The Rockies week that will be: May 9-15
The Colorado Rockies return home from a 1-5 road trip looking for some offense but still in first place by one game over the team that swept them this weekend, the San Francisco Giants. The Rockies open an eight-game homestand on Monday that will conclude next week with a chance for the Rockies to get some revenge on the Giants in a two-game series.
Monday, May 9, vs. New York Mets (6:40 p.m., ROOT SPORTS)
The Mets will get their first look at Jhoulys Chacin (4-2, 2.85), who they missed during a four-game series in New York in April. The Rockies will see left-hander Chris Capuano (2-3, 5.4o) for a second time. Capuano allowed seven runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Rockies on April 14.
Tuesday, May 10, vs. New York Mets (6:40 p.m., ROOT SPORTS)
Jason Hammel (3-1, 2.63) and right-hander Mike Pelfrey (2-3, 6.06) will meet for a second time in 2011. In their meeting on April 11, Hammel allowed four runs (two earned) in six innings and Pelfrey allowed four runs (three earned) in 5 1/3 innings. Neither pitcher was involved in the decision when the Rockies came back from a 5-4 deficit to win after the starters were out of the game.
Wednesday, May 11, vs. New York Mets (1:10 p.m., ROOT SPORTS)
Ubaldo Jimenez (0-2, 5.88) is coming off his best start of the season, one earned run in six innings Friday against the San Francisco Giants, but is still looking for his first win. He will face Jonathon Niese (1-4, 4.44), who allowed five runs in six innings against the Rockies on April 13.
Thursday, May 12, off
Friday, May 13, vs. San Diego Padres (6:40 p.m., ROOT SPORTS)
With the off day falling on the regular turn of the fifth starter — currently Clayton Mortensen (0-0, 0.64) — the Rockies may elect to skip the spot and go with Jorge De La Rosa on regular rest. Mortensen is coming off a solid outing in his start with the Rockies, two runs (one earned) in six innings Saturday against the Giants. De La Rosa was solid Sunday but suffered his first loss as the Rockies were shut out. The Padres will likely counter Mortensen/De La Rosa with right-hander Dustin Moseley (1-4, 2.47), who has never pitched against the Colorado Rockies.
Saturday, May 14, vs. San Diego Padres (1:10 p.m., ROOT SPORTS)
The Rockies will throw either De La Rosa or Chacin in the second game against the Padres. San Diego will likely counter with right-hander Aaron Harang (5-2, 4.07), who is 2-1 with a 4.43 ERA in four starts at Coors Field, all with the Cincinnati Reds. Note that the game is a day game, a move that keeps the Rockies out of the national television window Saturday when Fox broadcasts its weekly game in the evening.
Sunday, May 15, vs. San Diego Padres (1:10 p.m., ROOT SPORTS)
Chacin or Hammel will start the finale against the Padres and will be matched against right-hander Mat Latos (0-4, 4.55). Latos allowed four runs in six innings in his only career start at Coors Field.
All Times Mountain
We need to win a lot of these games and get back to the way we were playing before this last road trip. I still can’t believe we only won one game against the Dbacks and got swept in SF. Something has to give, the only positive is that this is happening in May and not in September. I will watch all the games on Root Sports channel 414 on DISH Network in HD. I work at DISH and right now you can qualify to get HD free for life!
Time to shake things up!! Get some of these lame O’s on the bench, in AAA, traded, or DFA’D.
Paulino= AAA (Good arm, get more confidence)!! Replacement= Daley
Morales= Loser!! Replacement= Brothers
Stewart= Loser!! Replacement= Nelson (Give him a chance at 3rd)
Spilly= Loser!! Replacement= Blackmon (compete with Smith for job
Lopez= Loser!! Replacement= E.Y. Jr. (Compete with Fowler/Herrera
These guys will never change!! Please stop with in blind and oblivious patients. On the other hand,they have absolutely no patients with Eric Young Jr. which is one that they should be patient with. Give his defence a chance, his offence and aggressivness will more than make up for a few errors. I think Fowler could use some compitition to push him a little.
Steve, what is the logic behind skipping Mortensen? Shouldn’t the Rockies keep running him out there to see if he is a bonafide 5th starter? Or do they think Cook will come back and be a stud?
Marcus, Morales has looked pretty good to me so far this year. I’d say keep him on the track he is on. Spilly had a mediocre start last year and then turned it on late. I think he’s a keeper. I agree on Paulino and Lopez, although I’d rather see Lopez (and EYJ if necessary) traded for a more reliable bat.
There’s no guarantee that they will skip Mortensen, but I mention it because it’s a possibility given when they day off falls. The logic if they choose to go that route would be to allow a starting rotation that has been pitching well to continue pitching on a consistent schedule of regular rest and also make Mortensen available in the pen this week to give the Rockies an extra arm.
On Cook, whether they think he will be a stud or not is maybe beside the point. He’s the veteran among the starters and is making close to $10 million. He has a job in the rotation when he returns.
You’d skip Mortensen because he’s your 5th starter and you don’t want to give a start to your 5th starter at the expense of losing a start by your 2nd starter. Plus Mortensen’s 14 solid innings of big league work really doesn’t mean much ….Sure, it’s nice and I’m somewhat higher on him than I was when they acquired him, but as Ryan Vogelsong — any established AAA pitcher can turn in a fine performance or two.
Interesting article in the SJ Mercury News that should get all Rox fans attention:
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs/2011/05/08/postgame-notes-myth-of-mighty-rockies-lineup-vogel-strong-and-the-amazing-att-throngs-etc/
There’s quite a bit of the truth in what the writer says that should worry all Rox fans.
Gulp, seems to have hit the nail on the head. So should we send the article to DOD just in case he hasn’t noticed what all of us are seeing. Time to make something happen, and that is not a knee jerk statement. 32 games in and we are regressing. Water finds its own level, and so do offenses. This one needs some help and some spark. DOD must act before it is too late and the Giants are not only getting some help from DL, but will make a move to acquire some help and do it without hesitation, DOD should do the same.
Cisco,
I think he’s been reading our takes here at ITR. IMHO, it’s been several years since the Rox offense was good. Tulo is great. Cargo can be. I can live with the outfield as it is. But the infield offense has been below average on it’s best days. Todd has been a pleasant surprise this year, but nobody else scares you. It’s now Tulo and Cargo carrying the team. As I’ve said before, if we get even average production out of the infield, we win the west with ease.
I say this is Stewarts last week. If he continues to hit like this, trade him. I don’t care what we get.
Thanks Cisco. That article is spot on.
I’m going to change it up and be optimistic. I think we go 4-2 at least in this homestand. I think Tulo will break out finally. I also think Seth will have a big series.
That article accomplishes its goal of rallying a local fan base to believe they will over take us, meanwhile striking fear in the Colorado fan base.
However, my problem with the article is the hypocracy of this paragraph:
“The Giants have had their own issues in the early season, but even at half-step, they’re a game out against Colorado. Now Cody Ross appears to be cranking it up. Pat Burrell is getting warm. Tejada has had better at-bats. So has Aubrey Huff. Add Torres and Mark DeRosa to the mix and Bruce Bochy is going to have a lot of options, even with Pablo Sandoval out another 4-6 weeks. Top to bottom, the Giants can still be dangerous 1-8. The Rockies simply don’t scare anybody beyond their 3-4 spots.”
It says the Giants are playing at “half-step” and implies the Rockies are playing at full-step.
While I’m not going to raise the mantra “they will hit”, I do think it is a bunch of bull to imply that the Rockies lineup has no history to support higher expectations.
Agree, very good article. Sometimes you need to hear an outsiders opinion to gain some perspective. It was like hearing what we’ve all known is true, but have been reluctant to admit. I’m in the mode now that I just try and enjoy each game as a one game experience, and forget ideas of a division title, or playoffs. It should make following the Rockies fun again. And if the post season comes for the Rockies, then so much the better.
Prog,
What history exactly do we have from the current members of the Rox lineup that should give us hope for higher expectations? What history is there from Stewart, Iannetta, S. Smith, Herrera?
You are correct as to the intent of the article being that it is a Bay Area newspaper, but the crux of the article should not be ignored. That is that the Rockies lineup as it is right now does not strike fear in anyone. We’ve known and suspected this on this site for awhile and now others are picking up on it. Let’s make sure we don’t go through this season living a lie. Sure, we may have enough to win the NL West because the Rox will only have the Giants to worry about, but if they do I’m afraid it will only be one and done unless some major shakeup is done to this lineup.
I’m not saying there is a consistent history, but there IS a history. The Rockies and their fans may have made a mistake in trusting in those singular good years, but you can’t pretend like those years never happened.
Fowler: 08 and 09, 70+ runs, 35+ rbi
Iannetta: 08 (part time), 50 runs, 65 rbi
Smith: 09 and 10 (part time), 50+ runs, 50+ rbi
Stewart: 09 70 runs, 70 rbi
Lopez: 08, 09, 10 avg 60+ runs 70+ rbi
I realize RBI and Runs are byproducts of other things, but they signify points on the board, which is what matters to me.
Anyway, there is some history there, though brief. I’m sure the SF writer has no problem taking Buster Posey and Kung Fu Panda’s 1 special year each into consideration.
Prog,
You’ve made my point for me. Those numbers you posted are cute and decent, but are they enough to make up a championship team?
If 3 out of 5 of them accomplished those results, maybe. if 4/5 of them did, I say very likely. If 5/5 then hell yes, WS contender for sure.
Cisco, we have recent history to rely on for the proposition that the Rockies hitters will bounce back. The chances that Stewart and Lopez both went all Garrett Atkins on us in the same season are pretty low. Stewart has been painful to watch, but that’s in 46 plate appearances. Basically 10 games worth of action. Here’s a real stat: after this weekend, the Rockies have a .275 batting average on balls put in play (BABIP). Last year: 310. The year before: 305. The year before that: 308. Every struggling team says they’re hitting balls right at people and nothing’s dropping in for a hit. In this case, that seems to be partly warranted. There’s a fair measure of simple bad luck here.
What’s really laughable about the San Jose story is this about Ryan Vogelsong: “This is no fluke revival here.” Good to hear that they’re convinced after one good game. At the age of 33. Against a club in a dreadful collective hitting slump.
And how’s this for truly laughable
I think we all have seen the visual confirmation behind the BABIP number. Just look at how many plays the SF infield tandum made. It was ridiculous how often they were in the right place.
CKid,
I have a problem with that article, for the same reason I have problems with writers from every newspaper. At the DPost it would be Woody Paige and Troy Renck for example.
They all express an opinion and state it as fact. While ignoring facts that are contradictory to their opinion. For example, “But people are beginning to wonder about Ubaldo Jimenez. Was he a first-half flash in the pan last year?” Do you really believe this is a true statement? Ubaldo was very good prior to last year. But he’s taking his whole career and putting it into a small 3 month box.
Or “This is no fluke revival here. At 33, Vogelsong has figured himself out mentally for the most part (despite that hiccup in NY last week).” Voglesong was a journeyman in Japan and bounced around the minors for the last 5 years. All of a sudden he’s the second coming to Tim Lincecum? Do you really believe that? Do you really think that can be stated after 2 starts?
Or “Dexter Fowler is decent and fast, but is he any better than Andres Torres? Think not.” Really? He’d take Andres over Dexter? That statement alone pretty much blows his opinions in my mind.
While the writer brings up some good points, take it with a grain of salt. It’s merely the opinion of a writer, catering to his readers and not necessarily fact.
Trip,
I can’t disagree with anything you mentioned above. When I posted the article it was with intent to open up some dialogue and offer another person’s opinion about the Rockies. I was taking a ‘devil’s advocate’ stance on the matter. However, we can’t totally dismiss some of the items listed in the article. I’m as big a fan of the Rox as anyone here, but we need to make sure that our vision isn’t clouded by purple colored glasses. There are issues on this team that need to be addresses soon or it will be Sept. and we’ll all be wondering what happened to the season.
stewart and cargo will homer, i say keep stewart i have a funny feeling hes gonna have a big season the rest of the way
tulo will go 3 for 4
trust me!!
I’ll admit that every year since 2008 I have come into the season thinking the team would score 5+ runs every game, have 6 guys hit over 20 HRs and score a ton of runs. Of course, that 2008 lineup included Atkins, Hawpe, Holliday, Tulo, Helton, Taveras and backups like Spilly and Jeff Baker.
Then introduce Iannetta and Stewart and my expectation for 2009 goes up, but then we lose Holliday, Atkins struggles, but Hawpe has big year.
Then 2010 we have Cargo emerging and Smith should play more, plus Giambi for a full year.
Anyway, the point is that I’ll admit to always thinking this team should be better than maybe it really is as far as scoring runs.
Might be time for me to start counting less on the long ball prodigys like Stewart, Iannetta, and Smith and start looking for more gamers and grinders.
CKid,
Well, you certainly accomplished your objective. Good post. It was fun reading that article and laughing at it.
While I certainly agree the Rocks are having problems right now, I don’t think they are as bad as they have been playing the last couple weeks. Nor do I think they are as good as they played the first couple of weeks.
Patience on the Rocks.
I like Rocky’s take on it. Forget what we hope is coming or what has been. Just enjoy the ride. Game by game.
In the end remember, it’s men playing a boys game for our entertainment.
Thanks again for the post.
Read the article but don’t agree on it. It bases the Giants offensive resurgence on over the hill players like Burell, Huff, and Tejada. They are all on the decline. I would take Stewart, Smith, Fowler, and Ianetta over thoses guys any day of the week. I believe all of these guys are underproducing at this time and have alot of time to turn it around. And the article says that Volgelson has figured out how to pitch at age 32 and gives no credit to Mortenson, saying that we should see how he is playing at the mid-point. I don’t know how Volgelson can figure it out at 32 but Mortenson can’t at 26. Again I’ll take Mortenson over Volgeson (who happened to play agianst us at the most opportune time). Both Ianetta and Stewart had real good at-bats that series. They will heat up shortly. And also, a pitcher who has a .77 ERA through 10 starts (or however many it was) is a damn good pitcher. Jiminez is going to be fine. We are in first place right now with Tulo and CarGo batting .250 and our ace has an ERA of neary 5. Lets give the Rox some credit for what they have done while performing well below standards.
Milton Bradley is available, could he be the answer? He certainly can hit and he’d be awfully interesting.
NOOOOOO!!! On Bradley
I agree, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO on Bradley. If you need an example of a bad apple ruining the whole basket, that would be Bradley.
I can’t type enough O’s in NO for Bradley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!