No doubt about it, it was an ugly week. The Rockies have now lost 5 of the past 8 games, and their bats have been stifled--three times in the past 6 games they have entered the 6th inning without a hit.
And although their record dropped from 11-2 to 14-7, the Rockies still maintain at least a 3 game lead over the Dodgers and 4 over the Giants. In fact since Friday, April 15th, the Rockies, Giants and D-Backs have all gone 3-5, Padres 2-7. Only the Dodgers have won more than 3 games in the West going 6-3.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Rockies Win; Rest of West Loses
The Rockies regained their 4 game lead on the Giants and Dodgers, as they eeked out 3 runs on a single, Sac Fly and suicide squeeze play as Jason Hammel kept the Marlins at bay. The Rockies prevailed over the Fish 3-1.
Meanwhile, the Giants, D-Backs and Padres all lost for the 3rd time in a row, while the Dodgers lost to the Cubs at Wrigley. Hammel won his 2nd game, and Huston Street shut the Marlins down in order in the 9th, to secure his league leading 7th Save.
Sunday, Ubaldo Jimenez takes on Josh Johnson in the Series Finale.
Meanwhile, the Giants, D-Backs and Padres all lost for the 3rd time in a row, while the Dodgers lost to the Cubs at Wrigley. Hammel won his 2nd game, and Huston Street shut the Marlins down in order in the 9th, to secure his league leading 7th Save.
Sunday, Ubaldo Jimenez takes on Josh Johnson in the Series Finale.
Rockies lose in Florida
Marlins 4 Rockies 1 as Fowler breaks up No-hitter in 9th
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Friday, April 22, 2011
Getting Untracked
It probably sounds absurd to say that a team that is 13-5, needs to play better, but it really feels that way with the Rockies. But then looking at the stats, it seems like they are playing well, it just doesn't feel like it. They are 2nd in the league in runs scored per game, at 5.50 rpg. They are 9th in the league in Average, but 3rd in OBP. It also seems like they are striking out less often, but in reality, their K's per game are slightly higher than last year. And with all the talk of Dexter Fowler's improvement, he leads the team in strikeouts with 22. That's way too many for a leadoff hitter.
The pitching has not been too bad, but it's only average in League terms. ERA is 9th in the league at 3.74. Strikeouts are 12th, Walks are 8th. They are 1st in Wild Pitches.
I point this out not to disparage the team as a half-empty perspective but actually to look at it from a half-full perspective. The wins have depended a lot on their defense and league leading Double Plays. But the 13-5 record including 7 straight wins, has not been because of any kind of solid roll, but because key things happen in each game.
When the Rockies put their hitting and or pitching together consistently with the fielding, this team could go on a serious winning streak.
For now, we can be happy that we are the Rockies at 13-5, rather than the Mets at 6-13.
The pitching has not been too bad, but it's only average in League terms. ERA is 9th in the league at 3.74. Strikeouts are 12th, Walks are 8th. They are 1st in Wild Pitches.
I point this out not to disparage the team as a half-empty perspective but actually to look at it from a half-full perspective. The wins have depended a lot on their defense and league leading Double Plays. But the 13-5 record including 7 straight wins, has not been because of any kind of solid roll, but because key things happen in each game.
When the Rockies put their hitting and or pitching together consistently with the fielding, this team could go on a serious winning streak.
For now, we can be happy that we are the Rockies at 13-5, rather than the Mets at 6-13.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
As Expected: 3 Pitcher's Duels Or Not
16-14
What was expected to be some good pitching matchups instead turned into 3 one-sided games two of them in favor of the Giants. Tim Lincecum lived up to his billing, throwing a no-hitter for 6 1/3 innings in game 1, before the Rockies pieced together two hits to get on the board. But 5 runs in the first and 8 in the first 3 innings was too much to overcome and the Rockies fell 8-1.
Ubaldo Jimenez took the mound in Game 2, and was promptly rocked for 4 runs in the 1st. He settled down for 4 more innings, but the 4 runs were more than Jonathan Sanchez would need, as the Giants won again 6-3.
On Wednesday, Matt Cain waited until the 2nd inning to give up 4 runs, and the Rockies would tack on 6 more to hit double digits in Runs for the first time all season, Rocking the Giants in a 10-2 rout.
The Rockies maintain a 3 game lead over the Giants as they head out for 12 of the next 15 on the Road. Two six game road trips broken up by a 3 game series against the Pirates next weekend. Their next 4 series take place in 4 different time zones, going from Eastern to Pacific in order.
The Rockies will need to prove that the first road trip was not a fluke, and will try to improve on their 7-1 road start.
What was expected to be some good pitching matchups instead turned into 3 one-sided games two of them in favor of the Giants. Tim Lincecum lived up to his billing, throwing a no-hitter for 6 1/3 innings in game 1, before the Rockies pieced together two hits to get on the board. But 5 runs in the first and 8 in the first 3 innings was too much to overcome and the Rockies fell 8-1.
Ubaldo Jimenez took the mound in Game 2, and was promptly rocked for 4 runs in the 1st. He settled down for 4 more innings, but the 4 runs were more than Jonathan Sanchez would need, as the Giants won again 6-3.
On Wednesday, Matt Cain waited until the 2nd inning to give up 4 runs, and the Rockies would tack on 6 more to hit double digits in Runs for the first time all season, Rocking the Giants in a 10-2 rout.
The Rockies maintain a 3 game lead over the Giants as they head out for 12 of the next 15 on the Road. Two six game road trips broken up by a 3 game series against the Pirates next weekend. Their next 4 series take place in 4 different time zones, going from Eastern to Pacific in order.
The Rockies will need to prove that the first road trip was not a fluke, and will try to improve on their 7-1 road start.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Giant Showdown
Through the first 15 games of the season, the Rockies are 4 games better than the Giants, who head into Denver for a 3 game series on Monday Night. The Rockies have only played 4 games against the West going 3-1, while the Giants have completed 12 against the West going 6-6. The Giants will be the first NL West Team to play all four of it's division foes with the games against the Rockies. The Rockies won't play San Diego until May 13th, the same day Arizona and the Dodgers play for the first time.
The Giants have started slowly on the road this season, starting off 1-4, but have won 3 of the last 4 on the road, losing Sunday to the D-Backs in 12 innings. The Giants will be the first Rockies opponent this season who had a winning record last season, while the Giants have already played the Padres and Cardinals, going 3-2 against those two teams.
Tim Lincecum will face Esmil Rogers in the Opener on Monday.
The Giants have started slowly on the road this season, starting off 1-4, but have won 3 of the last 4 on the road, losing Sunday to the D-Backs in 12 innings. The Giants will be the first Rockies opponent this season who had a winning record last season, while the Giants have already played the Padres and Cardinals, going 3-2 against those two teams.
Tim Lincecum will face Esmil Rogers in the Opener on Monday.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Start of the Start...
Every spring you hear every team talk about getting off to a good start. But how do you measure when the start is over? Is it the first two weeks? The first month? Two months? Longer?
As I've talked about before, the season for me is broken into parts. The Rockies of 2007-2009 all hit the same point at 18-27 which is 45 games into the season, and then had different results after. A "start" would be somewhere in between the first 6th (27 games) and the first quarter which is 40 games. For the Rockies this season, without any more rainouts or snowouts, would hit 27 games May 1st, and 40 games on May 16th. May 1st would end their 3rd homestand and May 17th would end their 4th Home stand, so let's look at where they are on May 1st and May 17th.
But either way, a start is not the first two weeks of the season. In 1997 the Rockies got off to a 10-3 start on the way to a high point of 21-9 in early May before going 24-46 in the next 2.5 months, then finishing 38-24 and had a final 83-79 record.
There are highs and lows in any season, and the strange thing about the Rockies so far is that they haven't "looked" like they are on fire, but they are doing enough to get by with the wins, and admittedly they have been playing mediocre teams for the most part. Despite that, they have not had tremendous success in either Pittsburgh or New York.
Pitching has not been bad, and there have been a couple of strong starts, but not overpowering. And don't forget that Ubaldo has not really been in the picture yet, but you have to like the gutsiness of Greg Reynolds, and Esmil Rogers.
Tulo is the only player who has been anything like on fire. 7 home runs in the past 10 games and seems to be proving that last September was not a fluke. He has definitely taken over leadership of this team as well.
Lots of positives so far in the Rockies first two weeks. But the start is not over--yet.
As I've talked about before, the season for me is broken into parts. The Rockies of 2007-2009 all hit the same point at 18-27 which is 45 games into the season, and then had different results after. A "start" would be somewhere in between the first 6th (27 games) and the first quarter which is 40 games. For the Rockies this season, without any more rainouts or snowouts, would hit 27 games May 1st, and 40 games on May 16th. May 1st would end their 3rd homestand and May 17th would end their 4th Home stand, so let's look at where they are on May 1st and May 17th.
But either way, a start is not the first two weeks of the season. In 1997 the Rockies got off to a 10-3 start on the way to a high point of 21-9 in early May before going 24-46 in the next 2.5 months, then finishing 38-24 and had a final 83-79 record.
There are highs and lows in any season, and the strange thing about the Rockies so far is that they haven't "looked" like they are on fire, but they are doing enough to get by with the wins, and admittedly they have been playing mediocre teams for the most part. Despite that, they have not had tremendous success in either Pittsburgh or New York.
Pitching has not been bad, and there have been a couple of strong starts, but not overpowering. And don't forget that Ubaldo has not really been in the picture yet, but you have to like the gutsiness of Greg Reynolds, and Esmil Rogers.
Tulo is the only player who has been anything like on fire. 7 home runs in the past 10 games and seems to be proving that last September was not a fluke. He has definitely taken over leadership of this team as well.
Lots of positives so far in the Rockies first two weeks. But the start is not over--yet.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL!
It may be short-lived (for now) but had to note that with the Rangers loss this afternoon dropping them to 9-3, the Rockies currently have the best record in baseball at .778 Winning Pct (7-2).
Curious to know if the Rockies have ever had sole possession of the best record in baseball in any of their previous 18 seasons.
Curious to know if the Rockies have ever had sole possession of the best record in baseball in any of their previous 18 seasons.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, Friday--Can't Trust That Day
The Rockies are off to a good start, going 4-0 on days without an "F" in them, and 0-2 on those that do have an F.
Not only that, but both of their losses have been extra innings, and one-run, so their back into the losing close game modes.
But let's look at the positives: The Rockies put together a 4 game winning streak between Fridays something they didn't do in 2010 until May 26th, and in 2009 June 7th.
They have been in first place a total of 3 playing days, which is one less day than they've been in first in the past 4 years 2007-2010 (does that surprise you as much as it did me?)
The Rockies have had some setbacks, most notably Ubaldo Jimenez struggling in the opener and going down for two weeks, Ian Stewart continuing to be slowed by an injury and illness. But they have also sparkled. Esmil Rogers pitched a gem on Thursday, and Jhoulis Chacin helped the Rockies record their first shutout. On offense, Jose Lopez and Ty Winnington have contributed as starters and helped get the Rockies off to the fast start.
But temper all the excitement with the fact that the Rockies have not played anyone yet who had a winning record in 2010, and won't until the Giants come to town for Game 16 on April 18th.
On the other hand, the Rockies had a combined 19-24 record against the D-Backs, Dodgers and Pirates, so the Rockies are doing exactly what they need to do at the start of the season.
Not only that, but both of their losses have been extra innings, and one-run, so their back into the losing close game modes.
But let's look at the positives: The Rockies put together a 4 game winning streak between Fridays something they didn't do in 2010 until May 26th, and in 2009 June 7th.
They have been in first place a total of 3 playing days, which is one less day than they've been in first in the past 4 years 2007-2010 (does that surprise you as much as it did me?)
The Rockies have had some setbacks, most notably Ubaldo Jimenez struggling in the opener and going down for two weeks, Ian Stewart continuing to be slowed by an injury and illness. But they have also sparkled. Esmil Rogers pitched a gem on Thursday, and Jhoulis Chacin helped the Rockies record their first shutout. On offense, Jose Lopez and Ty Winnington have contributed as starters and helped get the Rockies off to the fast start.
But temper all the excitement with the fact that the Rockies have not played anyone yet who had a winning record in 2010, and won't until the Giants come to town for Game 16 on April 18th.
On the other hand, the Rockies had a combined 19-24 record against the D-Backs, Dodgers and Pirates, so the Rockies are doing exactly what they need to do at the start of the season.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Spring Training: 3 Days to Opening Day
With 3 days left before Opening Day at Coors, the Rockies are looking in pretty good shape heading into the Season. Their rotation is set, much of their total roster is ready, and they have done pretty well in spring games (Currently 20-10-1).
Will the move to the Phoenix area for Spring Training pay off for them. In terms of facilities, even without the shorter commute times for "road" games, the Rockies should be in better shape physically than in most previous years.
The most intriguing aspect to me, is how they will use their bench, with super-Utility player Ty Wigginton, along with Jose Lopez and Jonathan Herrera around, plus the extremely limited Jason Giambi as a designated Pinch-Hitter. I think it's good to have Giambi because he seems to have a good rapport with the players, and can act as an extra coach, but I'm not certain that it's a good thing to have him take up a roster spot.
Time will tell. In 72 hours the season will get underway.
Will the move to the Phoenix area for Spring Training pay off for them. In terms of facilities, even without the shorter commute times for "road" games, the Rockies should be in better shape physically than in most previous years.
The most intriguing aspect to me, is how they will use their bench, with super-Utility player Ty Wigginton, along with Jose Lopez and Jonathan Herrera around, plus the extremely limited Jason Giambi as a designated Pinch-Hitter. I think it's good to have Giambi because he seems to have a good rapport with the players, and can act as an extra coach, but I'm not certain that it's a good thing to have him take up a roster spot.
Time will tell. In 72 hours the season will get underway.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Spring Training 2011: The Final Two Weeks
I always try to gauge a team coming out of spring training based on the last two weeks heading into the season. This is when the team is more or less finalized and start playing the regulars longer and the starters tend to go about 5 innings or more. The Rockies started that stretch on Thursday of this past week. Leading up to that point the Rockies had put together a 14-6 record. Their past three games they have gone 1-2, but have given up 31 runs in the 3 games. It's time to start looking seriously at the team's performance over the next week and a half.
The biggest questions remaining are who will be the 5th starter with Cook injured and what will the infield look like, and how many catchers will come to Denver on April 1st?
Ubaldo Jimenez--to nobody's surprise--was named the opening day starter, and will be followed by De La Rosa, Chacin, and Hammel. Tracy hasn't announced a 5th starter yet, however Esmil Rogers seems likely to fill that role, however the question is would he pitch in the 5th game vs. the Dodgers or the 8th
@Pittsburgh because of an off-day on April 4th.
Ian Stewart, injured on the first defensive play of the spring, has been progressing more slowly than anticipated, leaving the door open for someone else to start at 3rd to open the season. Ty Wigginton has been performing well, and could be the starter, especially if Stewart ends up on the Disabled List to start the season.
Backup backup catcher Jordan Pacheco has had a pretty good spring. Chris Iannetta is expected to be the starter and Jose Morales is expected to be the backup, so Pacheco has also been working out at other positions, mostly infield. He could definitely be on the roster if their is a DL move with Stewart or another player before opening day.
The Rockies currently have 29 players on their active Roster, and Jason Giambi, expected to be added before Opening Day (He's currently a minor-league invitee). Cook will likely start on the DL, and Greg Reynolds will probably be sent down to the minors. That leaves three more moves for the Rockies before opening day.
The biggest questions remaining are who will be the 5th starter with Cook injured and what will the infield look like, and how many catchers will come to Denver on April 1st?
Ubaldo Jimenez--to nobody's surprise--was named the opening day starter, and will be followed by De La Rosa, Chacin, and Hammel. Tracy hasn't announced a 5th starter yet, however Esmil Rogers seems likely to fill that role, however the question is would he pitch in the 5th game vs. the Dodgers or the 8th
@Pittsburgh because of an off-day on April 4th.
Ian Stewart, injured on the first defensive play of the spring, has been progressing more slowly than anticipated, leaving the door open for someone else to start at 3rd to open the season. Ty Wigginton has been performing well, and could be the starter, especially if Stewart ends up on the Disabled List to start the season.
Backup backup catcher Jordan Pacheco has had a pretty good spring. Chris Iannetta is expected to be the starter and Jose Morales is expected to be the backup, so Pacheco has also been working out at other positions, mostly infield. He could definitely be on the roster if their is a DL move with Stewart or another player before opening day.
The Rockies currently have 29 players on their active Roster, and Jason Giambi, expected to be added before Opening Day (He's currently a minor-league invitee). Cook will likely start on the DL, and Greg Reynolds will probably be sent down to the minors. That leaves three more moves for the Rockies before opening day.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Spring Training 2011: The Schedule
As promised in September, I'm finally getting around to analyzing the schedule. When first glancing at it, two things pop out: Three-Nine game Road trips to NL West Opponents are the longest road trips of the season, and the Rockies play a significant amount of their division games earlier than in the past few seasons.
This means that the Rockies will need to prove an ability to play on the road earlier if they want to compete.
In April the Rockies play 8 games against the West all at home. In May 16 split evenly 8 Home and 8 Away, ending May with the start of their first 9 game road trip. Their first 14 games of June are against the West bringing them to a total of 38 West games, 23 home, 15 away. This leaves 13 home games, and 21 away games the rest of the season. They will go two full months without another West Home game from June 15th to August 19th. They will go over a month without seeing the west from June 15th through July 22nd. They will play 18 of 21 West games on the road (you guessed it two more 9 game West Swings) between July 22nd and September 4th, before finishing up with 10 games at home against the West and finishing the Season in San Francisco.
The Rockies will play all 15 of their inter-league games in one stretch from June 17th through July 3rd. This includes Detroit at Coors, followed by a trip to Cleveland and New Yankee Stadium, finishing up with home series against the White Sox and Royals.
Other than that, travel-wise it's not too bad of a schedule. April gives them a road trip to New York and Pittsburgh, and another one to Florida and Chicago. May takes them to Philadelphia and Milwaukee--the first of two trips to see the Brew Crew. They will have to endure the heat and Humidity of July in Atlanta and Washington, and in August will go to Cincinnati, and St. Louis. An oddity in September, as they break up two 6-game home stands with a two game set in Milwaukee, before their final trip that takes them to Houston for 4 games before heading to San Francisco.
The road is what traditionally hampers the Rockies, so that as always is the key, no matter what kind of travel schedule they get.
This means that the Rockies will need to prove an ability to play on the road earlier if they want to compete.
In April the Rockies play 8 games against the West all at home. In May 16 split evenly 8 Home and 8 Away, ending May with the start of their first 9 game road trip. Their first 14 games of June are against the West bringing them to a total of 38 West games, 23 home, 15 away. This leaves 13 home games, and 21 away games the rest of the season. They will go two full months without another West Home game from June 15th to August 19th. They will go over a month without seeing the west from June 15th through July 22nd. They will play 18 of 21 West games on the road (you guessed it two more 9 game West Swings) between July 22nd and September 4th, before finishing up with 10 games at home against the West and finishing the Season in San Francisco.
The Rockies will play all 15 of their inter-league games in one stretch from June 17th through July 3rd. This includes Detroit at Coors, followed by a trip to Cleveland and New Yankee Stadium, finishing up with home series against the White Sox and Royals.
Other than that, travel-wise it's not too bad of a schedule. April gives them a road trip to New York and Pittsburgh, and another one to Florida and Chicago. May takes them to Philadelphia and Milwaukee--the first of two trips to see the Brew Crew. They will have to endure the heat and Humidity of July in Atlanta and Washington, and in August will go to Cincinnati, and St. Louis. An oddity in September, as they break up two 6-game home stands with a two game set in Milwaukee, before their final trip that takes them to Houston for 4 games before heading to San Francisco.
The road is what traditionally hampers the Rockies, so that as always is the key, no matter what kind of travel schedule they get.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Spring Training 2011: The $200 Million Moves
In the offseason between 2000 and 2001, Dan O'Dowd the fairly new GM of the Rockies, believing that the missing ingredient to the Rockies success was a couple of good pitchers, spent $170 million on Mike Hampton (8 years) and Denny Neagle (5 years) to anchor the Rockies Rotation. It might have been the right idea, but he chose the wrong players. All told, they played for the Rockies a combined 5 years, produced 40-51 record in 134 starts.
Two years later, O'Dowd handed Todd Helton, one of the Rockies first home-grown stars a 9 year $141 million contract which was a much wiser investment. Sure Helton has fallen off in Stats over the past few years, but Helton was the perfect choice to help bring up the young players, as the Rockies moved to the youth movement.
O'Dowd took a risk and signed Troy Tulowitzki to a 6 year deal right after his Rookie year in 2007, but the total cost was only $31 million. Although Tulo had an injury-plagued sophomore year, he has come into his own the past two seasons and is still only 26 years old headed into the 2011 season.
O'Dowd took a lot of heat when he let Matt Holliday go, but he was left with no choice, as reports go, the Rockies made an offer somewhere between 4-7 years and up to $20 Million a year, but never heard back. Instead the Rockies traded him for a couple more young players. The Cardinals eventually gave Holliday 7 years and $120 million.
This winter O'Dowd has laid down the future of the Rockies. With Helton in the last year of his contract (unless the Rockies take the option for 2012), O'Dowd turned to Troy Tulowitzki as the future leader of this team, and extended it out until 2020. Total cost of the next 10 years is $157.75 (roughly 125 million more than they had already committed for the next 3 years.)
Next he somehow lured Jorge De La Rosa back for up to 4 years, and up to $43 Million, but only guaranteeing the two years at $21.5 Milion.
The biggest surprise happened later as O'Dowd presumably with Tulowitzki's help convinced Carlos Gonzalez, acquired in the Holliday deal, and only with 2 years of major league service under his belt, signed for $7 years and $80 million. Taking him through 2017, when he would be just turning 32.
So for $200 million for 16 player years over the winter, O'Dowd has laid the new game plan down. He is also expected to try to sign Ubaldo Jimenez by next winter to a long term deal.
It's now up to the players to go out on the field, and prove these moves were worth it. Somehow I think it will pan out better than Hampton and Neagle. All 3 of these players (along with Helton) seem committed to Denver and the Rockies success.
Two years later, O'Dowd handed Todd Helton, one of the Rockies first home-grown stars a 9 year $141 million contract which was a much wiser investment. Sure Helton has fallen off in Stats over the past few years, but Helton was the perfect choice to help bring up the young players, as the Rockies moved to the youth movement.
O'Dowd took a risk and signed Troy Tulowitzki to a 6 year deal right after his Rookie year in 2007, but the total cost was only $31 million. Although Tulo had an injury-plagued sophomore year, he has come into his own the past two seasons and is still only 26 years old headed into the 2011 season.
O'Dowd took a lot of heat when he let Matt Holliday go, but he was left with no choice, as reports go, the Rockies made an offer somewhere between 4-7 years and up to $20 Million a year, but never heard back. Instead the Rockies traded him for a couple more young players. The Cardinals eventually gave Holliday 7 years and $120 million.
This winter O'Dowd has laid down the future of the Rockies. With Helton in the last year of his contract (unless the Rockies take the option for 2012), O'Dowd turned to Troy Tulowitzki as the future leader of this team, and extended it out until 2020. Total cost of the next 10 years is $157.75 (roughly 125 million more than they had already committed for the next 3 years.)
Next he somehow lured Jorge De La Rosa back for up to 4 years, and up to $43 Million, but only guaranteeing the two years at $21.5 Milion.
The biggest surprise happened later as O'Dowd presumably with Tulowitzki's help convinced Carlos Gonzalez, acquired in the Holliday deal, and only with 2 years of major league service under his belt, signed for $7 years and $80 million. Taking him through 2017, when he would be just turning 32.
So for $200 million for 16 player years over the winter, O'Dowd has laid the new game plan down. He is also expected to try to sign Ubaldo Jimenez by next winter to a long term deal.
It's now up to the players to go out on the field, and prove these moves were worth it. Somehow I think it will pan out better than Hampton and Neagle. All 3 of these players (along with Helton) seem committed to Denver and the Rockies success.
Monday, December 6, 2010
"I Wanted To Be A Rockie"
The Rockies made 3 big moves this week:
1. Traded for Jose Lopez, a utility infielder with a good bat.
2. Extended Troy Tulowitzki's contract out to 2020
3. Re-signed Free Agent Jorge De La Rosa to a 2 year deal with options for 2013 and 2014.
Any deal will get criticized and many times praised, but the fact that the Rockies went out and got it done with Tulo and "George" shows that they are committed to try to build a winner.
While the National Press is obsessed with the saga of Derek Jeter and the Yankees, the Rockies have gone out and created a more solid core base of players for the next 4 years without paying outlandish sums to bring players here.
We won't try to claim De La Rosa is Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee, or C.C. Sabathia, but Jorge is a good fit as a starter for the Rockies, and when he stays within himself, can have long outings, and possibly win 15 games as the #2 pitcher behind potential 20 game winner Ubaldo Jimenez.
Meanwhile the emerging leader of the team as Todd Helton's replacement is more and more Tulowitzki. He had a rough year in 2008, but has matured over the past two years, and deserves the extension. That he was willing to commit to Colorado long term, says a lot about what this Franchise and this region offers to players.
The most significant quote was Jorge De La Rosa saying "I wanted to be a Rockie" speaks volumes about what this means to the future of pitching here. 10 years ago, the Rockies had to pay enormous sums to get players to come here and most of them flopped. Now we have a pitcher who could have gone East, albeit to current non-contenders Pittsburgh and Washington, who decided to come back and face the trials and tribulations of pitching here.
1. Traded for Jose Lopez, a utility infielder with a good bat.
2. Extended Troy Tulowitzki's contract out to 2020
3. Re-signed Free Agent Jorge De La Rosa to a 2 year deal with options for 2013 and 2014.
Any deal will get criticized and many times praised, but the fact that the Rockies went out and got it done with Tulo and "George" shows that they are committed to try to build a winner.
While the National Press is obsessed with the saga of Derek Jeter and the Yankees, the Rockies have gone out and created a more solid core base of players for the next 4 years without paying outlandish sums to bring players here.
We won't try to claim De La Rosa is Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee, or C.C. Sabathia, but Jorge is a good fit as a starter for the Rockies, and when he stays within himself, can have long outings, and possibly win 15 games as the #2 pitcher behind potential 20 game winner Ubaldo Jimenez.
Meanwhile the emerging leader of the team as Todd Helton's replacement is more and more Tulowitzki. He had a rough year in 2008, but has matured over the past two years, and deserves the extension. That he was willing to commit to Colorado long term, says a lot about what this Franchise and this region offers to players.
The most significant quote was Jorge De La Rosa saying "I wanted to be a Rockie" speaks volumes about what this means to the future of pitching here. 10 years ago, the Rockies had to pay enormous sums to get players to come here and most of them flopped. Now we have a pitcher who could have gone East, albeit to current non-contenders Pittsburgh and Washington, who decided to come back and face the trials and tribulations of pitching here.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Saving the Worst For Last
A major league baseball season is a collection of 162 games, the composite results of which determine your standing. As Rockies fans have found out over the past few years, a bad stretch is not something that is insurmountable by a good stretch somewhere else. An 18-27 start in 2007 and a 20-32 start in 2009 were overcome by prolonged good stretches elsewhere in the season.
2010 on the other hand, never got that horrendous start, but never had the prolonged stretch of winning either, without a corresponding bad part. Part of that was because of the Jekyll and Hyde facet of their Road vs. Home performance--even more pronounced than usual. In the end there was just one winning road trip and one losing home stand.
Injuries are a factor, but then they always are. Having 4 of 5 starters and the closer down early didn't allow the Rockies to get a good feel for the rotation until about mid-season. Last year's amazing success of the starters avoiding injury, wasn't going to happen again, but 2010 was the Yang to last year's Yin. Perhaps 2011 will be somewhere in-between.
The injuries did lead to us Rockies fans getting a glimpse of the future. Jhoulys Chacin, Esmil Rogers, and Greg Smith had significant starts, and the 22 year-old Chacin looks like a mainstay in the Rotation going into 2011. We also got extended looks at Eric Young, Jr., Johnny Herrera, as well as a glimpse of Chris Nelson, and Michael McKenry.
This team was projected to win the NL West by a lot of the experts, and came up short. You will hear a lot of blame going to Dan O'Dowd for not making a move in July when San Diego and San Francisco were getting help. But looking at the Transactions San Francisco made, there were no major players, except for possibly Jose Guillen on the bench. They also take a starting lineup into the postseason with 5 of the 8 over 30. Their pitching staff is still rather young, but they will need to rebuild the offense around Posey and Sandoval in the next few years.
Meanwhile, the Padres major move in July got them Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick. The Padres led the giants by 3.5 games on July 29th, but with their moves have gone 28-31 and will miss the playoffs again.
But even without the help of July trades, the Rockies still made a run, albeit late, and ran out of gas too soon. But they did not mortgage the future for one Division Title. They are 21-15 since August 22 6.5 games better than the Padres who were in 1st place at the time, and only 1.5 games worse than the Giants in that span.
The Rockies gave us excitement this year--a no-hitter by Ubaldo Jimenez who also flirted with 20 wins, and Cy Young; a 9 run ninth inning against the Cardinals to complete a 6-run deficit comeback win; A 12 Run inning against the Cubs all scoring with 2 outs; Troy Tulowitzki's Sizzling September; and Carlos Gonzalez' breakout year and contending for the Triple Crown.
There are certainly moves to makes and evaluations to consider, and I'll look at those later, but as disappointing as the finish has been, the 2010 Rockies leave behind a lot of great memories for us.
2010 on the other hand, never got that horrendous start, but never had the prolonged stretch of winning either, without a corresponding bad part. Part of that was because of the Jekyll and Hyde facet of their Road vs. Home performance--even more pronounced than usual. In the end there was just one winning road trip and one losing home stand.
Injuries are a factor, but then they always are. Having 4 of 5 starters and the closer down early didn't allow the Rockies to get a good feel for the rotation until about mid-season. Last year's amazing success of the starters avoiding injury, wasn't going to happen again, but 2010 was the Yang to last year's Yin. Perhaps 2011 will be somewhere in-between.
The injuries did lead to us Rockies fans getting a glimpse of the future. Jhoulys Chacin, Esmil Rogers, and Greg Smith had significant starts, and the 22 year-old Chacin looks like a mainstay in the Rotation going into 2011. We also got extended looks at Eric Young, Jr., Johnny Herrera, as well as a glimpse of Chris Nelson, and Michael McKenry.
This team was projected to win the NL West by a lot of the experts, and came up short. You will hear a lot of blame going to Dan O'Dowd for not making a move in July when San Diego and San Francisco were getting help. But looking at the Transactions San Francisco made, there were no major players, except for possibly Jose Guillen on the bench. They also take a starting lineup into the postseason with 5 of the 8 over 30. Their pitching staff is still rather young, but they will need to rebuild the offense around Posey and Sandoval in the next few years.
Meanwhile, the Padres major move in July got them Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick. The Padres led the giants by 3.5 games on July 29th, but with their moves have gone 28-31 and will miss the playoffs again.
But even without the help of July trades, the Rockies still made a run, albeit late, and ran out of gas too soon. But they did not mortgage the future for one Division Title. They are 21-15 since August 22 6.5 games better than the Padres who were in 1st place at the time, and only 1.5 games worse than the Giants in that span.
The Rockies gave us excitement this year--a no-hitter by Ubaldo Jimenez who also flirted with 20 wins, and Cy Young; a 9 run ninth inning against the Cardinals to complete a 6-run deficit comeback win; A 12 Run inning against the Cubs all scoring with 2 outs; Troy Tulowitzki's Sizzling September; and Carlos Gonzalez' breakout year and contending for the Triple Crown.
There are certainly moves to makes and evaluations to consider, and I'll look at those later, but as disappointing as the finish has been, the 2010 Rockies leave behind a lot of great memories for us.
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