13 Comments »

Dustin said:
the rockies need to capitalize on opportunities presented. Nats are capable of winning, and pitching needs to be solid.
Jul. 6, 2009 at 5:38 am

Doc said:
Obviously, the Rocs are still a work in progress. Up against the best teams they play focused and unselfishly; up against the league’s dregs they play as individuals trying to show the world how great they are. As marvelous a run as they had in June, this series with Washington could actually be the turning point of their season. If they re-establish their team play, they’ll get back on another roll; if they continue to press and try and do too much, they’ll end up with a losing homestand and their confidence in the toilet.
Jul. 6, 2009 at 8:48 am

Larry said:
Beware of the Nationals. They have won 2 in a row (against the Braves, the Rox next opponet) and will be feeling good about themselves. They have some good power hitters but a young, inexperienced pitching staff. That means they get inconsistant pitching so if you catch them when they are on, they can be troublesome. Go Rox and think about the Nationals and forget about your All-Star break plans until Sunday night.
Jul. 6, 2009 at 8:49 am

Julian said:
On this blog there has been a lot of discussion about the Rockies’ pitching. Certainly, there have been issues with the Rockies’ pitching. However, the hitting also needs to get better if they are to be a good team. Yesterday, in losing 4 – 3, it is easy to focus on Ubaldo losing focus, but the team is going to lose most games when it just scores 3 runs. I hope that the bats can come alive against the Nats. How long do the Rockies keep Cargo with the team, instead of sending him back to AAA, when he is hitting as badly as he has been hitting? We have better hitting outfielders in Spilly and Smith, and probably Murton and Matt Miller as well. Yes, I know that CarGo has wonderful gifts in terms of fielding and other skills, but it would be helpful if his hitting was better and if he didn’t strike out so much.
Jul. 6, 2009 at 9:15 am

Drew S. said:
I think this upcoming series comes down to executing the little things. Sound defense, getting productive outs, advancing runners in the infield, sacrifice bunts and sacrifice flies, and playing Rockies baseball. It is a series that can easily be swept but only if Colorado can maintain focus.
Jul. 6, 2009 at 9:58 am

Karl said:
Good points Drew, if the team can get back to small ball, they might have a better shot at winning these games by one run as they were on the previous 7 out of 9. Holding leads is critical too, but the hitting has to improve, especially at home. CarGo is a five tool player, but until he can lay off pitches early in the count that are out of the zone and focus on hitting where he is looking for, he may be a work in progress this year and ultimately get sent down for a month. His defense with Fowler in Center is fun to watch though.
Jul. 6, 2009 at 11:06 am

Derrek said:
Obviously the Rox hitting hasn’t been great lately, but I think the biggest problem for them right now is the bullpen. Street is the only decent guy down there and Tracy doesn’t have a lick of confidence in them. He is over-using the starters cuz our bullpen is horrible. At least I hope that’s why he is using the starters the way he is. Ubaldo has 2 losses in the last 3 starts cuz he was left in the game way too long.
Definitely the Rox need a sweep here though. It’s not do or die but with how bad the Nat’s are and definitely with how bad they are on the road, the Rox need a sweep. Win these games so that way losing 2 out of 3 to good teams doesn’t hurt as bad. The Rox have lost 3 out of the last 4 series too, so the team hasn’t played well for 2 weeks. Swept Oakland in the middle of that, now sweep the Nat’s!
Jul. 6, 2009 at 12:36 pm

roxnsox said:
The Nats series is VERY important to staying afloat, and obviously even moreso now that they failed to do better on the weekend….they must win the next two series, and preferably sweep at least one.
Any ideas on relievers available, Tracy?
Jul. 6, 2009 at 1:13 pm

Agbayani said:
The Nats really are a poor baseball team. So we catch them at a good time here. Time to get things back on track prior to the break.
Jul. 6, 2009 at 1:22 pm

Karl said:
Do we really see Dealin’ Dan doing anything until the last week of the deadline on the relievers front? With the Rox only two games out, I would think he would stand pat right now and wait for other teams to figure their seasons out in the next three weeks. I think I read that about 21 out of 30 teams still could be considered in playoff contention at the moment.
I do agree the bullpen needs help and find it curious that Fogg has just been left out there right now. Is he hurt or is Tracy really just leaving him in more of the early innings eater role. I hope Morales comes back up and he gets to be a lefty in the pen for maybe a 6th inning to long relief kind of role if DLR can perform like he is capable the rest of the way.
Hopefully sat night was just an abberation and sunday’s lack of timely hitting and too many walks was just baseball and not a sign of things. Must get two of three from Nats if not a sweep now.
Jul. 6, 2009 at 1:49 pm

Jerry R. said:
Derrick – Ubaldo was pitching a no hitter when he walked those two batters and then Reynolds hit the homer!! That was not leaving him in the game for too long (that was too good of a pitch with a 1-2 count on Reynolds)…
The offense has to liven up. Key hits have gone AWOL, and they are back to leaving runners in scoring position. Wake up the bats.
Cargo is feeling the pressure big time – he needs to go back to the Sky Sox and get his confidence back. Spilly and Smith can play left just fine for me!
The Rockies need to sweep the Nats.
Jul. 6, 2009 at 2:52 pm

Derrek said:
Jerry R, I totally agree with not taking him out with a no hitter. There is no way you can take him out at that point. But bringing him back in to pitch the 7th was a mistake. Ubaldo had been great until the 6th. Then he walks 2 batters, gives up a homer, then the next guy gets on too. So 4 batters in a row get on base. That is an indication he is getting tired. He then comes back in for the 7th and promptly lets 3 of the next 4 get on base(7 out of 9). He was gassed! 7 out of 9 isn’t good and he was left in too long. So in my opinion he should’ve been takin out of the game after the 6th with the score still tied. Then in the LAA game when he was well over 100 pitches, he was left in to pitch the 8th where he walks the 1st guy up(then 2 bad plays by Stewart at 3rd) and then falls behind Abreu 3-1. Hadn’t walked a batter all night in that game so again he was gassed! Tracy is leaving the starters in longer and that has paid dividends in some cases, but I think he has given Ubaldo 2 losses he didn’t deserve. I can’t blame Ubaldo for giving up the runs late when clearly he is tiring and should be out of the game. And I think it all comes down to the Rox bullpen being horrible and Tracy knowing that, therefore he is leaving the starters in longer.
Jul. 6, 2009 at 5:26 pm

mike said:
Been pondering this. Atkins to Seattle for Miguel Batista, and maybe a prospect, makes all the sense in the world.
Would love to see the Rockies get involved in a deal with the Braves. Why not send Spilborghs, Hirsh, DLR/Hammel, and two out of players such as Roe/McKenry/Mayora/Garner (Braves preference), for Javier Vazquez and Yunel Escobar. Call up Murton.
Vazquez replaces Hammel/DLR for stretch run. Royals are said to have strong interest in Escobar, flip him in a deal involving Joakim Soria.
Penciling Vazquez to a rotation of Cook/Jimenez/Marquis could be called the best in franchise history, and replacing the possibly departing Marquis next year, who will likely be a Type A free agent. Soria becomes the bridge to Street, while also adding Batista. Call up Morales and stick him in bullpen.
Jul. 6, 2009 at 6:37 pm

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