Rockies Need to Take a Deep Breath
When Jorge De La Rosa explains how Rockies mental coach Ron Svetich taught him to relax in moments of anxiety by stepping off the mound and counting to 10.
Okay, Rockies, all together now, group count.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10.
This is a team in need to a deep breath.
It’s a team that is suffering from an anxiety attack that is undermining their efforts to get off to a good start in April.
With a 14-2 loss to the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Sunday afternoon, not only were the Rockies swept in a three-game series by the NL West leaders, but they lost for the sixth time in seven games.
They will show up in Arizona on Monday night have lost the first three segments of a 19-game stretch against the rest of the NL West, a costly beginning to a stretch in which the Rockies could make it apparent that they are going to be a factor in the West in 2009
They need to slow down. They are in such a hurry to show everybody that they are a good team that they are falling all over themselves, from reliever Huston Street, the new guy in the Rockies clubhouse, to Todd Helton, the dean of the team.
“I think Clint (Hurdle, manager) said it best after (Sunday’s) game, we are speeding everything up, trying to make things happen instead of letting them happen,’’ said Helton.
The result? Well, stuff happens, and it’s not stuff that anybody is excited about.
The Rockies are reaching frustrations with their overall efforts, but as opposed to Arizona, where Dan Haren went off on his lack of support after falling to 0-3 despite allowing four runs in 19 innings, the Rockies have not reached the point of looking for scapegoats among teammates.
“The Dodgers are good, we knew that before (the sweep),’’said Street. “But we feel are a good team too. We expect more from ourselves than what you saw (during the weekend). ‘’
For all their expectations, the Rockies have earned the disappointment they have experienced.
The pitching staff will get pounded for the way it was pounded by the Dodgers, particularly reliever Matt Belisle. Making most likely his last appearance before being removed from the roster so Franklin Morales can return and start on Tuesday night in Arizona, Belisle with four runs on five hits while retiring just one batter on Sunday. But he also saw all three runners who were on base when he entered the game score when Matt Kemp unloaded a rude awakening to Beiisle – a grand slam.
But the offense is as guilty, if not more guilty. There were several times in the early innings Sunday the Rockies could have made a statement. Face it, James McDonald started for the Dodgers in what manager Joe Torre said before the game was a “bullpen game..’’ The hope was McDonald could into the fifth inning with an outside prayer he could pitch at least five.
It was a struggle, but not only did McDonald manage to work 4 1/3 innings, but he didn’t even give up a run. Oh, he had eight base runners in the 4 1/3 innings. He threw 96 pitches – 50 in the first two innings alone – but the Rockies bailed him out. In four of the five innings he pitched in, the Rockies had a runner on second base with less than two outs. In none of the five innings that he pitched did that runner get home.
Todd Helton struck out with Ian Stewart on second in the first. Clint Barmes popped up with Troy Tulowitzki on second in the second. Tulowitzki popped up and Clint Barmes flied to right with Brad Hawpe on second in the fourth. And in the fifth, after McDonald walked two of the first three Rockies batters in the fifth, Scott Elbert came on and got a pop up from Helton and lazy fly ball from Garrett Atkins.
The Rockies were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position; the one hit an infield nubber off the bat of Jimenez that failed to score a run. What’s more, they are 21-for-87 with men in scoring position this season – 8-for-51 in the last nine games.
It eats at Helton as much as anybody. He had the strike out and the pop up on Sunday. He has only two hits in 10 at-bats with a runner in scoring position this season.
“I have to have better at-bats, plain and simple,’’ said Helton. “My timing is off.’’
Hurdle is trying to get the timing back on. Helton has played all five games on this trip so far – in part because the Rockies were off on Tuesday and Thursday. He did, however, play all three games in Los Angeles. Returning from back surgery in the off-season, and limited to only two at-bats after July 4 last season, this was the first time Helton started on three consecutive days since July 28-July 2 last season, the last five games he started in 2008.
“There’s no logical explanation as to what has changed since spring training,’’ said Helton, who finished up the exhibition season with an impressive effort. “I can tell you I felt good my last two at-bats (Sunday). Now I need to carry that over for four or five at-bats on Monday.’’
That’s what Hurdle had in mind when he wrote Helton’s name in the lineup on Saturday, the first time he had started all season in a day game after a night game, and again on Sunday, stretching Helton’s streak of consecutive days played to three.
“The warm weather is a help (in California), the ability to stay loose,’’ said Hurdle. “We want to get him some regular at-bats and see if that helps him get on a roll.’’
Was Helton’s answer the answer to my question? Have to say that’s nice…even if the answer was what I expected.
I think that’s it’s still pretty hard to blame the offense when they’re averaging nearly 5 runs per game through the first 11 contests, even though they have definitely missed on chances to add to that.
The culprits, in no particular order, are Cook, Jimenez, Street, and Belisle. Oh, and Clint Hurdle, who for some reason still insists on not inserting Ian Stewart into the lineup with the regularity that his production merits.
You can point fingers at others as well: Iannetta comes to mind, as does Helton, but the pitching is the thing that is disturbing to me in the early going, and not much happened today to quell that.
On the pitching front – In talking with a friend this week we mentioned that if the team ERA could stay around 4 and the offense hit their stride – there may be something to be said for the season. Granted we have faced some good offensive lineups to date but,except for Marquis, there is very little good happening with the staff.
The Rockies are three bad bullpen efforts from being 7-4: the two Phillies games over the prior weekend, and the Friday night game in LA. Of thr four other losses, two were blowouts in LA, one a freezeout at Wrigley, and the other a one-run loss on opening day in Phoenix. This is no time to panic or give up. Once the season gets farther along, the weather continues to warm up everywhere, and the club starts playing more home games, things will get better. How much better remains to be seen. Most of the roster has underperformed this month, but once again, its still real early…
The Dodgers could have sent the batboy out to hit late in the game and he would have driven in a couple of runs. The Dodgers were simply too hot this weekend. Something tells me the Rockies will be ready when they face the Dodgers at home in less than 5 days.
Shower this weekend off…three games under .500 is no big deal. Jimenez will come around, this offense WILL hit.
Could some of the pressing on offense be a result of the merry-go-round line-up? I’d love to see a week with Stewart at 2b and Dex in center, no matter if we’re facing a lefty or not. Maybe getting some consistancey in the line-up would calm it down 1-8.
So frustrating to watch this team fall back into the same habits that doomed it a year ago. Went to Spring Training this year and saw a patient bunch work pitchers deep into counts and focus on gap-to-gap baseball, moving runners along and putting crooked numbers on the board without relying on the longball. As soon as the bright lights came on this team white-knucked again and the familiar song of quick popups and weak waves at 0-2 fastballs out of the zone returned.
You make your hay in this game by executing with runners in scoring position and by getting hits with two outs — It is unnaceptable at any level to fail to do the little things, especially with RISP, and that’s been the story of this group for far too long. This team has the talent to be a first-division team certainly and an offense that can carry it to contender status — if it can learn to try easier in expected run situations, as it did in 2006 and 2007.
Also, Ian Stewart must be in the lineup, every day, all day, period.
Hard to know what steps are being taken to right the ship. Way too many mistakes in this weekend’s series, though. Bad pitching. Bad hitting. Too many strikeouts. Where is all the praise for Don Baylor after these three games? Apadaca’s has to be seeing ghosts from last year. The key to all of this is leadership from within the team. Tulo? Todd? Garret? Cook? Someone has to step up and carry the team out of this malaise. Mental toughness is required too. 180+ games is a long time but they can’t afford to fall too far behind. I am trying to be patient but this weekend was tough to stomach because the Rox weren’t in any of these games. If they’d at least been competitive I’d be less disheartened.
Pitching, just like every year. When is the ownership going to wake up and tell Hurtle to fire his buddy, Apadoca. Who has been fired from every pitching coach job he has had(i.e.)Mets-Minn.
When does the Hurdle watch begin? I know it is real early and the Dodgers are unbelievably hot, but they can’t find themselves 8-9 games back by early May. I question Clint’s bullpen management, especially in Friday night’s game. Up 3-0 in the 7th and instead of going with Grilli or Speier, we get Belisle who gives up 3 runs without getting a batter out. That finish pretty much set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Nonetheless, they can go to Phoenix and take 2 out of 3 against a struggling D’backs team and start to get back on track.
It’s so frustrating to see the team repeating the mistakes of a year ago, that I thought they had worked through in spring training.
I wasn’t advocating Hurdle should go in my comments as it is really, really early. But, I would think/hope the Monfort’s patience is at least a little thinner than it has been. No doubt the schedule has been tough both in terms of opponents and being on the road. If Clint doesn’t manage the bullpen, and get guys like Stewart more at-bats, then he will seal his own fate I’m afraid.