of the Colorado Rockies continues, last night the bats gathered 14 hits against the Dodgers, resulting in err, ONE Run. Meanwhile the Dodgers put together 11 hits and managed to scrape out SEVEN runs.
The Rockies got at least two base runners on base in all but the 6th inning. In the first 3 innings, they had a runner get to at least 2nd base--in the 2nd and 3rd innings, they were there with ZERO outs. And of course no runs scored.
The only run came on a 2-out solo Home Run by Ty Wiggington in the 4th inning.
The Rockies got at least two base runners on base in all but the 6th inning. In the first 3 innings, they had a runner get to at least 2nd base--in the 2nd and 3rd innings, they were there with ZERO outs. And of course no runs scored.
The only run came on a 2-out solo Home Run by Ty Wiggington in the 4th inning.
Monday, May 30, 2011
The Road Awaits...
The Rockies missed a chance to turn things around with 15 or 20 at home over the past 3 weeks. They crumbled further going a woeful 7-13 during that stretch.
Now they are faced with the prospect of turning things around while being on the road. Today starts a 9 game California swing to 3 NL West opponents, starting in LA. The Dodgers like the Rockies are 13-15 at Home. The Giants are 13-8 while the Padres are 9-20.
Now they are faced with the prospect of turning things around while being on the road. Today starts a 9 game California swing to 3 NL West opponents, starting in LA. The Dodgers like the Rockies are 13-15 at Home. The Giants are 13-8 while the Padres are 9-20.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
The Blowout
You knew the possibility existed. Bringing up a Double-A pitcher for a spot start was dangerous. You hope for decent start to tide you over, especially with the anemic offense the Rockies have been showing, but you also know it's possible it could be a blowout, especially going up against a pitcher who has been one of the best this season going 5-0, 1.98 ERA. The Rockies have made lesser pitchers look like Cy Young this year.
And it turned into a blowout, but not the way you were thinking. A 6 run first Tacos by the end of two innings and a dozen runs scored by the 4th, took a lot of pressure off of Juan Nicasio on Saturday night and he pitched a gem of a ball game getting a 15-4 win. The Rockies have now scored 27 runs in their past two victories, and only 18 in their last 7 losses.
Crazy game baseball.
Nicasio's brilliant outing, just addds more options to the starting pitching staff. The current rotation is Chacin, Hammel, Mortenson, and Jimenez, with Aaron Cook likely joining in sometime this week on the road. Esmil Rogers could come back soon also, which will give the Rockies a decision on Mortenson, as a starter or Greg Reynolds in long relief. It's quite odd to say that the Rockies strength is their starting pitching, but right now, that's the truth.
You had to feel great for Chris Iannetta last night, 4-5, 2 HR and 6 RBI. The guy has been doing little things to help this team all year, and it was great to see him come up big.
A word about the Buster Posey Collision: Much has been said and written about the collision Buster Posey took against Florida's Scott Cousins (video Here). Many are calling it a clean play, and I strongly disagree.
For one thing Posey was not blocking the plate. In fact no part of Posey's body at the time of the collision was on or over the plate. Cousins had plenty of room to slide away from the tag and touch the plate without going near Posey. Cousins was clearly headed toward Posey and not the plate. Unnecessary hit and unnecessary injury. There are plenty of instances where the catcher gives no room to the runner either intentionally (as in Ray Fosse vs. Pete Rose in the 1970 All-Star Game) or inadvertantly (as in the 2007 Tiebreaker game with Matt Holliday and Michael Barrett) where a collision could be warranted to get to the plate but this wasn't it.
Cousins was definitely wrong here and should be disciplined.
As for rule changes, I wouldn't protect catchers anymore than I would protect runners. Josh Hamilton hurt himself coming into the catcher earlier this season. Injuries can happen on either end of the collisions. The only way I would institute a rule change is to force the catcher to give the runner part of the plate and require a runner to avoid a head on collision by sliding on close plays, or avoiding a collision. Without both parties amending their approach, injuries will continue to happen.
And it turned into a blowout, but not the way you were thinking. A 6 run first Tacos by the end of two innings and a dozen runs scored by the 4th, took a lot of pressure off of Juan Nicasio on Saturday night and he pitched a gem of a ball game getting a 15-4 win. The Rockies have now scored 27 runs in their past two victories, and only 18 in their last 7 losses.
Crazy game baseball.
Nicasio's brilliant outing, just addds more options to the starting pitching staff. The current rotation is Chacin, Hammel, Mortenson, and Jimenez, with Aaron Cook likely joining in sometime this week on the road. Esmil Rogers could come back soon also, which will give the Rockies a decision on Mortenson, as a starter or Greg Reynolds in long relief. It's quite odd to say that the Rockies strength is their starting pitching, but right now, that's the truth.
You had to feel great for Chris Iannetta last night, 4-5, 2 HR and 6 RBI. The guy has been doing little things to help this team all year, and it was great to see him come up big.
A word about the Buster Posey Collision: Much has been said and written about the collision Buster Posey took against Florida's Scott Cousins (video Here). Many are calling it a clean play, and I strongly disagree.
For one thing Posey was not blocking the plate. In fact no part of Posey's body at the time of the collision was on or over the plate. Cousins had plenty of room to slide away from the tag and touch the plate without going near Posey. Cousins was clearly headed toward Posey and not the plate. Unnecessary hit and unnecessary injury. There are plenty of instances where the catcher gives no room to the runner either intentionally (as in Ray Fosse vs. Pete Rose in the 1970 All-Star Game) or inadvertantly (as in the 2007 Tiebreaker game with Matt Holliday and Michael Barrett) where a collision could be warranted to get to the plate but this wasn't it.
Cousins was definitely wrong here and should be disciplined.
As for rule changes, I wouldn't protect catchers anymore than I would protect runners. Josh Hamilton hurt himself coming into the catcher earlier this season. Injuries can happen on either end of the collisions. The only way I would institute a rule change is to force the catcher to give the runner part of the plate and require a runner to avoid a head on collision by sliding on close plays, or avoiding a collision. Without both parties amending their approach, injuries will continue to happen.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Opportunities Lost
Hammel gives up ZERO Earned Runs...Jimenez throws a complete game two-hitter...Rockies get 16 hits in one game and twice take the lead in extra innings...De La Rosa throws a complete game giving up one earned run...
These are but a few examples of the bizarre way the Rockies are losing games this season. 7-17 for May is not a pretty sight. It wouldn't be so bad if they were getting beat, but they are throwing way too many games away. In Hammel's game Wednesday, Amezaga's error led to both D-Backs runs scoring. Granted it took a great catch by Chris Young to steal a tying home run from Ty Wiggington, but the fielding has really gone askew this month. So has the base running. So has the bullpen. And it goes without saying that the hitting hasn't been there all season.
The Rockies are taking steps to fix the problems--Morales, Paulino, and Lopez are now gone, so far with nothing in return. More shake-ups may be coming. I won't try to manage by blog, but I do see some possibilities:
1. Put Lindstrom in as the closer for awhile, until Street stops serving up home runs. Maybe even alternate them the rest of the season as setup and closer.
2. End the Giambi experiment. I like him a lot, and his presence has had a positive affect on the younger players, but the guy is taking up a spot that someone from Triple-A could use to help this team in the field or late inning hits, someone like the 2007 version of Seth Smith. Giambi has 6 Home Runs and 3 singles along with 12 K's in 40 AB's. He single-handedly won the game against the Phillies last week, but beyond that he's always up in a situation where you expect a Dinger, and that is just the wrong attitude for a team like this. Look where 12 solo home runs in a row got us. Last night a base hit would have been a big blow in that game.
3. Figure out what you want to do with Fowler. Make him a right-handed hitter, move him down in the line-up, send him back to the minors. Decide and stick to it. He's an enigma, horrible average, good OBP, horrible strikeout count, best hitter with RISP. I want to see him succeed, but it may not be with the Rockies.
The Rockies are quickly approaching a key stretch of the season where they will play 16 straight against the west including a 9 game road trip to California. If they snap out of their funk they could do some damage in the race. If they continue the slide they could be buried. They don't get another shot at the West after June 15th until Late July--but it's another 9 game road trip.
These are but a few examples of the bizarre way the Rockies are losing games this season. 7-17 for May is not a pretty sight. It wouldn't be so bad if they were getting beat, but they are throwing way too many games away. In Hammel's game Wednesday, Amezaga's error led to both D-Backs runs scoring. Granted it took a great catch by Chris Young to steal a tying home run from Ty Wiggington, but the fielding has really gone askew this month. So has the base running. So has the bullpen. And it goes without saying that the hitting hasn't been there all season.
The Rockies are taking steps to fix the problems--Morales, Paulino, and Lopez are now gone, so far with nothing in return. More shake-ups may be coming. I won't try to manage by blog, but I do see some possibilities:
1. Put Lindstrom in as the closer for awhile, until Street stops serving up home runs. Maybe even alternate them the rest of the season as setup and closer.
2. End the Giambi experiment. I like him a lot, and his presence has had a positive affect on the younger players, but the guy is taking up a spot that someone from Triple-A could use to help this team in the field or late inning hits, someone like the 2007 version of Seth Smith. Giambi has 6 Home Runs and 3 singles along with 12 K's in 40 AB's. He single-handedly won the game against the Phillies last week, but beyond that he's always up in a situation where you expect a Dinger, and that is just the wrong attitude for a team like this. Look where 12 solo home runs in a row got us. Last night a base hit would have been a big blow in that game.
3. Figure out what you want to do with Fowler. Make him a right-handed hitter, move him down in the line-up, send him back to the minors. Decide and stick to it. He's an enigma, horrible average, good OBP, horrible strikeout count, best hitter with RISP. I want to see him succeed, but it may not be with the Rockies.
The Rockies are quickly approaching a key stretch of the season where they will play 16 straight against the west including a 9 game road trip to California. If they snap out of their funk they could do some damage in the race. If they continue the slide they could be buried. They don't get another shot at the West after June 15th until Late July--but it's another 9 game road trip.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Coming From Behind
The Rockies have won games after trailing many times this season, most notably the 4 games in New York, when trailing by 2 or more in every game and sweeping the Mets. And on April 10th against Pittsburgh they rallied to beat the Pirates 6-5 by scoring 2 runs in the 7th inning for their only late inning come from behind win.
Before Yesterday. The Rockies rallied in the 8th inning yesterday, scoring 4 runs to sweep the short series with the Giants and regain 1st Place in the NL West. 11 times they went into the 8th inning trailing and had never won. They had lost an additional 7 times when leading or tied after 7 innings, and had only won 3 games in which they were tied after 7 innings.
But the win yesterday represented their first win in their last AB. One significant stat, that I haven't heard mentioned is the Rockies scoring distribution. Last year at this time they had a high early run count and dismal late count as discussed here. This year it's more of a normal distribution, ranging from 17 in the 3rd to 29 in the 6th. Except for the 9th, in which surprisingly, the Rockies have scored a grand total of ONE run.
The Rockies head to Philadelphia, who are also struggling to score runs, and have lost 4 in a row.
Before Yesterday. The Rockies rallied in the 8th inning yesterday, scoring 4 runs to sweep the short series with the Giants and regain 1st Place in the NL West. 11 times they went into the 8th inning trailing and had never won. They had lost an additional 7 times when leading or tied after 7 innings, and had only won 3 games in which they were tied after 7 innings.
But the win yesterday represented their first win in their last AB. One significant stat, that I haven't heard mentioned is the Rockies scoring distribution. Last year at this time they had a high early run count and dismal late count as discussed here. This year it's more of a normal distribution, ranging from 17 in the 3rd to 29 in the 6th. Except for the 9th, in which surprisingly, the Rockies have scored a grand total of ONE run.
The Rockies head to Philadelphia, who are also struggling to score runs, and have lost 4 in a row.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Things are Looking Up!
The Rockies fell out of first place for the first time since April 5th yesterday. But they managed to score 5 runs against the Mets. The last time they scored 5 or more runs in a game and lost was opening day when they lost to Arizona 7-6, but then went on a 11-1 tear.
The Rockies hitting is soooooo due, that the local sportswriters have been talking about their hitting woes for the past 3 weeks, and how they need to start hitting. Well, DUH! The Rockies haven't hit since game 1 except for a rare game here or there, and the hits were timely the first few weeks of the season. Which means, just about everybody will be righting their averages at the same time. Hopefully, the Pitching continues to keep the opposition's batters in check.
The Rockies hitting is soooooo due, that the local sportswriters have been talking about their hitting woes for the past 3 weeks, and how they need to start hitting. Well, DUH! The Rockies haven't hit since game 1 except for a rare game here or there, and the hits were timely the first few weeks of the season. Which means, just about everybody will be righting their averages at the same time. Hopefully, the Pitching continues to keep the opposition's batters in check.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Worst Schedule So Far
has to go to the Giants. When the Rockies visit them Friday night, it will only be their 10th Home game against 22 Road games. They will be coming off a 10 game Road Trip to Pittsburgh, Washington, and New York. They have another 10 gamer, in Mid August.
In June the Giants will play 16 of 22 at home and will be home for 29 of 45 between June 3rd and July 24th.
The Giants have managed to win half of their 22 road games so far, and are only 4-5 at AT&T Park.
Meanwhile, the Padres, D-Backs and Dodgers have had home cooking for the better part of the first 5 weeks, and neither team has taken advantage of it. The Dodgers are 9-9 at home, but have only 14 road games so far in which they are 6-8. Amazingly, they will continue to play more home than away--7A, 7H, 6A, 6H, 10A, 12H, 6A, 7H, 6A, 9H, 6A, 6H through August 14th, Totals: 55A, 65H. But they get their payback in the last 6.5 weeks, with two consecutive 10 game road trips, amid a 26 of 42 to finish the season on the road.
The D-Backs have now played 19 games at home and 11 on the road and are below .500. They have already had a 9 and a 10 game homestand, and they finish the season with 10 at home, and have two more 10 game home stands, one after the all-star break in July and the other on the first home stand of August. That's 49 games on 5 home stands.
Following this Sunday's game the Padres will have played 21 games at home against 13 on the Road. But they have only 19 Home games between June 12th and August 15th. They play 36 Road games in that stretch.
In all, every team will play 81 home and 81 away, but based on the performance so far, and the scheduling, it looks like other than the Rockies, the Giants have the most to gain the rest of the way.
In June the Giants will play 16 of 22 at home and will be home for 29 of 45 between June 3rd and July 24th.
The Giants have managed to win half of their 22 road games so far, and are only 4-5 at AT&T Park.
Meanwhile, the Padres, D-Backs and Dodgers have had home cooking for the better part of the first 5 weeks, and neither team has taken advantage of it. The Dodgers are 9-9 at home, but have only 14 road games so far in which they are 6-8. Amazingly, they will continue to play more home than away--7A, 7H, 6A, 6H, 10A, 12H, 6A, 7H, 6A, 9H, 6A, 6H through August 14th, Totals: 55A, 65H. But they get their payback in the last 6.5 weeks, with two consecutive 10 game road trips, amid a 26 of 42 to finish the season on the road.
The D-Backs have now played 19 games at home and 11 on the road and are below .500. They have already had a 9 and a 10 game homestand, and they finish the season with 10 at home, and have two more 10 game home stands, one after the all-star break in July and the other on the first home stand of August. That's 49 games on 5 home stands.
Following this Sunday's game the Padres will have played 21 games at home against 13 on the Road. But they have only 19 Home games between June 12th and August 15th. They play 36 Road games in that stretch.
In all, every team will play 81 home and 81 away, but based on the performance so far, and the scheduling, it looks like other than the Rockies, the Giants have the most to gain the rest of the way.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Two Keys to the Rockies Continued Success
Chris Iannetta has been the Rockies primary catcher for the past 5 years, starting in 2007. In each year 2007-2010, another catcher has taken over sometime during the season, first Yorvit Torrealba and then last year Miguel Olivo.
This year he's playing without a veteran backup--and he needs to come through.
Ian Stewart has been the "3b of the future" for the past 3 seasons. After a productive 2009, Stewart fell off statistically in 2010. In the spring he got hurt on the first defensive play of spring training which set him back a little bit.
Face it, Neither player will hit better than .260, but both have more contributions on defense than offense and are both desperately needed to produce in 2011 to carry them to a NL West title and beyond.
So far, Iannetta is doing what he needs to do behind the plate. He needs to get much of the credit for handling the pitchers who have had an impressive starts. He calls the game with the best of them, and has thrown out 3 runners so far. He's only batting .188 but has 19 walks giving him an OBP of .388. And his hits have been productive, 8 of his 12 hits are for Extra Bases and he has driven in 12 already.
Stewart meanwhile is coming back from AAA Colorado Springs and is still only batting .097. Ty Wigginton and Jose Lopez are adequate as 3B, but Stewart is far and away the better fielder which he demonstrated again last night, leaping for a line drive. He also won't do any better than .260, but if his power comes back, and he can produce some runs, he will be a mainstay in the lineup, this year and in the future.
This year he's playing without a veteran backup--and he needs to come through.
Ian Stewart has been the "3b of the future" for the past 3 seasons. After a productive 2009, Stewart fell off statistically in 2010. In the spring he got hurt on the first defensive play of spring training which set him back a little bit.
Face it, Neither player will hit better than .260, but both have more contributions on defense than offense and are both desperately needed to produce in 2011 to carry them to a NL West title and beyond.
So far, Iannetta is doing what he needs to do behind the plate. He needs to get much of the credit for handling the pitchers who have had an impressive starts. He calls the game with the best of them, and has thrown out 3 runners so far. He's only batting .188 but has 19 walks giving him an OBP of .388. And his hits have been productive, 8 of his 12 hits are for Extra Bases and he has driven in 12 already.
Stewart meanwhile is coming back from AAA Colorado Springs and is still only batting .097. Ty Wigginton and Jose Lopez are adequate as 3B, but Stewart is far and away the better fielder which he demonstrated again last night, leaping for a line drive. He also won't do any better than .260, but if his power comes back, and he can produce some runs, he will be a mainstay in the lineup, this year and in the future.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Putting the "Struggle" at Home in Perspective
So much attention is paid to the Rockies Historic struggles on the road, that it may be less noticed how much the Rockies struggle at Home as well in April and May. A mention in the paper on Saturday morning, had me scrambling to back up my thinking that the Rockies historically struggle at home early. Part of that may be the colder weather, the sparseness of home games early, but it always seems that the Rockies struggle at home, before turning it on in after Memorial Day.
Keep in mind, that despite their success over the past few years, the Rockies in 2007, 2008, and 2009 hit the 18-27 mark in each of those years. Achieving that low point required the Rockies to play badly at home and away. Even last season, when the low point was only 20-22, the Rockies were 16-12 at home on June 12th. Over the past 4+ years the Rockies have amassed a 55-58 record in April and May at Home vs. 54-69 on the Road (44-66 before this season). From June on, they are 149-76 at Home and 98-116 on the Road.
Yes, the Rockies need to play better at home, but they are not playing unusually bad at home. The fast start on the road just hid it, because there was a huge concentration on the road record, not the early home record.
UPDATE START: On April 14th I mentioned that we would revisit the "Start" on May 1st. Because of the rainout at Wrigley last week the Rockies are still one game short of the first 6th being complete, but the 17-9 record so far is still pretty good. A good read for the Rockies is gaining their 19th win before game 46. An excellent chance the Rocks will achieve that this season. Last year they reached 19 wins in game 37.
Keep in mind, that despite their success over the past few years, the Rockies in 2007, 2008, and 2009 hit the 18-27 mark in each of those years. Achieving that low point required the Rockies to play badly at home and away. Even last season, when the low point was only 20-22, the Rockies were 16-12 at home on June 12th. Over the past 4+ years the Rockies have amassed a 55-58 record in April and May at Home vs. 54-69 on the Road (44-66 before this season). From June on, they are 149-76 at Home and 98-116 on the Road.
Yes, the Rockies need to play better at home, but they are not playing unusually bad at home. The fast start on the road just hid it, because there was a huge concentration on the road record, not the early home record.
UPDATE START: On April 14th I mentioned that we would revisit the "Start" on May 1st. Because of the rainout at Wrigley last week the Rockies are still one game short of the first 6th being complete, but the 17-9 record so far is still pretty good. A good read for the Rockies is gaining their 19th win before game 46. An excellent chance the Rocks will achieve that this season. Last year they reached 19 wins in game 37.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Rockies Finish April 17-8
It certainly wasn't a pretty month, but it was a successful month. The Rockies finished their 2nd best April ever with a win over the Pirates 4-1 on Saturday night. Only 1997 saw a better April, with a 17-7 record, so the 17 wins ties their best April Mark as well.
The Rockies also finished April 7-5 at home which equals their Home record of 2010. A local writer today referred to this as "struggling at home" when in reality, the Rockies rarely get off to a winning record at home early, even though at the end of the season, they usually approach 50 wins or more.
The last time the Rockies had an overall winning April was 2006 when they started off 15-10.
Jim Tracy finally took my advice and dropped Carlos Gonzalez from the 3 hole in the lineup. He only dropped him to 5th, but in his first two at bats he got two hits. The first hit--a double to left field led to 4 runs in the 2nd.
The Rockies have managed to win 17 games 14 by starters, none of them named Ubaldo.
SEASON SERIES: Sunday will be the last game of the season between the Rockies and Pirates and will be the first opponent they are finished with. The Rockies would be done with the Cubs also, but the rainout continued the series to June. Going into May, the Rockies have already clinched 3 season series against the Mets (4-0 with 3 games remaining); Cubs (4-1 with 1 game remaining) and the Pirates (4-2 with 1 game remaining).
The Rockies currently lead in one other series 2-0 vs. the Dodgers with 16 to play.
They are tied with the D-Backs 1-1 with 16 to play, and trail against the Giants (1-2 16 to play) and the Marlins (1-2 with 3 to Play in August @Coors)
The Rockies also finished April 7-5 at home which equals their Home record of 2010. A local writer today referred to this as "struggling at home" when in reality, the Rockies rarely get off to a winning record at home early, even though at the end of the season, they usually approach 50 wins or more.
The last time the Rockies had an overall winning April was 2006 when they started off 15-10.
Jim Tracy finally took my advice and dropped Carlos Gonzalez from the 3 hole in the lineup. He only dropped him to 5th, but in his first two at bats he got two hits. The first hit--a double to left field led to 4 runs in the 2nd.
The Rockies have managed to win 17 games 14 by starters, none of them named Ubaldo.
SEASON SERIES: Sunday will be the last game of the season between the Rockies and Pirates and will be the first opponent they are finished with. The Rockies would be done with the Cubs also, but the rainout continued the series to June. Going into May, the Rockies have already clinched 3 season series against the Mets (4-0 with 3 games remaining); Cubs (4-1 with 1 game remaining) and the Pirates (4-2 with 1 game remaining).
The Rockies currently lead in one other series 2-0 vs. the Dodgers with 16 to play.
They are tied with the D-Backs 1-1 with 16 to play, and trail against the Giants (1-2 16 to play) and the Marlins (1-2 with 3 to Play in August @Coors)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)