Rockies lineup vs. White Sox, 6/29
The Colorado Rockies lineup Wednesday vs. Chicago White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle:
CF Carlos Gonzalez
2B Jonathan Herrera
1B Jason Giambi
SS Troy Tulowitzki
3B Ty Wigginton
RF Seth Smith
LF Ryan Spilborghs
C Chris Iannetta
SP Ubaldo Jimenez
Giambi is hitting .444 against Buehrle. Wiggy is .235. Hoping Giambi is still hot….
Need a better bat hitting behind Cargo. I’m tired of an automatic out in the 2-hole. Move Smith there. I’d also hit Giambi or Wiggy 4th.
Couldn’t agree more Miketober. Tired of the 2 hole being just that, a hole. Also, pick a 2B and stick with him
I’m getting tired of reading all of the negative on this site. I’ve had some criticisms before, but I’ve always been optimistic about the team and still am. Yes, we haven’t seen that “spark” yet but having watched this and other teams over the years that can happen at anytime. Remember last season when the Padres led the whole season and looked like a shoo-in for the NL West and then they dropped 10 straight? About the same time we went 10 straight if memory serves and then ran into the AZ wall and you know the rest. This game is one of streaks and history has shown our streaks start after the All Star Break.
So, instead of calling for Dod/Tracy/eyj/ubaldo’s head, remember that we went 2.5 back to 6.5 back in a week and we can easily swing it the other way. The best thing you can do is scream your lungs out at every game. I’m on my way to the park right now on my annual Rockies trip (I live in Utah) and I can’t wait for some more magic. I was there last night and will be there the rest of the week!
Go Rockies!!!
Ps – this post was mostly pointed towards the negative on last nights posts.
Well said Jaredean. I too can even get down on things. We have had such high hopes for this team that to be stuck in mediocrity is frustrating.
I also would like to see Smith at two hole, but I think we are ‘stuck’ with the 2b there until something happens where we get Blackmon comfortable there or a trade occurs for J. Carroll. Yes I know retread to here, but J. Carroll could be Dodgers all star this year.
I actually like Nelson but he needs to hit 8th. Let’s stop having Iannetta clear the pitcher with the walks and move CDI to 6th.
I know, stop with the lineup complaints.
Ok with this one because it’s the cards we are dealt right now, so go get ‘em boys!
Karl, I would settle for Blackmon to hit 2nd.
Supposedly Herrera can handle the bat, so having him hit 2nd should lead to some small ball when Cargo leads off with a hit. But when Cargo gets a 2-out single, having nothing in the 2-hole is a killer.
Eventually Cargo needs to move back to 3rd. Is it time for that move? Maybe that’s a whole thread in itself….
I get what you guys are saying about negativity, but Steve posted the lineup under the “Whaddya think?” category, so this is the place to say what we think. Unless we all love the lineup to death (which happens fairly often) you are going to get some complaints.
Go Rockies!
I like that giambi is the lineup tonight, he has been doing very well in interleague play.
Miketober, I was wondering about cargo moving him back too. What do you guys think? I say leave him at leadoff still until we get consistent production from someone else who can leadoff. I like the cargo and tulo tandem as much as the next guy when they are hot, but you have to get someone on base ahead of them first.
Way to pick Herrera up Giambi!
Miketober/Karl — I agree. Is there some kind of rule that the second baseman must bat second? Nelson, Herrera, whoever — this club is giving up runs by not having someone who can get on base ahead of Helton/Giambi/Tulo/Wiggy.
If we had a bonafide cleanup hitter you can move Tulo to #2.
I kinda like
Cargo
Tulo
Helton
Wigginton
Smith
Spilly/Blackmon
Nelson/Herrera
Iannetta
I like this one
Blackman
Helton
Cargo
Tulo
Wigginton
Smith
Ianetta
Nelson/Herrera
Helton is slow, but nice eye to get on, the 2B at the 8 hole gets you some speed in front of the leadoff batter.
Prog, that works for me. Our clean-up hitter isn’t doing much cleaning up so try him in the 2-hole and let Wiggy or Giambi hit 4th.
3 times man on 3rd and 1 out and we cannot get the ball out of the infield. This is frustrating.
Don’t need to get it out of the infield if you run the suicide squeeze successfully.
I thought last night with a left hander on the mound versus Nelson and the 1st baseman playing way back, Nelson should have push bunted toward first.
Iannetta laid down a nice bunt last night. Could have tried that again.
No Wayne, that’s the Rockies.
Smith…horrible throw…altho he has never been known for his arm.
F and G talking about everything but the game…man, I cannot stand them.
Rox going quietly…what’s new.
More solo home runs…more losses.
One day this team will learn their multiplication tables.
Where was Helton???
Tracy pinch-hits Nelson in key situation, had Blackmon on deck had Iannetta reached in 9th…if Helton was available, I cannot fathom why you wouldn’t use him.
Another totally frustrating loss– all those base runners, all those chances with runner on third and one out– and all they score on ios two solo homers.
Why would you strike out looking down a run in the bottom of the ninth? Why would you look at two strikes when you’re the last out of the game? Define “aggressive hitting philosphy”.
Man, that’s frustrating. This one should’ve stacked up in our favor after the starters were out of the game.
Ubaldo: walks Juan Pierre. Why would you ever do anything but throw those 91 mph semi-heaters down the middle to Juan Pierre? What’s he going to do? Beat out an infield hit? Dude is sporting a .045 isolated power percentage. That means he basically never has an extra-base hit. When a guy can’t do any more damage with the bat than a walk would do, how does he ever walk?
Smith: lame-ass up the line throw. Guy was a quarterback. A back-up quarterback. No surprise.
Iannetta: still should’ve handled that.
Herrera: situational hitting? Is that what we call “grounding into a double play” these days?
Street: proves the famous Myth of the Closer. He is a pretty ordinary reliever who happens to rack up saves because his manager insists on using him only in the 9th inning. 23 of 25 in converting saves! That’s 92 percent! Remember the nightmare that was Shawn Chacon the Closer? 35 saves/9 blown saves in the much more extreme hitting environment of 2004. All while compiling a 6.11 ERA. You can be a pretty crappy pitcher and still rack up those saves…
Finally … Jim Tracy.
Jonathan Herrera must bat 2nd, thereby ensuring that all HRs are solo HRs. Tom Nawrocki puts out a blog, Hot Rox. He says it better than I can:
“The problem with Tracy, as I see it, is that he’s not deciding who he wants to have on the field so much as he’s deciding who he doesn’t want out there. Particularly with Dexter Fowler, one got the sense that he didn’t care whether or not he had a better player than Dexter, just so long as he got Dexter and all his strikeouts out of the lineup. Charlie Blackmon is not a better player than Dexter Fowler, and has never been a better player or a better prospect, but Tracy made the decision not to play Dexter, then looked around to see if there was anyone else he could put in the lineup. Similarly, he’s decided that Seth Smith shouldn’t play against lefties – without asking himself whether he had a better rightfielder than Smith who should play against lefties. That’s how we got such ludicrous decisions as Eric Young Jr. starting in right field against the Yankees on Saturday.
The key question to ask yourself about Dexter Fowler, or about Ian Stewart, isn’t “Do I want this player in the lineup?” The important question is, “Do I have a better player than this guy, or is he my best option?” Jim Tracy needs to start asking himself the latter question”
And isn’t that the truth? Guys like Fowler and Stewart are banished because he’s tired of watching them not live up to their potential. Which may make him feel better about himself, but which doesn’t help a club actually win games when it means EY Jr. is playing rightfield or Charlie Blackmon is playing every day.
Truly and utterly pathetic…
Tulo gets two balls to the outfield tonight, but wait, no runner on third…
Runners on third tonight…we can’t even get the ball to the outfield or “popped it up”…
Spilly…dog
CDI…an even BIGGER dog(3 K’s and pop to 2b)
And why, oh why, do we have our 2b hitting 2nd??
Ask yourself this baseball hitting mechanic question…what happens to make you pop a pitch up? There are about 4 things that have to happen…our hitters do it on a regular basis. They truly believe that “chicks dig the long ball.”
Jardean and the rest of the believers…I’ve said it ten times…I hope that the Rox can turn it around…we’re halfway thru the season and we are average. Average=not good, not bad. Please keep the faith and keep believing.
As for me, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Good teams CANNOT lose that game tonight. There is no “fire in the belly” on this team.
Bot 8, Giambi up. Quoth Drew: “no shift.”. Sound like something I would say but I generally leave out the “f.”
At Coors tonight. Beautiful evening, no joy. GIDPs, inability to hit the ball out of the infield for a simple sacrifice. These guys just aren’t good enough to move beyond .500.
You’re right, Rocket…failing to score three times with a man on third and one out is a surefire way of losing a close game. That’s simply inexcusable.
This certainly isn’t the Rockies’ worst season ever, but it may well be their most disappointing.
And what’s with Helton never being used tonight? Hard to think of a plausible reason, short of injury or illness.
The reason for all the negativity on this site is simple; The Rox have the talent but cannot play together as a team. There are teams with less talent that do more (i.e. Arizona). And you can’t say the reason we are under .500 is that we are in a tough division, because we are not.
Agbayani, that post describes Tracy to a T. He just doesn’t belong as a manager if he manages that way.
Tracy is not a bad manager. The players color our opinions of one. Put Tony La Russa, Terry Francona, Charlie Manuel has lead dog of this bunch and we’ll be disappointed in them too. This is just a bad mix of players. Not saying they are talentless hacks but they are who they are, and it’s not good enough. The pitching isn’t great, but it is strong enough to win with better defense and a whole lot better offense.
Ownership and DOD have to come up with a better plan, start drafting better (make some changes at the top of the scouting department) and start, get this, developing a whole lot better.
Until this happens, the Rockies are fun at times but no serious contender. The D-Backs are building something big again, the Giants know what they are doing for their challenges, the Dodgers are like the Rockies – too much talent, not enough results, and the Padres are a low dollar operation too.