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Well, the Rockies just got swept a 3-game inter-league series with the Angels, and have now lost 5 games in a row. Yuck.
In these past five games, the Rockies were outscored by 44 to 16. Even while scoring EIGHT runs today, they lost, because the pitching today gave up TEN runs to the Angels. When you score 8 runs but still lose it's got to kill the morale of the team.
The Jamie Moyer experiment failed badly, they let him go, with Moyer garnering a minor league spot with Baltimore.
The Jeff Francis experiment started badly, he only went 3.1 innings in his "debut" yesterday, giving up 8 runs, earning a loss.
I'm surprised that no heads have rolled yet. I'm expecting something to happen by the All Star Break, but who knows...
I'm an Orioles fan who happened to see this topic on the front page.
Moyer's first outing with Norfolk was a gem. 5 shutout innings and as one writer put it - "pin-point control."
I still think the guy can pitch but time is not on his side. Assuming his next outing is also good I think the Orioles will bring him up.
I'm hoping he just needs a little time to find his rhythm and that the Rockies gave up on him too quickly.
This is what the Rockies' season has come to: The rotation is so bad that the manager would rather see middle relievers soak up important innings than having the opening-day starter perform the task.
In a season defined by surprises and disappointment, Jim Tracy provided both Tuesday, explaining that Jeremy Guthrie was going to the bullpen and that the team was moving forward with four starters on a 75-pitch count.
Rockies' starters
16.5% K, 8.8% BB, 5.15 FIP, 4.44 xFIP, 6.61 tERA, 4.32 SIERA in 342 innings
Rockies' relievers
22.5% K, 9.9% BB, 3.71 FIP, 3.62 xFIP, 4.84 tERA, 3.29 SIERA in 238 innings
Maybe not a bad idea to utilize the teams' best pitchers as much as possible.
The 4 starters will be:
Juan Nicaso: 21%, 8.6%, 3.95, 3.92, 5.40, 3.81
Alex White: 15%, 7.8%, 4.95, 3.99, 6.27, 3.87
Christian Friedrich: 22%, 8.7%, 4.06, 3.79, 5.92, 3.73
Josh Outman: 24%, 9.85, 4.14, 3.35, 5.02, 3.33
No Cy Young candidates but these guys are a lot better than:
Jeremy Guthrie: 11%, 8.1%, 6.72, 5.38, 8.09, 5.09
who is being dropped from the rotation.
Might expect the Rockies' starters to become a bit more productive as they will be facing batters fewer times per game. Not sure how the bullpen will respond to the increased workload.
They had to do something, the pitching sucks this year; Rockies score a LOT of runs but lose a LOT of games, and it's the pitching.
I thought they'd wait for the All-Star game to make changes, hire / fire, but better they do something now rather than later. Regardless, I think the season's lost.
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They had to do something, the pitching sucks this year; Rockies score a LOT of runs but lose a LOT of games, and it's the pitching.
It's the park. The hitting is average, the pitching is a bit below average.
Quote:
I thought they'd wait for the All-Star game to make changes, hire / fire, but better they do something now rather than later. Regardless, I think the season's lost.
The front office brought in totally the wrong kinds of pitchers for this season. A bunch of soft-tossing lefties who give up fly balls. That's an exact recipe for disaster in Coors. You need pitchers that limit contact. When a batter hits a ball in Coors it's more likely to be a hit (or homerun) in Coors than in any other stadium in baseball. Best not to let them hit it. Worst to let them hit it in the air.
Jeff Francis won't solve the Rockies' myriad pitching woes. He's not the rotation's savior and he's never again going to be an ace like he was during the 2007 World Series season.
But there are strong indications that the club will make a push to bring back the veteran left-hander next season.
Francis hasn't had good results with the Rockies this year. He's 4-4 with an ERA above 6. He has possibly pitched better than that however. His style doesn't seem to be a great match for Coors. He doesn't strike anyone out which means a lot of balls in play. Balls in play turn into hits in Coors field more often than in any other stadium in baseball. The league average BABIP (batting average on balls in play) is .293. Francis' BABIP is .323.
Part of the problem may be Coors, but part of the problem may be Francis. Prior to 2009 Francis had a career .309 BABIP. A bit hight, but considering Coors probably about what should have been expected.
Francis missed 2009 with injury.
Over the next 3 seasons Francis' BABIPS have been .320, .316, .323. He's also lost velocity on his fastball. It's possible that his pitches are more hittable now than they were before his arm troubles.
I like Francis, I advocated for the Dodgers signing him for this season. I don't think he's a good fit for Coors field.
Other notes:
Francis at Coors: 6.99 ERA, 4.75 expected ERA based on K,BB and batted ball rates, .338 BABIP
Francis outside Coors: 5.09 ERA, 4.55 expected ERA, .308 BABIP
Manager Jim Tracy retired this weekend. The Rockies went 64-98 this year, ending up in last place and stinking up the NL West.
I KNOW that I read somewhere during the season that the team owner gets rid of players who aren't strong evangelical christians. That dude needs a wake up call; this is Major League Baseball, not the church league.
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I used to do my Rockies chatting on a forum hosted by CBS Sports. Unfortunately, they took the community forum down, and since CBS's sports coverage is lousy, I have no reason to go to that site anymore. Unfortunately I don't have a dedicated Colorado Rockies forum now either, so I'm hoping there may be a few on CD who want to discuss the Rox.
I'll get things going here by discussing the current state of affairs with the Rockies.
As of today, the team is a surprising 11-4. The pitching has been pretty solid, and the offense has been among the best in the league in this young season. Now when it comes to the Rockies I am a very loyal fan, but experience has also made me a very skeptical fan. I am loving the solid play from the team, but in the back of my mind I am just waiting for the bottom to fall out.
I consider the pitching situation to be very delicate. The rotation is certainly not going to intimidate anyone. Although they have a few capable arms on the staff, there is nobody that is going to compete for the Cy Young award...EVER on this rotation. With that said, the Rockies just need a rotation that can consistently get them through the sixth inning with minimal damage and then let a pretty solid bullpen take over. Of course, the bullpen is certainly not without its flaws either.
Offensively the team is amazing. Through 15 games they have plated 93 runs, which averages over 6 per game. Dexter Fowler emerged last year as a potential long ball threat, Cuddyer is proving a lethal #5, Helton continues to contribute, adding 10 RBIs in 39 at bats. And of course you have the usual suspects of Tulo and Cargo doing what they do. This is a potent line up that is easily one of the top 5 in the league.
My take on the Rockies at this point is that they are going to be a fun team to watch simply because of their fire power, but I remain skeptical about their ability to finish the season above .500, much less playoff contention. But even though I am skeptical, I'll follow the team and continue to hope for the best.
Not a Rockies fan, but I felt that they could be a surprise team this season going in based on the strength of that offense (.297, 1st; .366 OBP, 1st; .499 SLG, 1st; .865 OPS, 1st; and 2nd in runs and home runs). I don't know how far it can sustain them deep into the season, but it's certainly a nice start. Truthfully, I don't think anyone in that division is that scary this season, so why not? Go Rockies!
Been a weird week for the Rockies....game snowed out on Monday ....owner shoveling snow off the field on Tuesday ... double header started two hours late on Tuesday with games played in frigid temps with Rockies winning both games...second game in tenth inning with a near empty park... snowed out again on Wednesday.... Rockies won on Thursday.... and about to win tonight....
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Colorado Rockies to go to 4-man rotation
