Gonzalez re-injures wrist in loss to Braves; Chacin and Reynolds struggle
The Colorado Rockies blew leads of 4-0 and 6-5 and lost 9-6 to the Atlanta Braves to complete a disappointing 4-4 homestand. This loss featured a poor start by Jhoulys Chacin, costly fielding miscues by right fielder Seth Smith and third baseman Ian Stewart that didn’t show up as errors, an unsuccessful relief effort by Matt Belisle and an abysmal one by Matt Reynolds.
Carlos Gonzalez hit a leadoff homer to give the Rockies a quick 1-0 lead. But he left the game in the fifth after he fouled off a 1-1 pitch from Tommy Hanson. Gonzalez was holding his right wrist after the swing and doubled over in pain and was taken to a Denver hospital for an MRI on the wrist. The Rockies official tweet said the MRI showed Gonzalez had a strained right wrist. He suffered a deep bone bruise in the wrist July 3 when he banged into the Coors Field wall making a catch and had an MRI on the wrist a day later.
Chacin issued a career-high seven walks in 4 2/3 innings, his shortest start of the season. Dexter Fowler tripled home two runs in the second and stole home when Chacin missed a suicide squeeze attempt but catcher Brian McCann was unable to hold the ball, and Fowler scored to make it 4-0.
Chacin walked Martin Prado to open the third and Jason Heyward followed with a homer. A one-out single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases, and the Braves scored when shortstop Troy Tulowitzki wasn’t able to get Alex Gonzalez’s grounder out of his glove cleanly, preventing the Rockies from turning an inning-ending double play.
Freddie Freeman tied the game at 4 with a homer in fifth and after two more walks and a fielder’s choice, Chacin left the game with runners on first and second. Nate McLouth singled off Belisle to give the Braves a 5-4 lead, but the Rockies scored twice in the sixth on Tulowitzki’s single, a triple by Smith and Chris Iannetta‘s sacrifice fly to go ahead 6-5.
On came Reynolds. He retired the first batter he faced but gave up a homer to Brooks Conrad followed by Alex Gonzalez’s double. McLouth ended up with a triple when right fielder Smith made an unsuccessful sliding attempt and the ball got past him, putting the Braves ahead 7-6.
Matt Lindstrom relieved Reynolds and got pinch-hitter Wilkin Ramirez grounded a ball to Stewart, but his throw home was high, enabling McLouth to score the Braves eighth run. Ramirez took second on a ground out and scored on Heyward’s double.
Other highlights:
_ After initially injuring his right wrist July 3, Gonzalez was in the lineup just once in the next nine games. He started the past six games and went 6-for-24 but that includes going 1-for-10 in the first two games. At the time he left Thursday’s game, Gonzalez was five for his past 14 with two homers, five RBI and six runs scored.
_ Chacin has gone six straight starts without a win since his last victory June 15. In that span, he’s 0-3, 5.71 with 24 walks and 29 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings. He issued a career-high seven walks while throwing 113 pitches in 4 2/3 innings, his shortest start since he lasted four innings Sept. 12 against Arizona. Chacin has had three five-inning starts this year and had pitched five innings in each of his past 22 starts dating from Sept. 18 at Los Angeles. Chacin had walked six four times, including in three of his previous 19 starts this year. He has yielded 18 home runs in 127 2/3 innings.
_ Reynolds allowed one home run in 23 2/3 innings in his first 35 games. In his past 12 games, Reynolds has given up four homers in 10 2/3 innings.
_ The triples by Smith and Fowler were their seventh, keeping them tied for the team lead and in Smith’s case extending his career-high.
- Fowler’s steal of home was the first of his career and the 16th in franchise history. The last was by Chris Nelson on Sept. 9 against the Reds. Fowler struck out on each of his final three at-bats, his first three-strikeout game since returning from Triple-A Colorado Springs July 15 and fourth of the season.
_ Rockies relievers were charged with four blown saves in the eight-game homestand _ one each by Reynolds and Lindstrom in an 8-7 loss to the Brewers on Saturday, one by Lindstrom in Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Braves and Reynolds’ in this 9-6 loss.
I think we can all say 4-4 was a disaster. Again we have two real starting pitchers, a completely suspect bullpen and erratic, streaky hitters. If Cargo is seriously hurt, don’t know if we can get to 70 wins. Get set for another road trip in NL West hell. Looks like Dexter got something out of AAA, Stewart not so much.
What did Dexter get out of AAA? He was 1 for 4, with 3 Ks… Just like Ian was 1 for 4, with 3 Ks, today…
And it looks like the National League hitter have figured out Mr Reynolds, just like they did Daily.
You’re blind if you think Dexter and Ian’s performance to date is remotely comparable.
Since coming back from AAA Dex is hitting .316 slugging .526, and I think those numbers don’t include today’s triple and 2 RBI. Are you serious in judging him purely on 3 K’s today?
Oh, and by the way, on the season he is hitting .364 with RISP.
Stewart is hitting .125 over his last 5 games, .241 over his last 9. The better .241 comes with a measly .379 slugging. His BA with RISP this season (21 plate appearances) is a whopping .000.
Rocketman, I’m not quite sure how you can say that Ian Stewart got little out of AAA, the stats prove otherwise;
pre all-star; .106 avg. .203 obs .136 slg .339 ops, striking out at 33%
post all-star; .238 avg. .333 obs .429 slg .762 ops striking out at 24%
I would have to say based on the stats that he is much improved (I hoped it would have been even better). I’m sure that you are making your statement based mostly on today’s game and his last few. If you remember, he was thrown under the bus by his own manager publicly just a few days ago which happens to coincide with these recent struggles. Since then he has struggled, yes, and I firmly believe Tracy was the cause. Before this however, he happened to be one of the top hitters on the team post all-star. I also believe that he has saved numerous runs, and thereby a few games (did we forget about yesterday already?), for us since the break. He plays a far more superior defense than Wiggington, and Wiggington cannot hit any better with runners in scoring position at this point. Stewart should still be played ahead of Wiggington imo. Once Tracy is fired for his numerous questionable managerial moves and public blaming of players (especially Stewart), I think Stewart can relax and his swing will come through. If Tracy stays however (I pray he doesn’t) I’m afraid Stewarts days will be numbered. He needs a chance with a new manager imo before he is completely given up on.
I think instead of looking at the hitting, the pitching should be blamed since the break. Chacin, once again, did nothing for the team even given a big lead. He is not an ace, nor do I think he can be, which should be enough reason to not trade Jiminez. The bullpen has been horrible since the break as well. I thought the pen would have been better than last year, but I was wrong on that.
It seems to me that Dexter has been on base and in scoring position a whole lot more than Ian, since their respective returns, and has done that a bunch of different ways.
Only a wrist sprain. Good news for Cargo although Id like to see a DL stint to give it time to heal.
ColRox, I am in complete agreement on the pitching being the losing factor today. Chacin has certainly lost his mojo. The pen is more mystifying (Chacin seems to be having his “sophomore slump”). Every guy in the pen is subject to a blowup at any time. We no longer can put any of them out in a stable role from day to day, and they all seem to be contact guys not strikeout guys. There’s certainly no one held in fear by opposing teams.
ColRox, I prefer Wigginton at 3B. But I’ll concede that his BA RISP is also horrible, only .169. 3B has been a black hole this year.
But if Stewart can hit near .250, add some power numbers, and start getting clutch hits, then I am all for him because of his D. In all honesty do you think he will break out this time?
miketober, I do believe that Stewart was getting his head straight after the all-star break and his swing was coming around. However, when Tracy publicly blamed him I thought it brought him back a little and it has shown. I think he has a lot of pressure on him with the expectations and I also think that Tracy is not a fan of him (and I think Stewart knows this). With both these things weighing on him it is a lot of pressure. Stewart has been putting the ball in play consistently since the break with few strikeouts. Tonight’s game just happened to be his worst. I hope he is only in a small slump right now and that he can put the public blaming by Tracy in the past. With that being said, I have little faith in Tracy to keep Stewart in there everyday in order to break out of this slump. Will he finally break out this year? I don’t know. With consistent at-bats, I believe he will at least make it so 3rd base isn’t a black hole the rest of the year. As i said earlier, I think Tracy is keeping him from reaching his full expectations.
ColRox, first of all, that sounds like Rockies Daycare. I’m sorry Ian felt chastised for being scapegoated, but he is a professional and should not regress because of it.
Second, Tracy has a track record of prefering veterans. Look how much playing time Olivo and Mora got last year.
Seems like Stewart is a mental midget. For example, when he came up to bat with a runner at 3rd he acted like an abused dog with his tail between his legs. His swings had so much tightness and thought behind them that they had absolutely no chance.
Stewart reminds me of a chihuahua my wife and I had. After we had a kid the damn little dog became so skidish and stupid acting. We found it a new home where he is flourishing from a rat dog to a normal chihuahua. The point of this story is: Stewart needs a new home.
Does Ian have a diwty diapa? Is my lil Ian hungwy? Sit on daddy’s lap my lil Ian, aahh, you’re such a good boy Ian.
ColRox, Stewart was bad 4 years ago and he is still bad today. In fact he is worse. This stuff about he’s playing bad because his feelings are hurt is BS. I agree with Miketober and Prog. This guy has had so many holes in his swing since day one I’m surprised he lasted this long. The reason Tracy doesn’t like him (and I don’t believe that’s the case) is the reason none of us do. His demeanor, his lack of offensive ability, his being past the potential point, everything. Except his defense, which most of the time is outstanding. I said this the first time I saw him, want to get him out throw breaking pitches and off speed stuff and he’ll never get a hit. That is exactly what teams are doing and he will not break out of this slump or any other. Sorry to be harsh, and I know you really are a fan of his, but he is not a good hitter. I wish he was, we could use the help.
Thant anonymous was me in case you want to be upset with someone.
I think the problem with Ian is that he wants out of here. I’m probably the biggest Ian Stewart fan here but he really needs a change of scenery. He’s afraid to make a mistake because he doesn’t want to get benched and that’s not a good way to be playing baseball. I think he would really benefit from a change of scenery. But then we have Wiggy who really isn’t that much better. Where’s Vinny when you need him!!!
I agree he probably needs a change of scenery, and I hope he gets it. I don’t wish bad luck on him, I just don’t think this team is in a position to handle a 3+ year veteran who was once a top draft pick with kid gloves as if he was a 22/23 year old rookie again.
I wouldn’t expect any manager to sugar coat games where the third basemen makes 2 ridiculous unfocused errors. People are always criticizing the way Jim Tracy handles Ian Stewart, but I think there are a lot harsher ways that Jim Tracy could show his apparent lack of compasion for Stewart than giving him at least 4-5 different chances to win the starting job over the past 2 1/2 years.
I didn’t see yesterday’s game, but why the scapegoating of Stewart? Seems like there was plenty of blame to go around.
egossage, you hit the nail on the head: we have Wiggy, but is he really any better? Everyone’s been commenting on his horrible stats with runners in scoring position. I don’t think he’s a mental midget. I don’t think Stewart is either. I see a couple guys who have serious limitations in their games. Wiggy hits solo HRs because pitchers throw him fastballs when there’s nobody on base. He doesn’t get that with runners on, and his stats reflect the difference. Stewart has holes in his swing and (like most non-great hitters) depends on pitchers making mistakes. If pitchers execute their pitches they’ll get him out. Such is life with limited players. The worst thing to do is panic after one guy or the other has another 3 strikeout night, turning to a Chris Nelson or someone else who also has even less of a record of success. “Get better players” may not be the answer we want to hear, but it’s the truth.
As for Chacin: people were calling him the new ace back in late May. Now’s he’s the Sophomore Slump guy. It’s called being a big league starter. He wasn’t really as good as he looked in late May; he’s not really as bad as he’s looked the last few times out. It evens out. Last year’s “xFIP” (fielding independent pitching, normalized for a standard rate of HRs allowed per flyball — in other words, taking most of the luck out of the equation): 3.62. This year: 3.61. Hey, we’ve got a really good 3rd starter type guy who’s still very young. I realize all of this “don’t overreact” crap is kind of boring, since we all want to dump this guy or call up that guy rather than simply saying our players are what they are. But my point is that it’s fine for us fans to overreact. We’re fans. That’s what we’re supposed to do, riding the emotional roller coaster of a 162 game season. My problem has been that Jim Tracy (and to a lesser extent Dan O’Dowd) aren’t fans. This is their job. They’re not supposed to overreact to last night’s game or some guy’s 30 AB slump or 40 AB hot streak, but that’s what they’ve been doing all year.
So the solution is to let all of your underperforming players keep starting based on stats they put up in 2008 regardless of their play in the year 2011, lose 90 games because of it and go into 2012 without having tested the waters with any of the guys from the minors. Sounds like a recipe for success…lol
The season is over.
Put Gonzalez on the DL and let the wrist get back to 100%. Don’t rush him back because you have false hope of getting back into it and risk permanent injury.
Trade everyone you can get something for.
Bring up Wheeler to replace Gonzalez and any other prospects you want to get a look at (Rosario, Rogers, etc)
Find out what you have and start shaping next season’s team, because it is going to be totally different from this year’s team, hopefully.
It’s a good thing for this soft team that Ozzie isn’t our manager, but that might be what we need, at least the post game interviews would be interesting.
Prog: yes, that is the solution as long as you are trying to make the playoffs. Your logic is warped. You can get replacement-level performance at replacement level (minimum salary) from Eliezer Alfonso, or you can get 3 wins above replacement level performance from Chris Iannetta for his 3.5 million buck salary. Let’s say you’re really, really frustrated that Iannetta isn’t playing up to his potential. We’ll give away his 3 wins to punish him for not meeting our expectations.
And we’ll lose 3 more games.
The players under contract are sunk costs. (Yeah, you can trade the guys like Iannetta who are performing, but you can’t trade a Jose Lopez). So if you think you have a reasonable chance of getting back in the race you play your best players regardless of some kind of back-of-the-envelope performance per dollar calculation. Now I happen to think we just crossed the point of having ANY reasonable chance at making the playoffs, so I’m all for moving on and giving some new guys a chance. Spilly and Giambi won’t be back next year (at least they better not be), so why not deal them? Wheeler’s season ends at Labor Day, so sure, call him up for his first cup of coffee in September. But frustration is not a strategy.
I appreciate the calm, don’t panic advice of Agbayani. True, that major decisions on the team’s future should not be made in haste. Wait until the dust has settled. That’s all well and good, but come on, Ian Stewart aint a big leaguer. So what if he runs into one once in a while, you put any minor leaguer in the line up long enough and that will happen.
I can only hope that Dan O’dud takes the long view and starts planning for next year now, because this season is a major bust.
Rocky, we agree that this season is over.
But look at an earlier panic move: dumping Felipe Paulino. Yes, he had some really awful results here. But that was clearly largely bad luck-dominated. In KC? 3.60 ERA as a starter, over 8 starts. Would you rather have Greg Reynolds and Clay Mortensen get those starts? There was no reason to dump Paulino other than frustration — doing something so that you wouldn’t be perceived as doing nothing while the season slipped away. But the bottom line is that the team was worse without Paulino (and with guys like Reynolds and Mortensen) than with him.
(By the way, while I was against dumping Paulino, I couldn’t care less about losing Frankie Morales. Anyone noticed that he has a 1.93 ERA in Boston? But don’t get excited, Red Sox fans. That’s over all of 9 innings of relief work, in which he’s walked — incredibly — only 2 guys. As a new Red Sox hater (they’re second only to the Yankees in my book), I hope that Terry Francona is seduced by Frankie’s good start, that he adds him to their playoff roster, and that he uses Frankie in a critical playoff situation. Nothing I’d enjoy more than seeing him walk in the winning Rangers run …)
Agbayani, the only way you ever knew that Ian Stewart could perform was that the team went against your advice (assuming you were consistent) on Garrett Atkins.
“Put Gonzalez on the DL and let the wrist get back to 100%. Don’t rush him back because you have false hope of getting back into it and risk permanent injury.”
Right on!
” I hope that Terry Francona is seduced by Frankie’s good start, that he adds him to their playoff roster, and that he uses Frankie in a critical playoff situation. Nothing I’d enjoy more than seeing him walk in the winning Rangers run …) ”
That would be the one golden highlight of the 2011 season for most of us here.
If you put Cargo on 60 day DL and by some miracle we make the playoffs, he can come back. You try to bring him back and then on August 5th or something you decide to do it then too late. Might as well do it now.
Shame Charlie Blackmon is hurt, while he’s not a stud, he was fun to watch. I guess make do with either EY or Garner.
Prog, you’re right. I did think Atkins would rebound, and it was kind of astounding that he never did. Guys falling off a cliff like Atkins at a relatively young age (29 when he tanked) are real rarities. Here’s his OPS+ numbers starting with 2006 (and these are park adjusted, so the humidor doesn’t explain it):
136
113
96 (after this season, I would have expected him to rebound to the 110 range again — not good for a defensively-impaired third baseman, but kind of Ty Wigginton-esque)
64
54
Amazing decline.
Always makes me think “PEDs” in this day and age. But I’ll concede that you make a valid point. Jose Lopez is another one. Stats guys like me say there was every reason to believe he’d rebound, at least somewhat. The Marlins even took a flyer on him after we dumped him, then they dumped him all over again. I think he’s just a guy who’s bat speed is gone. Moral of the story? Rely on both stats and scouting reports.
I look at it like dating. So you’re going out with Atty and not really getting the action you used to. Stewie comes in an pours a nice cup of coffee and smiles and flirts with you while doing it. You go out a few times and get really excited, maybe you got something going. Goes ok for a while, keeps annoying you with a bad habit or 2 but you think you can live with them. All of a sudden you realize that she’s not dressing as nice as she used to, doesn’t get excited to be out with you, doesn’t get jealous when you call another girl, just seems complacent to be there and get a free meal and maybe a movie once in a while. She doesn’t add anything to the relationship. Suddenly those bad habits seem more like burdens and you imagine the next 5 years of them and you have second thoughts, so you give someone else a call.
Prog, analogy of the year. LOL I loved it.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! That’s awesome Prog!
Prog being one of the few (I guess, since I never read from any of them) females reading this site I have to say it goes both ways. I did appreciate the analogy though. I think management all the way around needs new blood bring in fresh troops and not any more retreads (sp) Look at Tracy and heaven help us remember Jim Leyland???????? I think first timers with a bunch of zeal would maybe kick up some spunk in whoever is left next year. No, I was never much of a Huddle fan and he was new however nobody else was and he was DOD fair haired boy from the get-go.
Just an add on Baylor was new and he did a pretty good job considering what he had to work with to begin with and no humidor and as I remember was not allowed to pick his own coaches.
Love it, Prog. I tend to value players more on what I see rather than pure stats as well. You can’t record in a stat book the guts it took for Blackmon to haul tail to third base with a broken foot earlier this month.
Hey Liz, hope I didn’t sound sexist or anything, definately does work both ways. I’m sure to an extent Stewart is thinking he’s being misused as well.
I also like the idea of a young coach to come in and fire some players up. Someone like Ryne Sandberg. I really envy Arizona’s coaching staff right now. Except for Baylor its full of 40 and 50 somethings who want to make a name for themselves in the coaching world. We’ve got Tracy, Runnells, Apodaca, who I think are all at a station they may feel they don’t have to work on their end to get better. I bet a guy like Charles Nagy right now in AZ is spending twice as much time watching film on his players than Apodaca is.
All of you are wrong on Stewart! Haha just kidding everyone. We all have our own opinions on things and no one is right or wrong. But all Im saying about Stewart is that i think he needs a chance with a new manager, he has given up playing for Tracy imo. As you can tell i am a fan of Stewart and at the same time not a fan of Tracy at all. I believe that we are in the thick of the race if Tracy made better managerial moves but instead we are in this mess where we seemingly are only making negative comments about this team. I don’t think Tracy knows how to get players to play for him. Each player is enticed to play in their different ways. Some players can take the criticism and use it, some players just need encouragement. I think it would be naive to think all players accept criticism the same way. What makes a good manager partly is his ability to recognize these differences in players, Tracy cannot do that. With his inability to do so, coupled with his numerous poor managerial moves, i don’t think he belongs as the manager. Maybe being a fan of Stewart (and not a fan of Tracy) is clouding my judgement of the situation so maybe Im wrong, Idk.
Wish I had all day to be on this site but need to get back to work. All I want to say is that they need to put Cargo on the 15 day DL and keep him there as long as necessary. This season is over and we need him to get better. I think that both Ubaldo and Stewart had their bad starts (for Ian, a bad year) because they rushed back or perhaps were rushed back before they were ready. Same for Cargo when he got hurt against KC. He should have been put on the DL then.
You’ll appreciate this one, Agbayani… Ian Stewart has 30 Ks in 102 plate appearances this season. That’s 3.4 plate appearances per strikeout. By comparison, K-master Mark Reynolds has 3.41 place appearances per strikeout.
The More You Know… (insert NBC public service announcement logo here)
Well said ColRox.
Bill I agree totally. Someone else said the same thing on this site but I don’t know which thread. He needs to go on DL just to make sure he doesn’t do further damage.
Prog I agree. Someone else (I think Bill or Gary) on another thread said Sandberg and I think he, or as Liz said, a first timer is exactly what they need. I too am envious of the fire that AZ staff brings to the team.
One of the things that gets me ticked off about Tracy is his habit of bending his head like he can’t stand what he just saw. Yesterday it was Seth Smith’s swan dive, the other day it was another bad play by the Rockies. Great way for a “leader” to act.
“Anyone noticed that he has a 1.93 ERA in Boston”
Ahhh yep. No need to rehash my feelings. I think everyone knows I was/am a Franklin Morales supporter. I just wish someone within the Rockies organization (coach Apodaca) could have got through to him. That was a lot of raw talent they let go. If he gets it together in pressure situations, he will be tough. Very tough.
Better yet. Combine Rockies and Red Sox
3.09 / K 20 / Walks 10 / WHIP 1.11
The Monfort’s need to really show they are committed to winning baseball in Colorado and not just making money. It starts with accountability at the top (DOD) and goes down through the manager, pitching coach, hitting coach, etc. Can’t put much blame on the base coaches, bullpen coach, etc. Charlie needs to come out and say “this losing will not be tolerated and we are cleaning house”. I think DOD is a GM who has the respect of his peers and works hard. However, he tends to overrate the Rockies prospects, keep them in AA or AAA (or even on the major league roster) way too long, and then when they start sliding he trades them for half of what he could have gotten a year earlier. Maybe that is the Player Development Dept. and not DOD, but something has to change. They are so afraid to make any big changes when that is exactly what they need. I am sure the players would hate to see Giambi, Spilly, Smith, and Ianetta shipped out, but it might be the best thing going forward for the organization.
I guess I just don’t see how some think Jim Tracy isn’t giving Ian Stewart every chance in the world to succeed. He’s played in every game except for one since being called back up. While his average is marginally acceptable (because of his god-awful start) at .227 since returning, he only has 4 extra base hits since his stint in AAA. That’s just not a good hitter for you. If it is just a change of scenery that he needs then that is fine but if it’s because his coach called him out then maybe this 26 year old “kid” just doesn’t have what it takes to be a real MLB player. Tracy has made plenty of mistakes but I don’t think taking off the kid gloves for Ian, or any other player for that matter, should be the thing that gets him fired. Letting Cook start again is definitely a more firable offense haha!
Robb, on one hand you say you’d like the Monforts to start spending money, on the other hand you advocate trading some of the more expensive but very experienced players.
Wouldn’t you rather see Giambi, Spilly, Smith and Iannetta stay…AND the Rockies make moves to bolster the lineup?
I know we aren’t the Yankees, but look at how every year they trade their prospects for help now. And somehow they STILL have a strong minor league system.
Every year the Rockies lose players and try to plug in rookies or bargain basement players to take their place.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Miguel Olivo or Yorvit Torrealba instead of the chopped liver we’ve had for backups? Especially since they love to sit Iannetta so often?
Spilborghs has been grossly underused, but it sure is nice to have a decent 4th OF. Same with Giambi.
If we sell off all our good veterans it will be rolling the dice again next year with rookies and left overs.
Good teams go out and get new players whose talents leap frog the players they already have. The Rox constantly have to replenish those they lost because they didn’t want to pay for them or those that fell off the map talent wise.
Sure would be nice to see them go out in free agency or via trade and add a 3rd basemen that is actually better than anyone they have and keep Wigginton as a bench guy, for example.