Rockie Preview - No Ubaldo
by Phil Gurnee on May 28, 2010 8:30 AM PDT
in Team Previews
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PrintThe last time we played the Rockies we were struggling below .500, and Rockies were playing .500 baseball at 14 - 14. They are now 25 - 22, and it should just be a matter of time before the Dodgers and Rockies are jockeying for 1st place.
They have scored 224 runs, allowed 192 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 27-20
De La Rosa is still gone but they have gotten boosts to the rotation with Jeff Francis and Jason Hammel returning from the DL. Huston Street is still on the DL, and the closer situation has been a mixed bag. Luckily we missed Brad Hawpe last time, but he is back ready to torment us as always.
This is not your fathers Rockies. This team can pitch, but even with Coors they are barely scoring more runs then the Dodgers. The FIP of 3.76 is good for fourth in the league, even more shocking is the 2nd best home run rate (HR/9 per fangraphs) .66 , compared to the Dodgers .75. The .66 is just a tick off the league lead of .65. That is kind of amazing considering they call Coors their home.
http://www.fangraphs.com/teams.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=nl&type=1&season=2010&month=0
The Rockies are a team getting healthy, and the offense will be the best we have seen this year. They have a powerful outfield, a great SS, a catcher having a career season. The only thing they are missing is power from their first baseman and an offensive 2nd baseman. Luckily we miss the best NL pitcher this weekend so the Dodgers must take advantage. No matter what happens this weekend we should expect both of these teams to be battling in Sept for the Division crown.
Position Breakdown
1st Base-Todd Helton is still struggling to hit with any power. TSL - .275/.392/.345, let us hope he does not follow in the footsteps of the last struggling first baseman we faced and go D Lee on us. Jason Giambi has been stealing some at bats here.
2nd Base-Clint Barmes is the weakest link in the lineup and it is a very weak link. TSL .215/.274/.318
SS - Last time we saw Troy Tulowitzki his power was down around .411. Not anymore, in 20 days he has raised his slug % to .506 and is clicking on all cylinders. Old TSL - .295/.345/.411 / New TSL - .314/.383/.506
3rd Base - Old TSL - .279/.376/.523 New TSL - .276/.347/.449 . Ian Stewart on the other hand has seen his slug% drop from above .500 to the .450 mark.
C - Miguel Olivo supplanted Chris Iannetta with his hot start, but this week Iannetta was recalled from AAA so we might see both of them this weekend. Olivo old TSL - .246/.303/.493, New TSL .297/.366/.492 so Olivo has continued to be one of the best hitting catchers in the NL this year. Is that an All-Star season so far? Very impressive for a guy who some on TBLA considered not worthy to even be on a major league roster when his name was brought up as available back up catchers this past winter. Those 14 walks are only SIX shy of his career high and we are only in May. I thought I was looking at what I'd hoped the future of Russell Martin was going to be. Color me shocked to find out those are Miguel Olivo's numbers.
CF -Carlos Gonzalez looks like he can do everything but take a walk. OLD TSL .317/.340/.475 - Current TSL .313/.329/.503. Five walks in 170 plate appearances. That would appear to be nit picking for a guy with a plus .500 slug% and a .300 batting average but it may cause him problems in the future.
LF - Last time we faced the Rockies Eric Young was actually playing in the outfield. Now the powerful Seth Smith is getting the playing time. Promising youngster Dexter Fowler seems to be a bench player these days getting spot starts here and there. Smith is slugging .563 giving the Rockies three outfielders with a plus .500 slug%.
RF - Brad Hawpe is back and is mashing TSL .303/.372/.566. I'm sure Eric will fill in the details on how he kills the Dodgers. Expect more of the same.
Bench - Ryan Spilborghs, Dexter Fowler, Chris Iannetta, Jason Giambi, and Melvin Mora round out a solid bench with power, speed, and patience.
On the DL: Jorge De La Rosa, Huston Street, Eric Young, Franklin Morales, Taylor Bucholz
Starting Pitching for our Series:
Game One -Jeff Francis has been solid since returning and seems to have regained about 1.5 - 2 MPH on his fastball before his surgery. He's been throwing 88 and pre surgery he was around 86. 88 was where he was at when he first came up. He's only made two starts so not to much can be made of what he's done so far but if he is healthy, Francis is a huge boost to the Rockie rotation.
Game Two - Aaron Cook gets the call in game two. At one time Cook was the best Rockie pitcher, it is a testament to how far the rotation has come that he may now be the weakest link in the rotation. He has an ERA of 5.40 but his FIP of 4.39 suggests he's had some bad luck. He rarely strikes out anyone (4.35) but his normal walk rate has moved from below 3.0 to 4.65 which doesn't look like bad luck to me.
Game Three - Jhoulys Chacin shut down the Dodgers the last time we faced him when he made his second start of the year. He's now made five starts and has only stumbled in one of them.
Bullpen: The last time we saw the Rockies Franklin Morales was the closer but he's now on the DL so Manual Corpas is now the man trying to close the door. Rafael Betancourt continues to have the best skills in the bullpen even though his ERA is bloated at 5.56. Rounding out the bullpen are right handers Matt Belisle / Matt Daley, and left handers Joe Beimel / Randy Flores. For those USC fans here, Randy Flores hails from your school. Franklin Morales closing is an adventure with his eight walks in eleven innings.
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Bold statement.
Literally and figuratively (HIYO). This should be an intense series.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
OT - But it turns out that Jeff Baker came out of the game yesterday
because of a vision problem. He may not have seen Martin’s hard-hit ball in the 8th that whizzed near him for a single.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
Silverwidow...
This link is for you. Can you say Holy Shit on this site?
http://tinyurl.com/35kr32c (Strasburg)
wow
nice card but there is no way I pay that much
There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings. ~Earl Wilson
JFK
They look formidable
Too bad we’re not getting Ethier back yet. A good portrait, Phil, of what the Dodgers are facing. (And thanks for the new post alert in the last thread, Eric.)
Home run rate
Sorry, confused. Is it 0.066 or 0.66?
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
HR/9
http://www.fangraphs.com/teams.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=nl&type=1&season=2010&month=0
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Well you fixed it now.
So good. :)
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
I find it funny that everyone talks about how bad the NL West is
yet 3 out of 5 teams are in the top 5 for HR/9, and the Dodgers are sitting at #6.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
re: The Last Thread
Maddz, if you’re moving to Nashville, you’re moving to Tennessee “Big Orange” Country, and they can be, well, everything you’d expect. These are the people who rioted when Lane Kiffin sneaked off to USC. But luckily, Vanderbilt has decent football too, and while they may not be Top 5 they’re fun to pull for. Plus SEC baseball is actually a lot of fun.
And if VaDodger is still reading, go Hokies, beat Clemson.
Fight the power! Votes for Ethier, none for Phillies.
by Little Blue Bicycle on May 28, 2010 10:00 AM PDT up reply actions
Not to bash Vanderbilt, but wouldn’t they be generally considered historically the worst football program in the SEC?
by Michael White on May 28, 2010 10:05 AM PDT up reply actions
They're really good at basetball.
So I’m ok.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
And basketball too.
Slightly different sport. Interesting nuances, there.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
Baseball is huge here at Auburn, and throughout much of the SEC.
Fight the power! Votes for Ethier, none for Phillies.
by Little Blue Bicycle on May 28, 2010 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions
I agree it is growing
but nowhere on the level of football. Auburn has a good team this year, they can mash!
They were bad last year but won seven in 2008 and actually went to a bowl. So you never know with the Commodores.
Fight the power! Votes for Ethier, none for Phillies.
by Little Blue Bicycle on May 28, 2010 10:09 AM PDT up reply actions
Seth Smith has been super duper hot of late, right? And Tulo has been finding his power stroke. Helton is a shell of his former self. Gonna be a tough series to win. I think they win Game 1 and we win Game 3. With Game 2 being the wild-card. Of course, now that I’ve said that, the opposite will happen.
Smith = 3 HR in last two games
He was sick Wednesday, when he hit 2 HR, so they sat him yesterday and he hit a PH HR. So 3 HR in 5 PA.
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on May 28, 2010 3:04 PM PDT up reply actions
Tulo = 5 HR in the last seven games
Watching the purple row from high atop the big brown monolith on California Ave
Helton would have an impressive line if he were
Juan Pierre, lol.
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
Guzman now has the 2nd highest BA at .329? And Ethier is still 3rd in RBIs and he’s been MIA for 2 weeks…wow. Best slugging percentage by over .100 points…talk about impressive.
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
Through Sunday
he will be 15 PA short of qualifying for the leaderboard for rate stats. Giving him an 0-for-15 puts him at .350/.413/.664. He would still lead AVG, SLG, and OPS, and would be second in OBP (based on today’s rankings).
by Eric Stephen on May 28, 2010 9:58 AM PDT up reply actions
So with Ethier,
does anyone know if they ar going to adjust his hand placement on the bat or if they are going to adjust the bat handle’s on his bats? I really hope he is not forcing coming back too quick ethier. I am being a worry wort with Ethier because he is awesome and my favorite player on the team. I hope all these things don’t amount to him going downhill because he has too many adjustments and compensations going on.
I would assume that he would be loath to change anything
since once you start tweaking with mechanics, you can fuck the whole thing up (e.g. Billz in 2009). I think that’s why he went on the DL in the first place, because he couldn’t swing normally and didn’t want to try to do it differently.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
Pitching matchups
Monastarios v Francis
Kuroda v Cook
Kershaw v Chacin
Does that mean Bills is pitching Monday against the Dbacks?
and Tuesday beings the second Ely-Haren matchup of the season
by Eric Stephen on May 28, 2010 10:15 AM PDT up reply actions
OT but
Part of the reason I love watching professional sports is watching grown men act like little boys on the field. Watching Kobe and Artest jump up and down in each others’ arms last night was right on the money.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
see also: walkoff home plate pogo celebrations
by hee came hee seop'd he choi'd on May 28, 2010 10:18 AM PDT up reply actions
The best is that when it's Ethier
you know he’s about to get his ass kicked by Kemp.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
Kemp is pretty much the greatest walk-off celebrator in MLB.
by Eric Stephen on May 28, 2010 10:27 AM PDT up reply actions
Just think how awesome it will be to watch Vernon Wells and Aaron Hill similarly celebrate with the rest of the Blue Jays next month in their three “home games” in Philadelphia.
by Eric Stephen on May 28, 2010 10:19 AM PDT up reply actions
Bob Gibson would’ve plunked them on the ass for that.
by regfairfield on May 28, 2010 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions
You’re missing the all important Jim Tracy factor in the analysis.
Also, while we’re firing Joe West, take Ed Rapuano with him.
Wow
More people had to restrain Rapuano than Bush. He came out from behind the plate almost immediately. What a tool.
The best part of the Joe West hubub was that Angel Hernandez was umping that game as well and somehow managed to not be the biggest asshole in blue.
by Eric Stephen on May 28, 2010 10:22 AM PDT up reply actions
wow, mlb actually lets those two umps work the same game?
west and hernandez are in the running for biggest jackass ump in the universe. i remember when hernandez took mariano duncan’s hat a few years back.
by Ian Capilouto on May 28, 2010 10:41 AM PDT up reply actions
Yea, the call was right. Let the pitcher bark, just keep calling the game.
by robotmadeofnails on May 28, 2010 10:57 AM PDT up reply actions
Asshole in Blue
Sounds like an abstract painting, or an art-house file.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on May 28, 2010 11:34 AM PDT up reply actions
Where “file” = “film”.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on May 28, 2010 11:46 AM PDT up reply actions
That's true
that pitch was easily low.
by Eric Stephen on May 28, 2010 10:26 AM PDT up reply actions
Yea, I don’t know about that one. The pitch was low, it dropped and the catcher brought it up for framing purposes. The tough thing is how the front of the plate is a part of the strike zone. It is almost impossible for an umpire to get the call right if the ball is in the strike zone right at the front of the plate and then drops out. Hence, Little League umpiring is awful when pitchers throw blooping pitches. The ball might be a strike at the knees, but it lands in the dirt in front of the catcher.
by robotmadeofnails on May 28, 2010 11:52 AM PDT up reply actions
WOW.
What did Bush say? It looks like he swore and then the ump came out IMMEDIATELY. He was saying “That’s not down. That’s not down.” Then the camera pans to Rapuano, and he’s appears to be saying “Don’t get your fucking glove up. Don’t ever fucking do that again.”
Prince Fielder is the best guy to be on your side when you are about to get in a fight ever. He will just pick you up and walk you out of the fight.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
I can't stop watching.
It’s hilarious. There’s no reason that the ump could get that mad in that short of a timespan unless something bad happened prior. Unless he said something really really offensive.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
Ed Rapuano is on roids. Cause Bush clearly has the body language of a dude that yelled “FUCK!”
by regfairfield on May 28, 2010 10:34 AM PDT up reply actions
Exactly.
I think grownup words are a mainstay of professional sports. I think it starts at age 12. :)
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
Possibly before that
I use to go to my sister’s softball games and yell curse words into a tunnel with a friend when i was like 8, hahaha.
"You're the only woman to ever love me." "I never loved you." "I meant physically!"
I forget that I was a late bloomer as far as cursing goes.
And a girl, we tend to curse later, I guess. I made up for lost time, though.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
What about the preeminent dude who will pick you up and walk you out of a fight of our generation, Ryan Howard?
by regfairfield on May 28, 2010 10:31 AM PDT up reply actions
I was reading ESPN magazine in a chinese restaurant (don't ask)
and they said that of the MLB players they polled, it was widely agreed that if you’re going to fuck with someone, Kyle Farnsworth is not that guy.
They say to never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.
Farnsworth is the Jim Gott of his era.
by Eric Stephen on May 28, 2010 10:48 AM PDT up reply actions
If you can find Rowdy Kyle Farnsworth beating the hell out of Paul Wilson or Jeremy Affeldt you’ll see why.
by regfairfield on May 28, 2010 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions
Unless
Prince is running through the tunnel to try to take on the Dodger clubhouse. I still get a kick out of that
by robotmadeofnails on May 28, 2010 10:57 AM PDT up reply actions
Raiders file grievance against Russell
I know there some fellow Raider… fans I guess is the word:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/27/SP0K1DLRG9.DTL
The Raiders confirmed Thursday that they have filed a grievance against former quarterback JaMarcus Russell in an effort to get back $9.55 million of the $39 million they paid him.
i love the raiders.
jamarcus russell is a sumbitch thief.
by Ian Capilouto on May 28, 2010 11:17 AM PDT up reply actions
Lovitz just sent back his Raider tickets.
by JonWeisman on May 28, 2010 11:17 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Scott Elbert was a late scratch today for the Isotopes. Let’s see…
1) Dodgers are going to call up a 12th pitcher soon
2) Dodgers are down to one LHP with Sherrill on the shelf
Hmm…..
Since when was logic allowed around here?
Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
3) He was traded for Granick.
4) He’s being sent to A ball so he can be converted into Dan Quisenberry.
by EMDarrow on May 28, 2010 11:41 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
If this comes to pass
I may have to go buy a lottery ticket because my sense of prognostication is tuned in.
Second day in a row:
I am kinda expecting Elbert to be called tomorrow to backup Monk and then take a start next time around.
by OB12 on May 27, 2010 10:10 AM PDT up reply actions
6 batters into the game at Wrigley
5-0 Cardinals.
minorleagueball.com
Has a minor league notes posted, and his blurb on the Midwest league has some potential interest:
**The Midwest League batting hunt is led by Jerry Sands of Great Lakes, currently hitting .366/.443/.720 with 22 walks and 40 strikeouts in 175 at-bats. He’s also stolen nine bases in ten attempts. A 25th round pick from Catawba College in 2008, Sands is a big guy at 6-4, 225, hitting from the right side, but scouts say he has some athleticism, a decent outfield glove, and isn’t just a slug on the field. He is a bit old for the Midwest League at age 22, and his plate discipline needs some work, but there is enough here for Sands to rate as a legitimate prospect worth tracking.
This is going to be a fun series to watch
The battle for the top begins (SD will fall in time)
There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings. ~Earl Wilson
JFK
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