Jimenez pitches well, but Rockies’ offense flat in loss
Neither team produced much offense in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. But the Brewers did far more with their two hits off Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez than the Rockies did with their four hits.
Jimenez, who also walked five and hit a batter in eight innings, walked Carlos Gomez to start the bottom of the third and hit Richie Weeks with one out. After getting Mark Kotsay to fly out for the second out, Jimenez put Ryan Braun in 1-2 hole before giving up a double to the gap in center on a 2-2 count. Dexter Fowler dove but came up short by a few feet and the ball rolled to the wall. Braun had an easy triple, and a throwing error from Fowler then let him trot home. The three runs were all the Brewers would produce of Jimenez, who struck out four in his longest outing of the season, but it was all they needed to complete the sweep.
The Rockies scored their one run in the top of the third. Fowler tripled with two out and scored on a Carlos Gonzalez single. The Rockies loaded the bases in the fourth inning with a single by Jose Lopez, a double from Ryan Spilborghs and a walk to Chris Iannetta with one out. But Jimenez grounded into a double play to end the Rockies’ final threat.
Alfredo Amezaga walked to start the fifth, but was erased on an inning-ending double play. Brewers starter Randy Wolf and relievers Kameron Loe and John Axford combined to retire the next 13 batters after the Amezaga walk.
Offense flat? That’s being pretty charitable. Sorry guys. This isn’t getting any better. I just don’t think they’re capable of improving. Carney wasn’t the answer, Baylor wasn’t the problem.
Another good day at the office by the SP; another bad day at the office for the offense. We just caught the Brew Crew at a time when they were heating up like they were supposed to do earlier in the season. Jose Lopez slowly beginning to gain traction at 3B. Fowler looked better batting 2nd instead of lead-off.
I would hope that JT will run with Fowler in the 2-hole a little bit and see how it works, but no bunting by Fowler. Otherwise another blah day at the game.
Updated pipedream, fantasy lineup:
Cargo
Herrera
Smith (or Helton)
Tulo
Helton (or Smith)
Wigginton/Lopez
Fowler
Iannetta
I’ve always kind of felt this, but also felt like it couldn’t be pushed because Fowler needed to take the reigns, but Cargo is the sparkplug right out of the gates this team needs (short of calling up EYJ).
Wild off the wall totally naïve question: could Spilly play 3rd?
Looking ahead. 20 of our next 23 are against NL West oppenents and after that we head in to interleague play against so more tough teams (Yankees, Indians, Tigers, and White Sox). I said after the first loss to the Brewers that we could go into a tail spin due to the way we lost and what do you know we just got swept. Things coud get really bad in the next month.
We have the talent, as we did last year, yet we can’t put it together as a team. This is getting rediculous. Tracy needs to go immediately. The players aren’t playing for him. He got lucky when he took over after Hurdle was let go 2 yrs ago which makes him look like a good manager in some peoples eyes. But what has he done since then with all the talent on this team? Absolutely nothing. He can’t manage a team which I’m sorry to say and I’m sorry to be a negative Nancy.
To end on a positive note….. great to see Jiminez back.
@PM I don’t know about Cargo batting leadoff.
Well I’m not a fan of Tracy by any means, so don’t take this as an excuse for him. But this team has put together one great month in 07 and then 4 great months to end 09. Other than that this team has been mediocre. Maybe it’s not the managers fault, maybe it’s the players. These guys just aren’t as good as we think they are. At least that’s what I’m beginning to think right now.
I think the talent is there for each individual player.
Tulo- “A”
Cargo- “A”
Helton- “B+”
Smith- “B”
Fowler- “B”
Iannetta- “B”
Herrera- “C”
Lopez/Wigginton- “C”
There are no “bad” players on this team. Other teams do a lot more than we do with less. The problem is that this team never gets more than the sum of its parts. They don’t play together. I don’t think any one player understands or utilizes the talents of the other players. How many successful hit and runs have we had? How many stolen bases have we had with a patient hitter like Helton at bat? How many times have we made a pitcher pay for walking Iannetta? How many sacrifice flies have we had? Sac bunts? Double steals?
Every successful moment has been INDIVIDUAL.
What happened to the TEAM?
Gee, for minute or two today I thought we might be leading the league in pitchers’ complete game losses.
At this point, it is becoming obvious that we are not the team we thought we were. Long season, though.
Interesting to watch Iannetta’s at bat with runners on 2nd and 3rd, one out. Where’s the aggressive attitude? Why’s he looking for a walk? That called strike 2 should have been an RBI swing. Sure he gets his walk, but that leaves it up to the pitcher. Geez!
Prog is right–this team is not a team and, in my book, that rests on the manager’s shoulders.
The at-bat that drove me crazy was Iannetta’s in the fourth. With runners on second an third, one out and a 3-1 count, he took a borderline pitch, dropped his bat and was ready to go to first when the pitch was called a strike.
Why wouldn’t he be looking for a pitch to hit there rather than looking for a walk with the pitcher up next? Instead he walks on the next pitch and of course Ubaldo grounds into an inning-ending DP. I know Iannetta walks a lot and has a pretty good OBP, but walks are not always as good as hits and to be satisfied with one in that situation just makes no sense. Expand your strike zone and look for a pitch to drive.
I don’t like Tracy at all, but the more and more I watch, the more that I see players that can”t do the little things right to win consistently. If the Brewers had 1 guy on base, they systematically moved him along and got relatively alot of runs all series for the # of hits. Contrast that with the rockies who I wouldnt bet on scoring even with a leadoff triple. Fowler is the worst bunter/baserunner I have ever seen with that kind of speed. Tulo is a HR/ double or nothing (more often the latter). While at some point, tracy needs to go…the problem right now is the personnel. Too many fundamentally bad baseball players, despite their talent.
I don’t agree with the headline. Jimenez did not pitch well. 5 walks and a hit batter is not a good performance. Sorry. You can lie with statistics, but statistics don’t lie. When he gets hit, the hits really count. I’m outa excuses for Ubaldo.
BTW… D-BAX are only a half game away from pushing the Rockies into 3rd place. Could be a banner week coming up for Arizona baseball fans.
Rocky, couldn’t agree with you more. I swear the Rockies pitchers lead the world in HBP.
Fundamentals are out the window–how many times have the Rockies failed to bunt runners over ?
No closer–Street throws nice BP–six HRs in 23 innings ? Are you kidding. The 2nd game loss at AZ when he blew the save is what sent this team into a tailspin and it just keeps getting worse.
Too many walks–i agree Jimenez start cannot be considered a good pitching performance.
Losing is as infectious as winning and the Rockies do not believe they can win close games–and they can’t. I dread the next 23…
And the Giants win another 1 run game…
Wow Prog, you said it all.
It’s easy to second guess after the game is over, but why does Tracy think that Herrera needs so much rest. Herrera doesn’t play and Amezaga goes 0 for 3.
Also, I’m surprised that Tracy didn’t figure out a way to play Wigginton against a lefty. Wigginton was our big offseason pickup, and he’s not playing that much.
BTW, Fields is hitting really well at CS. Could he play 3B for the Rockies?
1-800-rant
I don’t usually complain, but this loss really hacks me off!
I am not an expert on stats, but I’ll make a point anyway. We need someone to ignite the stagnant offense. I think we’re one of the worst offensive teams in the NL. Sure statistics say we’re in the middle of the pack in OBP, Slugging Average and BA, as has been mentioned here, but the bottom line is we play half our games at Coors Field, so those stats are skewed a bit in my view. If we’re playing in a different ballpark, we’re at the bottom in most offensive categories. We flat out don’t hit.
Nobody on our offense scares anyone. Giambi’s three home runs a few days ago is the closest we’ve had to a real “slugger” on our team hitting like a slugger. The Brewers have nothing but scary hitters. Almost everyone save Betancourt can rake on that club. We don’t knock any of the opposing pitchers off their game plans. We aren’t even a threat on the basepaths most of the time.
We need someone on this team, or someone to come in, to get the offense going. I’ll give some credit to the Brewers for being a good team with good pitching, hitting and defense, but we’ve got to hit better than this.
Ran out of rant. I’m out.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but Jimenez was fine by any measure I use. The walks aren’t great but two hits in eight innings? If he had given up five hits and walked two would anyone complain about his performance? It’s the same number of baserunners. One hit burned him for two runs. The third scored on an error. It’s still not where he was at this point last year, but I think people have unrealistic expectations for Jimenez based on his first half of last season. I’ll stand by my headline. He pitched well, certainly well enough to win. Offense did nothing to help him.
Steve’s right, it comes down to total base runners. Jimenez wasn’t sharp in all ways but he was difficult to hit. The Rockies’ hitters continue to be the ones who should shoulder the blame. Their production has been poor most of the season, disastrous at times. The Rockies get a much worse grade for hitting than pitching, even with the Paulino, Street and early Jimenez meltdowns.
Something to focus on is this – Jimenez is pitching much better. This team needs some offensive spark. Eric Young, maybe Charlie Blackmon, and hate to say it Dan O’Dowd, you might have to find a trade that works to bring a bat to the organization. I don’t see many untouchables in the farm system. I like some guys, like some others guys a lot but I’d trade almost anyone for a better-than-average bat. For me, I might be more reluctant and defiant on trading Juan Nicasio and Rex Brothers than others. Add the right guy and I’ll say it again, you really help the offense with him, and by adding a bat that allows Tulo and CarGo to do better things.
On the major league level, Dexter Fowler and Seth Smith aren’t untouchable either. I don’t run either of them but I’d move them for more productive players.
My complaint is the same one I’ve been ranting on all year (and before). We don’t know how to play small ball. We can’t bunt a base-runner over, we can’t hit and run and we get thrown out on the bases more than any team I’ve ever seen. Yes, the players are to blame but where is our “speed” coach? Where is our bunting coach. I love Dexter Fowler but he has regressed in bunting and stealing bases since he was a rookie. Why?
We had three good or better starting pitching performances in Milwaukee and no wins. I think the Brewers have a scary lineup but we scored enough runs Friday night to win but Tracy over-managed as usual. Saturday he took his hottest bat out of the lineup so he wouldn’t tire him out. If playing three games in a row will tire Giambi out, then dump him. If not, dump Tracy. Today we got one run off a mediocre pitcher.
Last year at about this time the Giants bit the bullet and traded their catcher and brought up a raw rookie and turned their season around. Will DoD have the onions to push the right buttons and turn the Rockies around? I know this is a long season and we shouldn’t over react, but this team shows no heart and no emotion.
While I agree Jimenez is pitching better I also have to agree with Rocky. In fact, you could even say a trend might be developing. If Jimenez doesn’t walk 5 and hit a batter. Rockies win. Its not the 1st time walks and a hit batter have cost him this season
Then again I guess I could blame it on Randy Wolf. Doesn’t matter what uniform he has on
What was Ubaldo’s velocity today? Did he use the slider? I was out of town and didn’t see any of the games this weekend (I guess I was lucky).
Up and down the lineup this team cannot lay down a bunt. They make poor decisions on the base paths. As we saw yesterday, they frequently struggle with the relay throw. The make poor decisions at the plate. These things are not talent based, they are preparation based. I have been pleased that Jim Tracy has returned aggressiveness this year, but overall this team is very poorly managed. They look a lot like the team that ultimately got Hurdle fired and the one that quit on him the end of last year. It is time to hold Jim Tracy accountable. Start the clock.
“This looks like the same team that quit and got Hurdle fired.”
“Tiem to hold Jim Tracy accountable.”
Those 2 statements are ironic if not completely contradictory.
If this team needs the manager to be fired every other year to light a fire under their ass then we’re never going to win the World Series. These guys are big boys. Time to lay the responsibility on the players. They flat out need to learn timing. When to step up and be the hero, when to be humble and allow someone else to be the hero, and simply when to play smart vs play aggressive.
At this point they’re all mixed up. I think the years of being a carefree clubhouse has caught up to them. They need to learn how to play well under pressure instead of trying to pretend there is no pressure.
Prog,
I agree 100%, ultimately it is the players on the field responsibility for their performance. If Tulo and Cargo are truly “A” players they need to begin playing like it. This is Dex’s 3rd year in the bigs, no excuse for being 2 of 8 base stealing and being unable to consistently lay down sacrifice bunts.
At this stage, I am starting to feat that this club was over rated and bascially is .500 caliber. As someone mentioned earlier though, lots of baseball still to be played and Rox have a history of turning around disappointing starts (except when they don’t).
Anytime you lose a game when you pitcher gave up 2 hits and a CG, it’s your offense that lost the game. it’s happening far too often.
This is not a small ball problem. Bunting someone over assumes that at some point someone someplace can put the ball in play so that the RISP can actually score. A guy on 3rd wont score on a strike out. Nor will he score on a fly ball to center that is the 3rd out.
The problem is we have far too many people on this team that aren’t hitting. And by hitting I’m talking just a simple base hits, as in a flare to right or something. You had 1…. count em 1 starter yesterday that is hitting over .250. And only 1 PH that hits over .225 yesterday.
Tracy MUST start playing guys with the hot bats. I don’t care about giving guys a chance. Give them a chance when someone else is hitting.
Yesterday’s starting lineup ave and OBP.
Amezega .250 .333
Fowler .241 .347
Cargo .245 .324
Tulo .250 .330
Helton .313 .364
Lopez .209 .229
Spilledmilk .224 .286
Chris I .222 .375
Ulbado .000 .000
not counting pitchers that’s
oops. sorry, posted before I was done.
not counting pitchers thats an average OBP of .323 and an BA of only .244. Sorry, you aren’t going to score like that. on average, you get one man on, then 3 will fail to get on (meaning they are out).
Small ball only helps if you can drive them in. The Rockies can’t hit right now.
Its killing me because I like almost every player on the team. Its just that the chemistry on the field is completely missing.
Maybe it will all click on their own. Maybe it would click with a call up. Maybe it will click with a trade.
But if it doesn’t click soon we might be looking at 8-10 games out by this time next month.
I really never thought I’d see the day that the starting pitching of the Rockies would be considered the strength of the team and the offense the weakness.
With so much money committed to the offense, what are they going to do if it never comes around and in order to keep the pitching together they have to shell out big money for Jimenez and Hammel in addition to what they already pay for De la Rosa?
Remember when the team and Tulo made a big deal about the players in the minors need to step up because the team can’t afford to not get production out of them because Tulo and Cargo and Todd eat up the payroll? If Tulo and Cargo can’t pull their weight, what then?
I think the first two immediate moves that need to be made (albiet minor ones) are to bring up Brothers to get him some big league time – he is obviously too good to keep in AAA based on his numbers. Number two, dump Amezaga. If he’s not part of the long-term plan then what’s the point of having him here? I get that he is versatile defensively but at this point does that really matter? Herrera is more than capable of playing 2B every day.
I’ll save my usual Lopez bashing for another post… but I’ll just float this stat out there: EY2 batting .355 with 16 SBs in the Springs.
I think Brothers and EYJ at this point sound like no brainers. Solid players like Amezega are important down the stretch for a good team. He could make a full team fuller, if that makes sense.
But what can Amezega do for a struggling team? He’s not really “great” at anything.
At this point the Rockies need someone who is great at something, ANYTHING.
And thats probably EYJ who is great at being an energy guy.
The problem is do you call up EYJ and bench Dexter? Dexter’s only real failing is that he’s not a leadoff player. But he’d be good at the 7th spot.
I wish EYJ could play 2B, then I would sit Herrera or play Herrera at 3B.
I know this is scapegoating, but really, so much of this confusion stems from Ian Stewart not fulfilling his potential as a 5 or 6 hole hitter. If Stewart could hit just .250 and play his glove, the errors from Lopez would be gone. Wigginton could be used as primarily PH and 1B back up and Giambi’s spot could be replaced with Nelson or EYJ.
ROX Report Card:
SP: pretty solid-they’ve been keeping the Rox in games for the last several weeks now and have had numerous quality starts. Think they have 6 quality starters once Cookie’s back (although I think Mortie should remain in the rotation based on how he’s performed, Cookie to the BP as long man and spot starter). IMO-Ubaldo will end up having a 2010 season in reverse. I truely believe he will start winning consistently now and could end up with ~15 wins.
BP: They’ve been a mess lately although I think now that the garbage has been taken out and once Brothers is called up IMO the BP will again be one of the strengths of the team (and one of the best BPs in the NL). Still wonder about Street-he’s had a good start overall but I’m never comfortable when I see him enter the game in the 9th, but atleast Lidstrom is right there if Street can’t consistently lock down games.
Defense: Awful the last several days. This has been the top strength of the Rox for several years now and moves need to be made to get the ‘D’ back into form (3rd base especially!).
Offense: This Offense is offensive. IMO the ROX will turn things around on D, in the BP and continue to get quality SP but the offense will only improve if the two Os stop being impatent and swinging for the fences. They are the leaders of this team but are NOT leading by example. The Os need to be patient, take some more walks( and believe in the batter behind you), stop thinking about hitting homers and use the whole field. If Tulo and Cargo don’t get on track then this Offense will sputter all season long. Baserunning also has to really improve.
I’m tired of people saying that EY can’t play 2nd. Errors are over rated. They make a difference, yes, but if your team must have great pitching and perfect defense to win, you need to do something else and find a good balance. I can live with some errors. But great defense can only win you games if you can score.
We had a lot of errors this series. But were still close in the games. We lost at the plate. IMHO, bring up EY and get some energy. if Herrera can play 3rd, put EY at 2nd and move Cargo to 5th in the order, and put Todd in the 3 spot. If he can’t play 3rd, start wiggy at 3rd and bench Fowler with EY in left and Cargo in center.
But if you aren’t going to bring him up, for God sake, please, get Herrera and Wiggy starting for at least a week solid at 2nd and 3rd and try to get this offense thinking it can hit a little.
Some decent, consistent hitting would be contagious, and would probably bring Tulo and Cargo around as they wont be trying to score 5 runs on every hit. But right now, the hot bat is in the isolation wards, while the sick hitters are sharing their disease.
This idea that Tracy has about Cargo is always in LF is ridiculous. I’m not an EY2 fan but I’ll go along with the growing tide and say he deserves a shot. Put Cargo in CF, he’s better than Dexter. I’m losing interest in Dexter. His game yesterday was atrocious, couldn’t get a good read off the bat, lazy relay throw, can’t bunt.
I feel what everyone is posting here, and it is very disappointing. I really thought this was the team to do something. Prog is right on, where is the TEAM?
Wayne,
I’m with you 100% on the points you just made. Quite a few folks on this site are very high on Fowler, but his average is slowly sinking towards the Mendoza line. I realize he’s had some clutch hits at times this season, but I would be surprised if he’s not down around .210 by mid June unless he goes on a hot streak during this homestand. If and when EYjr comes up I’d like to see him play LF because of his arm strength, which leads to you second point concerning JTs stubbornness about solely using Cargo if LF. Why can’t Cargo play LF and CF when it’s needed? He has to stop babying these guys. Play Cargo where the team needs him most for that particular game.
I don’t think Tracy would stick to that philosophy in regards to long term benching of Fowler. If Blackmon or EYJ get called up, it may mean Cargo moves to center, so I wouldn’t worry too much there.
As it is though, I think the Cargo, Dexter, Smith OF has worked pretty well defensively. Smith has actually made some nice plays in right recently and we all know how awesome Cargo was in left the first month of the season. I haven’t seen much glove from Dexter this year for some reason, maybe he’s not getting the opportunities? That first game in Milwaukee he made some bad mistakes though.
Kyle,
Good job on the report card. “The Os need to be patient, take some more walks (and believe in the batter behind you).” Well said, especially since the guys behind them are Helton and Smith, who have been the most consistent hitters on the team.
IMO the first “O” has improved considerably after his slow start and has taken walks and tried to move runners along. The second “O” has done a miserable job at both lately. What’s with swinging at the first pitch every AB? It’s okay to swing at the first offering occasionally, to keep the pitcher honest and not fall into a Stewart-like 0-1 count every AB. But work some counts man, especially when the pitcher is struggling with control.
Among those that qualify with 3.1 AB per team game, the Rockies have 5 players in the Top 100 in OBP. I found that a bit surprising. They are
36. Hererra
37. Helton
46. Smith
67. Fowler
100. Tulo
I’m not sure that I have a point, I just found it interesting. If I were to shake up the lineup, I would roll with:
Hererra
Smith
Helton
Tulo
Cargo
Lopez
Iannetta
Fowler
Of course, the only answer for the woeful offense is for Tulo and Cargo to hit.
I noticed that EY is not playing tonight for the Sky Sox. Does anyone know why?
Ike, is that top 100 in baseball or top 100 in the NL?
If it’s the NL, then 5/100 is slightly below average since there are 16 teams.
miketober,
Top 100 in MLB