I have to admit, I am just not ready for the 2014 season. There's an order to things, and I am so used to the first day of the Baseball Season coinciding with the College Basketball Men's Championship Game. This year it happened a week before that, or even a week before that when two games were played in Australia that nobody really saw.
But now we are nearly 10% into this season and the Rockies are 7-8. Not a bad start as starts go. If we go back a year the Rockies were headed to a 17-11 Start, before a 57-77 finish.
Encouraging signs: The Rockies have scored an average of over 5 runs in the 15 games. Only 6 games have been 3 runs or less and they have won 2 of those, including last nights 3-2 victory. They have a 2-1 record against the American League (last year they were 5-15). Jordan Lyles, the Rockies #3 starter is 2-0 and could have been 3-0. The team batting average is .295. The bullpen for the most part other than Wilton Lopez who was sent down to the minors last week have done an incredible job. Charlie Blackmon has been on fire batting .468 so far.
Troubling Signs: The Rockies have given up an average of 5.8 runs in 10 games, but 25 of those have been in two games. #1 Starter Jorge De La Rosa doesn't seem ready to pitch yet having a 9.69 era in 3 starts and not yet seeing the 6th inning. The bullpen has already been overworked, pitching over 50 innings so far. #2 Starter Brett Anderson is going to miss a month due to a finger injury he got while batting.
Plenty of season left, but the Rockies will need to improve on the road (3-6 so far) and solidify their rotation once they get Jhoulis Chacin back in a couple of weeks. Right now they have De La Rosa, Morales, Chatwood, Lyles and Nicasio. Most likely Morales will move to the bullpen when Chacin comes in. When Anderson gets back there will be another choice to make on the rotation.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Thursday, September 26, 2013
A Proper Sendoff for #17
On November 17, 1992, the Rockies made their first selection in the Expansion Draft. They chose David Nied a young starting Pitcher from the Atlanta Braves. Thus Nied became the first face of the franchise. He played for the Rockies from 1993-1996.
David Nied was the first Rockies player to wear #17.
We all know who was the 2nd Rockies Player to wear #17. From August 2, 1997 to September 29, 2013 Todd Helton wore that number for the Rockies, and after 21 Rockies seasons it will never be worn again.
Last night in Todd Helton's final game at Coors Field the Rockies celebrated from Field Preparation to post-game. The field was adorned with a huge number 17 mowed into the center field grass. Two purple 17's were painted in the foul lines on the First Base and Third Base Lines.
In the pre-game ceremony, the Rockies showed a highlight reel of hits and web gems. His oldest daughter Tierney Faith threw out the first ball to her Dad the catcher. The Rockies presented Todd with a horse for his ranch. When the Rockies took the field in the first inning, Helton led the pack onto the field as he always does, but the pack held back and let him own it for a few minutes before they took their positions.
The crowd also gave him standing ovation after standing ovation, and Todd reacted every time by tipping his cap and smiling.
As Helton took his position at first base for the last time in the top of the 9th inning, his two daughters ran onto the field hugged him and swiped first base (which had been adorned with #17 of course) literally and carried it off behind home plate.
Todd did his part in the game by Homering in his 1st at bat, Doubling (of course!) in his 3rd, and hitting a Sac Fly in his 2nd. Unfortunately his last AB was a strikeout against former teammate Franklin Morales, but that and the 15-5 drubbing at the hands of the Red Sox did little to stop the crowd's excitement.
Following the game, the Rockies have a tradition of circling the field after their last regular season home game, and it was led by Mr. Helton.
This was the first time in their history that they gave a farewell to one of their players. They must have needed permission for some of the events, but they did it right. It was all about Todd and rightfully so.
A fitting farewell to the first Rockies Player to play his entire career in Colorado.
David Nied was the first Rockies player to wear #17.
We all know who was the 2nd Rockies Player to wear #17. From August 2, 1997 to September 29, 2013 Todd Helton wore that number for the Rockies, and after 21 Rockies seasons it will never be worn again.
Last night in Todd Helton's final game at Coors Field the Rockies celebrated from Field Preparation to post-game. The field was adorned with a huge number 17 mowed into the center field grass. Two purple 17's were painted in the foul lines on the First Base and Third Base Lines.
In the pre-game ceremony, the Rockies showed a highlight reel of hits and web gems. His oldest daughter Tierney Faith threw out the first ball to her Dad the catcher. The Rockies presented Todd with a horse for his ranch. When the Rockies took the field in the first inning, Helton led the pack onto the field as he always does, but the pack held back and let him own it for a few minutes before they took their positions.
The crowd also gave him standing ovation after standing ovation, and Todd reacted every time by tipping his cap and smiling.
As Helton took his position at first base for the last time in the top of the 9th inning, his two daughters ran onto the field hugged him and swiped first base (which had been adorned with #17 of course) literally and carried it off behind home plate.
Todd did his part in the game by Homering in his 1st at bat, Doubling (of course!) in his 3rd, and hitting a Sac Fly in his 2nd. Unfortunately his last AB was a strikeout against former teammate Franklin Morales, but that and the 15-5 drubbing at the hands of the Red Sox did little to stop the crowd's excitement.
Following the game, the Rockies have a tradition of circling the field after their last regular season home game, and it was led by Mr. Helton.
This was the first time in their history that they gave a farewell to one of their players. They must have needed permission for some of the events, but they did it right. It was all about Todd and rightfully so.
A fitting farewell to the first Rockies Player to play his entire career in Colorado.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Rockies get "Merciful" 2014 Schedule
With the Rockies currently on their 5th consecutive 3 city road trip, MLB released their 2014 Schedule today, and suffice it to say that the Rockies (barring rainouts) will not have a 1-9 Road Trip in 2014. That's because there are just 2 three-city road trips, and although they are back to back they total 16 games 7 and 9.
Ther first one comes in early May with the Home and Home AL series against Texas. After playing the backend two games in Ft. Worth they go to Cincinnati for 3 and then sandwich Kansas City in between two off days. After a 9 game home stand they go to the east coast to play Atlanta, Philadelphia and Cleveland in 3 game series.
That tells you two things: The Rockies play the AL Central next year, and they never play more than 2 division rivals on any road trip.
In fact the Rockies make 6 2 city road trips to the West Coast: SF/SD, LA/AZ in April, SF/LA in June, AZ/SD, SF/AZ in August, and a season ending SD/LA trip in September.
The only real quirk in the schedule is that there are 32 West division games in their last 46 games, which could make or break their season. But 19 of those Rivalry games are on the road.
Besides KC and Texas home and home, the Rockies will play the White Sox and Minnesota from the AL Central at Home, while going on the road for Cleveland and Detroit.
The Rockies have two 10 game home stands and one 9. They also play 16 of 19 games at home in one stretch in July playing only 3 games in Pittsburgh following the All-Star break. That will also end a stretch where they play 32 of 48 at home, starting June 3rd. Although they play 16 of 22 on the Road just before that there isn't a similar prolonged stretch where they are on the road.
Ther first one comes in early May with the Home and Home AL series against Texas. After playing the backend two games in Ft. Worth they go to Cincinnati for 3 and then sandwich Kansas City in between two off days. After a 9 game home stand they go to the east coast to play Atlanta, Philadelphia and Cleveland in 3 game series.
That tells you two things: The Rockies play the AL Central next year, and they never play more than 2 division rivals on any road trip.
In fact the Rockies make 6 2 city road trips to the West Coast: SF/SD, LA/AZ in April, SF/LA in June, AZ/SD, SF/AZ in August, and a season ending SD/LA trip in September.
The only real quirk in the schedule is that there are 32 West division games in their last 46 games, which could make or break their season. But 19 of those Rivalry games are on the road.
Besides KC and Texas home and home, the Rockies will play the White Sox and Minnesota from the AL Central at Home, while going on the road for Cleveland and Detroit.
The Rockies have two 10 game home stands and one 9. They also play 16 of 19 games at home in one stretch in July playing only 3 games in Pittsburgh following the All-Star break. That will also end a stretch where they play 32 of 48 at home, starting June 3rd. Although they play 16 of 22 on the Road just before that there isn't a similar prolonged stretch where they are on the road.
Monday, August 26, 2013
The Grueling Road Trips
When the schedule came out last year, I noted that the Rockies would have 5 consecutive 3 city road trips starting in Mid-June going through Mid-September. The Rockies just completed the 4th of the 5 road trips. In total they are 24-38 in this stretch with 18 games to go. Their road trips have been 2-7, 4-6 , 1-9, and 4-6. Total Road 11-28. Their home record is 13-10 during this stretch and was 8-9 prior to their 5-1 record on the last home stand.
In 2012, the Rockies had 2 three city road trips, one 8 games, one 9. In 2011 they had 3 three city road trips all of them of them were to division opponents on the west coast and they were separated by at least one road trip of 2 cities. This year was overkill with 5 such road trips let alone having 5 trips in a row like that. I am not sure how much pushback the Rockies can give on the schedule, but it seems like they get awful schedules with a lot of deviations that many of the East coast teams do not get.
To be fair the most ridiculous scheduling I've heard of this year is the one where NL Central Foes Pittsburgh and St. Louis were scheduled to meet 6 times in April, and 13 times in 6 weeks between late July and Early September. With an early postponement in Pittsburgh they will play 14 times in that 6 week period.
With 30 games left in the season, 18 at home, it is fair to look at what would constitute a positive season for the Rockies. They will surpass last year's win total in the next week or two, and the 73 wins of 2011 is likely to be passed at some point. So at what point does Walt Weiss deserve a second year as manager and we can look forward to 2014? Clearly 81 wins would do it for sure, but I feel that honestly anything at 76 and above would be the right direction. Depending on when Cargo comes back and can contribute, this team is a middle reliever or two from seriously contending next year. The starting pitching has made great strides Chacin, De La Rosa, Chatwood and Nicasio having more good games than clunkers. In fact when those four have taken the mound this year the Rockies have a 52-39 record. When anyone else is on the mound to start, the Rockies are 9-32. With Oswalt, Pomerantz, Bettis, or Manship on the mound the Rockies are a combined 1-16. Bettis has run into bad luck a couple of times but has pitched well right off the bat. Defense is good, and even if the Rockies were to trade Fowler for pitching or move Cuddyer to first, the Rockies have some depth in the outfield with Blackmon, Dickerson, Culbertson, and Wheeler.
If defense were considered for MVP and/or Rookie of the Year, then Nolan Arenado would be a near shoo-in for the 2013 ROY Award. Each night he seems to make at least one or two sensational plays, but in yesterday's game against the Marlins, he made a play that I still can't believe he pulled off. Going to his right past the foul line with the bases loaded and nobody out, he threw a strike to Catcher Jordan Pacheco who then turned and threw a strike to 1B Ryan Wheeler. This was after he made two more routine 5-3 plays in the first inning. This guy gets more amazing for me everyday. He's also hitting .310 since the All-Star break raising his overall average to a respectable .264.
In 2012, the Rockies had 2 three city road trips, one 8 games, one 9. In 2011 they had 3 three city road trips all of them of them were to division opponents on the west coast and they were separated by at least one road trip of 2 cities. This year was overkill with 5 such road trips let alone having 5 trips in a row like that. I am not sure how much pushback the Rockies can give on the schedule, but it seems like they get awful schedules with a lot of deviations that many of the East coast teams do not get.
To be fair the most ridiculous scheduling I've heard of this year is the one where NL Central Foes Pittsburgh and St. Louis were scheduled to meet 6 times in April, and 13 times in 6 weeks between late July and Early September. With an early postponement in Pittsburgh they will play 14 times in that 6 week period.
With 30 games left in the season, 18 at home, it is fair to look at what would constitute a positive season for the Rockies. They will surpass last year's win total in the next week or two, and the 73 wins of 2011 is likely to be passed at some point. So at what point does Walt Weiss deserve a second year as manager and we can look forward to 2014? Clearly 81 wins would do it for sure, but I feel that honestly anything at 76 and above would be the right direction. Depending on when Cargo comes back and can contribute, this team is a middle reliever or two from seriously contending next year. The starting pitching has made great strides Chacin, De La Rosa, Chatwood and Nicasio having more good games than clunkers. In fact when those four have taken the mound this year the Rockies have a 52-39 record. When anyone else is on the mound to start, the Rockies are 9-32. With Oswalt, Pomerantz, Bettis, or Manship on the mound the Rockies are a combined 1-16. Bettis has run into bad luck a couple of times but has pitched well right off the bat. Defense is good, and even if the Rockies were to trade Fowler for pitching or move Cuddyer to first, the Rockies have some depth in the outfield with Blackmon, Dickerson, Culbertson, and Wheeler.
If defense were considered for MVP and/or Rookie of the Year, then Nolan Arenado would be a near shoo-in for the 2013 ROY Award. Each night he seems to make at least one or two sensational plays, but in yesterday's game against the Marlins, he made a play that I still can't believe he pulled off. Going to his right past the foul line with the bases loaded and nobody out, he threw a strike to Catcher Jordan Pacheco who then turned and threw a strike to 1B Ryan Wheeler. This was after he made two more routine 5-3 plays in the first inning. This guy gets more amazing for me everyday. He's also hitting .310 since the All-Star break raising his overall average to a respectable .264.
Monday, July 22, 2013
The Weekday/Weekend Divide
Forget the splits between road and home. Look at the Weekday/Weekend splits for the Rockies.
For games on Friday-Sunday, the Rockies have compiled a 29-19 Record, on Monday-Thursday the Rockies are 19-32. Take away Tuesdays (9-8) record and the Rockies are 10-24 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Last year the Rockies were a combined 10-41 on Saturdays and Sundays, and 54-57 on the other five days.
The Rockies have a chance to improve that weekday record vs. the 29th worst team in Baseball, the Miami Marlins. Of course nothing is a given as the Rockies lost 3 of 4 games to the 30th worst team in baseball--the Astros in May. Since June 5th however, the Marlins have a 19-17 record, while the Rockies are 16-23.
For games on Friday-Sunday, the Rockies have compiled a 29-19 Record, on Monday-Thursday the Rockies are 19-32. Take away Tuesdays (9-8) record and the Rockies are 10-24 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Last year the Rockies were a combined 10-41 on Saturdays and Sundays, and 54-57 on the other five days.
The Rockies have a chance to improve that weekday record vs. the 29th worst team in Baseball, the Miami Marlins. Of course nothing is a given as the Rockies lost 3 of 4 games to the 30th worst team in baseball--the Astros in May. Since June 5th however, the Marlins have a 19-17 record, while the Rockies are 16-23.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
At The Break
The Rockies stumbled into the All-Star Break 46-50 squandering another good week of pitching (giving up 16 runs in 7 games). They now find themselves 4.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and 2 games behind the Dodgers, who look on the verge of running away with this thing if they continue the 17-5 pace they are on since June 21. As an aside 3 of those 5 losses are to the Rockies.
They won't continue the pace, but will they slump? Proabably at some point. The NL West goes into a stretch of 6 weeks where they will predominately play the NL East, NL Central and AL East. The Diamondbacks go to San Francisco this weekend and will Host the Padres next weekend, which will leave all the West teams with home and home series against everyone else in August and September.
I always start the year believing that 90 wins will win the division. For the Rockies to achieve that they would need to almost double their win total of 46. Thus they would need to go 44-22 the rest of the way. In 2007 and 2009 the Rockies finished their regular season 40-26 in the last 66 games. Doing that again would put the Rockies at 86-76, possibly enough to win the division.
Following my leading indicator of Road Wins - Home Losses, the Rockies currently are -1. That number will probably go down in the next 10 days with the home stand coming up. Arizona currently leads the West with a +3 the only teams that is positive. LA is -3, SF is -2 and SD is -8. Also remember that nobody in the west has a winning record on the road.
In the final 2.5 months the Rockies will need to put together a winning run of some sort. Maybe the 13-4 that they started the season with, but it will require them to have at least one winning road trip of 3 losses or less, combined with a dominant performance at home. Let's say they can go 22-12 at home the rest of the way....not unreasonable. They would then need to play above .500 on the Road maybe 18-14.
It seems the pitching staff as a whole have learned how to pitch, especially Chacin, DeLaRosa and Chatwood. If they can have predominately good starts, and the hitting can stay healthy and start producing runs, this team could contend down to the wire.
They won't continue the pace, but will they slump? Proabably at some point. The NL West goes into a stretch of 6 weeks where they will predominately play the NL East, NL Central and AL East. The Diamondbacks go to San Francisco this weekend and will Host the Padres next weekend, which will leave all the West teams with home and home series against everyone else in August and September.
I always start the year believing that 90 wins will win the division. For the Rockies to achieve that they would need to almost double their win total of 46. Thus they would need to go 44-22 the rest of the way. In 2007 and 2009 the Rockies finished their regular season 40-26 in the last 66 games. Doing that again would put the Rockies at 86-76, possibly enough to win the division.
Following my leading indicator of Road Wins - Home Losses, the Rockies currently are -1. That number will probably go down in the next 10 days with the home stand coming up. Arizona currently leads the West with a +3 the only teams that is positive. LA is -3, SF is -2 and SD is -8. Also remember that nobody in the west has a winning record on the road.
In the final 2.5 months the Rockies will need to put together a winning run of some sort. Maybe the 13-4 that they started the season with, but it will require them to have at least one winning road trip of 3 losses or less, combined with a dominant performance at home. Let's say they can go 22-12 at home the rest of the way....not unreasonable. They would then need to play above .500 on the Road maybe 18-14.
It seems the pitching staff as a whole have learned how to pitch, especially Chacin, DeLaRosa and Chatwood. If they can have predominately good starts, and the hitting can stay healthy and start producing runs, this team could contend down to the wire.
Monday, July 8, 2013
How the Rockies Can Help Their Pitching: Start Hitting!
In the pre-season and first couple months of the season the Rockies and the local press has raved about the Rockies and their hitting. However, much of it is a mirage.
The Rockies have just ended a 3 week stretch in which they have scored a total of 57 runs in 19 games or just under 3 per game. Only the Giants have been worse in the entire MLB. Up until June 16th, the Rockies had scored a league leading (and 2nd in the MLB overall) 352 runs.
Today, the Rockies find themselves with 409 runs scored and 409 runs scored against. And the conventional wisdom is that the Pitching is letting them down, as there is lot of talk about the Rockies acquiring another starter, reliever, live arm etc. But look at the distribution of the games, and you'll find that the pitching has really been doing the job this season. Let's face it, no Rockies team is going to throw a ton of shutouts in a season or even 1 or 2 run games. It requires a balance of keeping the Rockies in the game and the offense scoring 5, 6, or 7 runs in a game.
Never was this more evident than in the past 3 weeks. Yes the Rockies pitching gave up 100 runs during the 19 games, but some of that is caused by the pressure of not having runs scored behind them. Of the 57 runs scored by the Rockies, they scored 31 of them in 4 games. in the other 15 they only scored 26 runs, well under 2 runs per game. In fact in 11 of those games they scored 2 runs or less. Scoring 3 twice and 4 twice. Granted the pitching gave up 6 or more runs 7 times in that stretch, but losing 11-1 or 11-4 is not much different than losing 1-0 or 5-4. The Rockies did win 1 game 2-1, and lost another 8-10. They also won all 3 games that the Pitchers gave up 1 run, lost all 3 games in which the pitchers gave up 2 or 3 runs, and lost 5 of 6 games where the pitching only gave up 5 runs.
Eventually the hitting will come out and play again--hopefully before the Rockies are buried. But the current Rockies problems with the pitching doesn't lie as much with the pitching as it does with the hitting to help ease the pressure of needing to throw shut-outs or low run games. It's just not going to happen that way.
The Rockies have just ended a 3 week stretch in which they have scored a total of 57 runs in 19 games or just under 3 per game. Only the Giants have been worse in the entire MLB. Up until June 16th, the Rockies had scored a league leading (and 2nd in the MLB overall) 352 runs.
Today, the Rockies find themselves with 409 runs scored and 409 runs scored against. And the conventional wisdom is that the Pitching is letting them down, as there is lot of talk about the Rockies acquiring another starter, reliever, live arm etc. But look at the distribution of the games, and you'll find that the pitching has really been doing the job this season. Let's face it, no Rockies team is going to throw a ton of shutouts in a season or even 1 or 2 run games. It requires a balance of keeping the Rockies in the game and the offense scoring 5, 6, or 7 runs in a game.
Never was this more evident than in the past 3 weeks. Yes the Rockies pitching gave up 100 runs during the 19 games, but some of that is caused by the pressure of not having runs scored behind them. Of the 57 runs scored by the Rockies, they scored 31 of them in 4 games. in the other 15 they only scored 26 runs, well under 2 runs per game. In fact in 11 of those games they scored 2 runs or less. Scoring 3 twice and 4 twice. Granted the pitching gave up 6 or more runs 7 times in that stretch, but losing 11-1 or 11-4 is not much different than losing 1-0 or 5-4. The Rockies did win 1 game 2-1, and lost another 8-10. They also won all 3 games that the Pitchers gave up 1 run, lost all 3 games in which the pitchers gave up 2 or 3 runs, and lost 5 of 6 games where the pitching only gave up 5 runs.
Eventually the hitting will come out and play again--hopefully before the Rockies are buried. But the current Rockies problems with the pitching doesn't lie as much with the pitching as it does with the hitting to help ease the pressure of needing to throw shut-outs or low run games. It's just not going to happen that way.
Friday, June 28, 2013
The Wild Wild West
Between now and the All-Star Break the Rockies play all of their games against the NL West. All 4 Teams and 16 games total. Perfect time to get on a winning streak. Since Troy Tulowitzki went out on June 14, the Rockies are 2-9 during that stretch, and now have had 6 losing streaks of 3 or more games since late May.
For the first time this season, the Rockies are 2 games under .500 at 39-41. Tonight marks the halfway point of the season with the Rockies playing nearly the entire half above .500 but will end the first half with a losing record.
For the first time this season, the Rockies are 2 games under .500 at 39-41. Tonight marks the halfway point of the season with the Rockies playing nearly the entire half above .500 but will end the first half with a losing record.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Somehow Staying in it
The Rockies are 11-11 in June continuing a wild ride that they have been on for the first half of the season. San Diego has been 14-9, but Arizona is 11-10 and San Francisco 9-13. This has kept the Rockies in 2nd place and only lost 1/2 game on Arizona overall.
Since May 7th, the Rockies have had 5 separate losing streaks of 3 or more games (including a 4-game and a 5-game streak), while only having 2 winning streaks of 3 games (the last ending on May 24th). During that time their record is 20-25.
Once again, nobody else in the west has taken advantage of this sluggishness, which is why it could be a positive that they are only 3.5 games out at this point.
Odd fact of the week: The Rockies and Blue Jays have met in 15 times in 5 series playing 9 games in Toronto and 6 at Coors Field. The home team has won in each of the 15 games.
Since May 7th, the Rockies have had 5 separate losing streaks of 3 or more games (including a 4-game and a 5-game streak), while only having 2 winning streaks of 3 games (the last ending on May 24th). During that time their record is 20-25.
Once again, nobody else in the west has taken advantage of this sluggishness, which is why it could be a positive that they are only 3.5 games out at this point.
Odd fact of the week: The Rockies and Blue Jays have met in 15 times in 5 series playing 9 games in Toronto and 6 at Coors Field. The home team has won in each of the 15 games.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
NL West: Strong or Weak
Don't look now, but the San Diego Padres are in contention in the NL West. After sweeping the D-Backs this weekend, the Padres closed to within 2 games of the division leading Snakes. The Rockies meanwhile in a 3-3 week, managed to close to within 1/2 a game of Arizona.
So at this point in the season, it's a fair question to ask: Is the NL West a strong division or weak? It's easy to say that the NL Central is the strongest division in Baseball with 3 teams 10 games or more over .500. Or maybe it's the AL East with 4 teams above .500 and the Toronto Blue Jays only 4 games under .500. Perhaps the NL West is a little bit weaker than the NL Central, and certainly have not held up well against the AL East. (collectively the NL West is 9-15 vs. the AL East so far). But the NL West does have a collective 37-27 vs. the NL East and a 35-34 record against the NL Central.
Over 90 games left to go but it could be the NL West could be the most competitve and strongest division in the National League. The Padres emergence as a competitive team, means there are 4 possible teams that could take off shortly. Since May 1, the Padres are 25-18, Arizona is 22-20, Giants 20-21, and the Rockies 20-22.
Since the Rockies are headed on the road for 9 Games and 19 of their next 26, so I wouldn't expect the Rockies to make a move on the leaders in the next month especially with Tulowitzki out. Their best hope would be to stay with the leaders and not fall too far behind before the All-Star break. But then again stranger things have happened.
So at this point in the season, it's a fair question to ask: Is the NL West a strong division or weak? It's easy to say that the NL Central is the strongest division in Baseball with 3 teams 10 games or more over .500. Or maybe it's the AL East with 4 teams above .500 and the Toronto Blue Jays only 4 games under .500. Perhaps the NL West is a little bit weaker than the NL Central, and certainly have not held up well against the AL East. (collectively the NL West is 9-15 vs. the AL East so far). But the NL West does have a collective 37-27 vs. the NL East and a 35-34 record against the NL Central.
Over 90 games left to go but it could be the NL West could be the most competitve and strongest division in the National League. The Padres emergence as a competitive team, means there are 4 possible teams that could take off shortly. Since May 1, the Padres are 25-18, Arizona is 22-20, Giants 20-21, and the Rockies 20-22.
Since the Rockies are headed on the road for 9 Games and 19 of their next 26, so I wouldn't expect the Rockies to make a move on the leaders in the next month especially with Tulowitzki out. Their best hope would be to stay with the leaders and not fall too far behind before the All-Star break. But then again stranger things have happened.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Hanging In There
I have to admit, I turned the Rockies game off in the 7th inning yesterday after the Padres took a 7-4 lead. After watching them squander opportunity after opportunity offensively to score runs for the past few weeks, I figured a 3 run deficit was going to be hard to overcome.
But somehow they did it in the bottom of the 9th and the 10th managing a split over the Padres for the weekend giving them a 4-3 record for the week and actually gaining a game on the D-Backs.
The Rockies sorely missed Michael Cuddyer who was out for the final 3 games, but is hopeful of returning Tuesday against the Nationals. With Cargo, Tulo, and even Wilin Rosario starting to hit again, this lineup could be formidable in the warm weather joining Cuddyer, who has hit pretty well all year.
I grew up watching Mike Schmidt play. I consider Schmidt the greatest defensive third baseman I have ever seen (slightly ahead of Brooks Robinson). I have spent the past 16 years watching the Rockies third basemen play including Vinnie Castillo, Garrett Atkins, and Ian Stewart. But Nolan Arenado has the chance to surpass all of them and maybe--just maybe surpass Schmidt. Arenado has crazy quick reflexes, a great arm, and a head for the game which was on display when he tried to create a double play on a ball down the line. He definitely saved the Friday night game with his diving stop to his left, before he won it with his bat.
Speaking of fielding the Rockies have made quite a few errors lately, but they have also come up with some spectacular catches. Cargo made 3 catches yesterday including one that would have been a home run. The Padres were no slouches as well with some amazing grabs that kept the games from getting away from them. All in all, a pretty exciting series.
But somehow they did it in the bottom of the 9th and the 10th managing a split over the Padres for the weekend giving them a 4-3 record for the week and actually gaining a game on the D-Backs.
The Rockies sorely missed Michael Cuddyer who was out for the final 3 games, but is hopeful of returning Tuesday against the Nationals. With Cargo, Tulo, and even Wilin Rosario starting to hit again, this lineup could be formidable in the warm weather joining Cuddyer, who has hit pretty well all year.
I grew up watching Mike Schmidt play. I consider Schmidt the greatest defensive third baseman I have ever seen (slightly ahead of Brooks Robinson). I have spent the past 16 years watching the Rockies third basemen play including Vinnie Castillo, Garrett Atkins, and Ian Stewart. But Nolan Arenado has the chance to surpass all of them and maybe--just maybe surpass Schmidt. Arenado has crazy quick reflexes, a great arm, and a head for the game which was on display when he tried to create a double play on a ball down the line. He definitely saved the Friday night game with his diving stop to his left, before he won it with his bat.
Speaking of fielding the Rockies have made quite a few errors lately, but they have also come up with some spectacular catches. Cargo made 3 catches yesterday including one that would have been a home run. The Padres were no slouches as well with some amazing grabs that kept the games from getting away from them. All in all, a pretty exciting series.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Home for 11 Days
The Rockies completed their last short road trip before the last weekend of the season by taking two of three games against Cincinnati, who has the best Home record in the Major Leagues. Correction HAD the best home record which now belongs to the Atlanta Braves.
With the Cincinnati Trip, the Rockies completed all but 3 of their road games against the NL Central. The remaining series is in Pittsburgh Aug 2-4. They have yet to play an NL Central team at home. Their first game at Home is against the Cubs on July 19 following the All-Star Break. The Rockies are 6-6 vs. the NL Central for the season.
On the flip side the Home stand that the Rockies are about to embark on will see two NL East teams come in, leaving them with only games against Miami July 22-25, and the makeup game with the Mets on June 27 as NL East home games. The Rockies first visit to the NL East is on the next Road Trip June 20th at Washington, the remainder are in Late July and August.
Quirky schedule to be sure, but not the quirkiest thing I've found in any schedule. In an unbelievable scheduling quirk, AL Central Teams Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox have their first meeting of the year on July 9, which is the 89th game for Detroit, and 88th for the Sox. How does it happen that a two division opponents never meet in the first half of the season? Keep in mind that the 4 division opponents of each team account for 76 of the 162 games. In fact the AL Central schedule overall is overloaded in the second half of the season for Intra-Division games. For example 57 of the White Sox final 75 games are vs. Detroit, Kansas City, Cleveland and Minnesota. Another oddity: Detroit has played Minnesota 10 times but the rest of the division 4 times (although there were two rainouts which would have made it 10-6).
The most games that anyone in the AL Central has played in its own division is Minnesota with 22. The other 4 teams have played either 16 or 17. In the rest of the Major Leagues, The Cubs have the fewest games in their own division with 22. For the NL West, no team has less than 28. The Rockies and Toronto have the most with 32 although the Rockies will be alone at 33 after tonight's game.
For the Rockies overall they play 37 NL West games in the first 81 games and 39 in the 2nd half.
With the Cincinnati Trip, the Rockies completed all but 3 of their road games against the NL Central. The remaining series is in Pittsburgh Aug 2-4. They have yet to play an NL Central team at home. Their first game at Home is against the Cubs on July 19 following the All-Star Break. The Rockies are 6-6 vs. the NL Central for the season.
On the flip side the Home stand that the Rockies are about to embark on will see two NL East teams come in, leaving them with only games against Miami July 22-25, and the makeup game with the Mets on June 27 as NL East home games. The Rockies first visit to the NL East is on the next Road Trip June 20th at Washington, the remainder are in Late July and August.
Quirky schedule to be sure, but not the quirkiest thing I've found in any schedule. In an unbelievable scheduling quirk, AL Central Teams Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox have their first meeting of the year on July 9, which is the 89th game for Detroit, and 88th for the Sox. How does it happen that a two division opponents never meet in the first half of the season? Keep in mind that the 4 division opponents of each team account for 76 of the 162 games. In fact the AL Central schedule overall is overloaded in the second half of the season for Intra-Division games. For example 57 of the White Sox final 75 games are vs. Detroit, Kansas City, Cleveland and Minnesota. Another oddity: Detroit has played Minnesota 10 times but the rest of the division 4 times (although there were two rainouts which would have made it 10-6).
The most games that anyone in the AL Central has played in its own division is Minnesota with 22. The other 4 teams have played either 16 or 17. In the rest of the Major Leagues, The Cubs have the fewest games in their own division with 22. For the NL West, no team has less than 28. The Rockies and Toronto have the most with 32 although the Rockies will be alone at 33 after tonight's game.
For the Rockies overall they play 37 NL West games in the first 81 games and 39 in the 2nd half.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Missed Opportunities
Over the past week the Rockies had a decent chance to win 7 out of 7 games, but in the end only won 2. The biggest reason being the batters failed to capitalize on Run scoring situations. But here's an overlooked secret: The Rockies haven't been scoring well all year.
Through 54 games, the Rockies have scored 4 runs or less in 28 of the games. Their record is 6-22 in those games. In the other 26 games where they have scored 5 runs or more, they are 22-4.
The critics are out again with this slump. One clueless guy applauded the lack of turnout to last night's game as evidence the Denver fans won't turn out anymore for bad play. Really? Last night's attendance was 600 less than the night before and about 2,000 less than Houston drew for TWO games on Monday and Tuesday. It's also 3,000 MORE than their worst season of average from 2005 23,634. It's 6,000 less than the Rockies Season Average. There have been 8 games with a lower attendance including the game against Arizona Monday a week ago.
The headline writer labeled the Rockies "Embarrassed". Sure it wasn't great to lose 3 of 4 to the AL's worst team, but let's be realistic. The Rockies recently beat the World Champion San Francisco Giants in 3 of 4, and that didn't get labeled with superlatives.
The Rockies are still in the Division Hunt, and are still playing better than .500 ball. They had a good April and a not-so-good May. It may turn out that this team isn't a contender, but it is definitely an improvement over last year especially in the Pitching. I think the fans are supporting the product and we haven't even started the summer or had really good weather yet.
I don't believe we have seen the best in this team yet, and we may not have seen it's worst. Will the first 3rd of the season be a learning experience, the best or the worst in this team? Let's not jump off the bandwagagon too quickly while we are still in the running.
Through 54 games, the Rockies have scored 4 runs or less in 28 of the games. Their record is 6-22 in those games. In the other 26 games where they have scored 5 runs or more, they are 22-4.
The critics are out again with this slump. One clueless guy applauded the lack of turnout to last night's game as evidence the Denver fans won't turn out anymore for bad play. Really? Last night's attendance was 600 less than the night before and about 2,000 less than Houston drew for TWO games on Monday and Tuesday. It's also 3,000 MORE than their worst season of average from 2005 23,634. It's 6,000 less than the Rockies Season Average. There have been 8 games with a lower attendance including the game against Arizona Monday a week ago.
The headline writer labeled the Rockies "Embarrassed". Sure it wasn't great to lose 3 of 4 to the AL's worst team, but let's be realistic. The Rockies recently beat the World Champion San Francisco Giants in 3 of 4, and that didn't get labeled with superlatives.
The Rockies are still in the Division Hunt, and are still playing better than .500 ball. They had a good April and a not-so-good May. It may turn out that this team isn't a contender, but it is definitely an improvement over last year especially in the Pitching. I think the fans are supporting the product and we haven't even started the summer or had really good weather yet.
I don't believe we have seen the best in this team yet, and we may not have seen it's worst. Will the first 3rd of the season be a learning experience, the best or the worst in this team? Let's not jump off the bandwagagon too quickly while we are still in the running.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Marking Time
The Rockies after 47 games worked their way to a 3-way tie in the NL West standings with the Giants, D-Backs and Rockies all having identical 26-21 records.
Four weeks ago on April 25th, the Rockies held a slim 1 game lead over both teams at 14-8 vs. 13-9. Which means over the past 4 weeks all 3 teams have played .500 baseball. (Rockies 12-13; Giants/D-Backs 13-12).
One or more of the teams will break away soon. Which one? And could the Padres get into the mix?
Let's start with the D-Backs: Coming off a 6 game road trip they head home for 4 days/5 games against the Padres and Texas, before heading to Texas, Chicago and St. Louis. All in All they play 15 of their next 23 on the Road.
The Giants meanwhile get to stay home for another week, hosting the Rockies and then playing 4 games against Oakland 2A/2H followed by a 3 game road trip to St. Louis, home for two against Toronto, followed by a 9 game road trip to Arizona, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta. Altogether: 7 home 14 away.
Meanwhile the Rockies have a 5 game road trip to SF, and Houston, 5 games at home against Houston, and LA, A road "trip" to Cincy for 3 and then a 10 game home stand. 15 H/8 A
In Summary, the Rockies have the same amount of home games over the next 3.5 weeks that Arizona and San Francisco have combined. The Rockies are the team that has the advantage for a few weeks at least.
Next week introduces Rivalry Week where for the first time all 30 MLB teams will play interleague games at the same time with home and home 2 game sets with their "Natural" Rival. For the Giants they stay home and play Oakland, While the D-Backs take on Texas and the Rockies get the Astros. This is really the only major diversion from a balanced schedule with one team. This year I would rather play the Astros at 20 games under .500 than the A's or the Rangers who are at the top of the AL West.
Four weeks ago on April 25th, the Rockies held a slim 1 game lead over both teams at 14-8 vs. 13-9. Which means over the past 4 weeks all 3 teams have played .500 baseball. (Rockies 12-13; Giants/D-Backs 13-12).
One or more of the teams will break away soon. Which one? And could the Padres get into the mix?
Let's start with the D-Backs: Coming off a 6 game road trip they head home for 4 days/5 games against the Padres and Texas, before heading to Texas, Chicago and St. Louis. All in All they play 15 of their next 23 on the Road.
The Giants meanwhile get to stay home for another week, hosting the Rockies and then playing 4 games against Oakland 2A/2H followed by a 3 game road trip to St. Louis, home for two against Toronto, followed by a 9 game road trip to Arizona, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta. Altogether: 7 home 14 away.
Meanwhile the Rockies have a 5 game road trip to SF, and Houston, 5 games at home against Houston, and LA, A road "trip" to Cincy for 3 and then a 10 game home stand. 15 H/8 A
In Summary, the Rockies have the same amount of home games over the next 3.5 weeks that Arizona and San Francisco have combined. The Rockies are the team that has the advantage for a few weeks at least.
Next week introduces Rivalry Week where for the first time all 30 MLB teams will play interleague games at the same time with home and home 2 game sets with their "Natural" Rival. For the Giants they stay home and play Oakland, While the D-Backs take on Texas and the Rockies get the Astros. This is really the only major diversion from a balanced schedule with one team. This year I would rather play the Astros at 20 games under .500 than the A's or the Rangers who are at the top of the AL West.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Perspective
The Rockies took 3 of 4 from the Giants over the weekend, stopping a skid of losing 4 straight series and 5 of the previous 6. This week they take on the Division Leading Diamondbacks before heading to San Francisco to take on the Giants again.
Let's face it--the Giants were horrible this week and the Rockies had a chance to sweep the series (or on the other hand they could have ended up with a split.)
Back to the Giants. It's hard to imagine a worse week for them where they gave up 52 runs in 6 games, and had 13 errors, 7 in back to back games with the Rockies Friday and Saturday. They also scored 28 runs and managed to come back on Thursday from a 6-0 deficit to win.
So even perceived good teams (The Giants did win the World Series last year) have rough stretches. Is the starting pitching fall apart? Is the fielding going to continue to commit 2 errors per game. Probably not.
The Rockies are currently tied with the Giants for 2nd, one game behind the D-Backs who now come into Coors Field winning 9 of their last 13. In the past week they outscored their opponents 19-17 in winning 4 of 6. But they gave up 10 runs in one game on Monday, and scored 9 runs in one game on Friday.
All that is to keep the Rockies season in perspective. It's May 20th. This team is showing great promise and is likely at this point to win more games than last season, and possibly even more than 2011. Their pitching across the board is holding up better, their hitting is solid throughout the lineup. And they have survived a couple of key players on the disabled list.
And for now at least they are in the thick of the race.
Let's face it--the Giants were horrible this week and the Rockies had a chance to sweep the series (or on the other hand they could have ended up with a split.)
Back to the Giants. It's hard to imagine a worse week for them where they gave up 52 runs in 6 games, and had 13 errors, 7 in back to back games with the Rockies Friday and Saturday. They also scored 28 runs and managed to come back on Thursday from a 6-0 deficit to win.
So even perceived good teams (The Giants did win the World Series last year) have rough stretches. Is the starting pitching fall apart? Is the fielding going to continue to commit 2 errors per game. Probably not.
The Rockies are currently tied with the Giants for 2nd, one game behind the D-Backs who now come into Coors Field winning 9 of their last 13. In the past week they outscored their opponents 19-17 in winning 4 of 6. But they gave up 10 runs in one game on Monday, and scored 9 runs in one game on Friday.
All that is to keep the Rockies season in perspective. It's May 20th. This team is showing great promise and is likely at this point to win more games than last season, and possibly even more than 2011. Their pitching across the board is holding up better, their hitting is solid throughout the lineup. And they have survived a couple of key players on the disabled list.
And for now at least they are in the thick of the race.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)