De La Rosa out for Phillies Series
PHILADELPHIA — Rockies manager Jim Tracy confirmed that Ubaldo Jimenez and Aaron Cook will starts the first two games of the NL Division Series against Philadelphia on Wednesday and Thursday.
Then came the curve.
Tracy said right-hander Jason Hammel will start Game 3, scheduled Saturday at Coors Field. He did not list a start for a possible Game 4, which is appears most likely will go to Cuban right-hander Jose Contreras instead of Jason Marquis, an All-Star selection who open the Division Series in the bullpen, along with Contreras.
Tracy would not discuss any possibilities about Game 4 other than to say the ultimate decision would hinge on numerous factors, which could include weather problems.
The Rockies made adjustments to the rotation when they decided left-hander Jorge De La Rosa would be sidelined by a groin injury. Tracy said team medical officials felt De La Rosa could aggravate the injury suffered in his start at Los Angeles on Saturday night if he tried to throw a bullpen session on Tuesday, and with that in mind the decision was made that De La Rosa would not be available in the best-of-five series against the Phillies.
If the Rockies advance to the NLCS, Tracy said the decision could be reconsidered. De La Rosa, 16-9 with a 4.38 ERA, became the first pitcher since 1900 to lose his first six decisions in a season in which he won at least 16 games. The Rockies won 19 of De La Rosa’s final 23 starts.
“If we are prudent about this and fortunate enough to advance beyond (the NL Division Series) he could factor into the mix. There is a good possibility that could happen.’’
Marquis was the Rockies’ early-season savior. When they were 19-31, he had seven of the victories, and was 14-8 with a 3.47 in his first 25 starts. He, however, struggled in the final weeks of the season, going 1-5 with a 6.25 in his last eight starts.
Contreras was acquired from the Chicago White Sox prior to the Aug. 31 deadline for finalizing potential post-season roster candidates, and has both started and relieved. He is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in 17 innings over seven appearances.
Hammel, meanwhile, gave the Rockies a second-half boost. Acquired from Tampa Bay on the final day of spring training, and inserted into the rotation in late April. Hammel was 5-1 in his final 11 starts, compiling a 3.98 ERA, and the Rockies were 8-3 in those games.
“He has earned the right with everything he did since the All-Star Break,’’ Tracy said. “He pitched so competitively, you cannot ignore that.’’
THE ROCKIES opted for the speed of rookie Eric Young, Jr., a September call up, on their NL Division Series roster instead of the defense of utility infielder Omar Quintanilla. Tracy said the fact that second baseman Clint Barmes is a natural shortstop, and that third baseman Ian Stewart can play second base made it easier to opt for Young, who is also a second baseman. The Rockies also kept the left-handed bat of veteran Jason Giambi, who was another September call up.
The Rockies kept two left-handers in the bullpen – Joe Beimel and Franklin Morales – along with right-handers Huston Street, Rafael Betancourt, Matt Daley, Matt Belisle, Marquis and Contreras.
GARRETT ATKINS will get the start at third base in Game 1 over Stewart in light of the Phillies starting left-hander Cliff Lee. Atkins, who drove in 419 runs in the four years prior to this season when he lost the starting job to Stewart, has hit .292 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 48 at-bats at Citizens Bank Park.
While Atkins hit .226 this season he did hit .268 against left-handed pitchers compared to .178 for Stewart.
Stewart’s strong defense, however, could lead to his returning to the lineup in Game 2 even though lefty Cole Hamels will start for the Phillies because Cook, one of the top ground ball pitchers in the game, will start for the Rockies.
EVEN WITH Atkins, the Rockies have a left-handed tint to the lineup. Switch-hitter Dexter Fowler will lead off and play center fielder followed by the left-handed bats of left fielder Carlos Gonzalez and first baseman Todd Helton. Tracy will then send up the right-handed trio of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, Atkins and catcher Yorvit Torrealba followed by left-handed-hitting right fielder Brad Hawpe, and second baseman Barmes, a right-handed hitter.
Losing De La Rosa is going to be hard for the Rockies to overcome. Jason Hammel has been good lately however, and should be able to keep the Rockies in the game long enough. The Rockies have got to get the bats going in game one. They need to find a way to take one of the first two in Philly.
If you would have told me a month into the season that missing DLR in the playoffs would be a big blow to the Rox I would have laughed you out of town. But then again thats the beauty of the game.
Tough break on De La Rosa. I’m comfortable with Hammel being ahead of Marquis is this rotation, but I’d still rather see him get the start on the road. But I can’t fault Jim Tracy’s thinking on any of this. Losing DLR put a monkey wrench in everything.
Also, I want to invite anyone reading to check out a piece I did for Yahoo Sports’ Big League Stew baseball blog. They asked to recap the Rockies season and preview their postseason. You can read that by clicking on my name.
Let’s have some fun starting tomorrow!
Sorry about that. Click on my name here.
I like these moves. I am glad Jim Tracy put Belisle on the roster. He was actually our best reliever the last month of the season. He was 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in September.
And I like Young instead of Quintanilla because every roster spot needs to be utilized in the playoffs, and as we saw–or never saw–Q wasn’t used much in the season. And we could really use Young’s speed.
And of course I like the Giambino in there. Too bad about DLR, but we don’t want him to hurt himself more by pitching when he shouldn’t be.
Go Rox. Beat Lee!
Tracy-
So does this mean that the Rox are gonna carry one more position player then they would normally do?
bench: smith, spilly, atkins, giambi, iannetta, young
Townie, that was great. My favorite part was: “References: Dinger, Barney and their half-brother John Kruk, who, despite their mathematical elimination last Thursday, still believes the Braves are the team to beat in the NL Wildcard…”
Here’s the Fielding Independent Pitching ERAs for our 5 starters:
De La Rosa 3.91
Hammel 3.71
Marquis 4.10
Cook 4.60
Jimenez 3.36
Other than Jimenez, who is clearly the ace, I say it’s pick ‘em among the other four. Certainly Cook’s history and his post-injury performances make him a strong # 2. But there’s certainly no clear drop-off in going to Hammel instead of De La Rosa. In fact, I agree with others who’ve suggested that if De La Rosa had been available, Marquis might very well have been the guy left out — maybe even left off the playoff roster. The loss of De La Rosa probably has a more significant impact on the 10th and/or 11th pitchers on the roster. If he could start, Hammel (who has experience out of the pen) would be a solid addition to the pen. Instead that role shifts to someone else, probably Belisle (who actually is a pretty solid pitcher, and I guy who may play a significant role this postseason and next year).
I do like Tracy’s lack of sentimentality here. Quintanilla was with the club all year, but in a short series clearly EY Jr. gives you something Omar can’t. Likewise Atkins seems the better choice against the Phils’ lefties. I don’t rely on single season numbers here, since they’re bound to be unreliable. Rather, over his career Atkins has a history of hitting righties to the tune of a .900 OPS, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. This is about Atkins handling lefties particularly well; it’s not about Stewart being inept against them (which he isn’t).
As for the Phils: starting Lee in Game 1 over Hamels makes no difference. With off days on Friday and Monday, either guy could start Game 5 if it goes that far (assuming no rainouts, etc.). So Charlie Manuel can change his mind if the series is tied after Sunday’s game.
The Phils are a bit better on paper, particularly in a short series since their 1-2 starters are pretty impressive, whereas the Rox key pitching strength is in starting pitching depth. But the Phils do have that problem bullpen, so a big factor will be whether the Rockies can work counts and get into the pen by the 6th or 7th inning. As always — but particularly given Lee and Hamels — one of the keys is to steal one on the road, and then come back to Coors in the driver’s seat. Shame that these games are relegated to daytime audiences … I’ll be listening, or maybe even “watching” on gameday, but I can’t catch them on TV …
By the way, fantastic game tonight, still going on … Miguel “.26″ Cabrera just thrown out at the plate.
And would I go with Contreras as a starter over Marquis? His FIP this year: 4.12. I think he’s likely to do better than Marquis, but do you want his arm available in the pen instead? Another ripple effect of losing De La Rosa.
Lots of little ripple effects from DLR injury, that is true. Also glad to see that sentiment didn’t cloud decisions for the roster. Fogg and Herges are not going to give what Contreras and Marquis still can. We don’t need mop up right now, we need quality. I think that Marquis may still be there for the 4th game and Contreras is the 6th inning to 7th inning bridge guy with Belisle.
Still fans of Fogg and Herges and their roles if injuries freakishly happen will still be needed, but right now, their best help may be to help the pitchers on the team to make sure they are ready to go into the games in the postseasons.
These short series are anyone’s games. Game 1 has more significance in them. Hope Ubaldo gets really warm before the game and is able to get off to a good start. Good notes about getting the Phillies bullpen early, that is the key.
I wish they chose to keep DLR on the roster as another lefty in the pen to maybe face 1 or 2 batters if needed.
My hope is that we aren’t in a position where Tracy has to use Morales. He makes me more nervous than does Rincon.
I think the interesting thing here is that if DLR does not go down with the groin we might well have seen Marquis again left off a post-season roster. I like Jason a lot but lets be honest his performance down the stretch was not awe-inspiring.
I did wonder about whether Tracy was going to go with Hamnmel in Game 2, given his steller road ERA and some of his early season issues at Coors. But you go with your top guys first and Cook after his rest on the DL was a solid #2. If the weather in CO is bad (talk of snow Friday and Saturday) we could even perhaps see game 1 guys go in game 3 (or at least 4).
Nice that Tracy had some tough choices to make. The depth that this team had this season both from young guys pushing their way up and good vets is refreshing.
Leave your response!
Popular tags
aaron cook brad hawpe carlos gonzalez chris iannetta clint barmes dexter fowler franklin morales garrett atkins greg smith huston street ian stewart jason hammel jason marquis jim tracy jorge de la rosa josh fogg matt belisle matt murton ryan speier ryan spilborghs seth smith todd helton troy tulowitzki ubaldo jimenez yorvit torrealbaRecent Comments
Newsroom
Reference Room
Blogroll
Archives