Tap the Rox

Moving.

2006-02-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

Tap the Rox has moved to MLBlogs. It's now known as The Coors Effect. You can access it here: http://coorseffect.blogspot.com

Rockies 29th?

2006-02-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/powerranking?season=2006&week=1

Come on, guys. The Rockies are going to be worse than the Royals? Any Rockies fan can tell you just how good Scott Elarton is (and how much he will help the Royals.) Reggie Sanders is closing in on 40. Mark Grudzielanek is over the hill as well, and those two won't have Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds in the lineup, either.

The Devil Rays, another team that relies heavily on youngsters, are 22nd. Of course, since the Devil Rays play in a ballpark not named Coors Field and their young players are top prospects (who, you know, always pan out) ESPN feels free to rank them higher.

On the other hand, I'd rather be the Rockies than the Devil Rays. The D-Rays are a spot ahead of the Orioles (who aren't very good, either) but they're in the same division as the Blue Jays (8th), Red Sox (6th, though I doubt they're that good) and Yankees (3rd.) The Rockies are in with the Diamondbacks (27th), Padres (20th), Dodgers (14th), and Giants (13th, and a lot worse if Bonds gets hurt again.)

Fuentes, Holliday to represent US in WBC

2006-02-17T15:03:00.001-07:00

If there's one thing that will make spring training difficult for the Rockies, it's the first-ever World Baseball Classic. Currently, closer Brian Fuentes and leftfielder Matt Holliday are slated to represent the United States in the World Baseball Classic. Other Rockies who will likely be playing include Jeff Francis (Canada), Byung-Hyun Kim and Sunny Kim (Korea), and perhaps Luis Gonzalez (Venezuela).

I somewhat like the idea of the World Baseball Classic. But the reason this is bad for the Rockies is that it will pull several players, young players at that, out of the Rockies' Spring Training camp as they compete in the WBC. How is Brian Fuentes supposed to get in a preseason groove -- he's expected to be the Rockies' closer this season -- when he'll mainly be working as a LOOGY for the US team? Holliday also doesn't really project as a starting outfielder for the US team, so his playing time will be limited as well.

In other news, pitchers and catchers report today, and the first Rockies spring training game is in a mere twelve days. Awesome.

Fuentes, Holliday to represent US in WBC

2006-02-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

Rockies sign Jamey Carroll

2006-02-14T01:49:00.000-07:00

Tom's bored and for some reason not asleep at 3 in the morning (despite having a class in five hours; for anybody interested to know, taking philosophy at 8 AM is a really, really bad idea) so here's the latest Rockies news.

The headline is, well, basically what you need to know. The Rockies purchased Jamey Carroll from the Washington Nationals. What Carroll will do for the Rockies is beyond me. He's a .269 career hitter with two homers in 819 at bats, a number that's sure to go up if he plays at all for the Rockies in 2006. That last part is the question, since Carroll is really not that much better than Eddy Garabito, whom the Rockies called up from Triple-A when Aaron Miles (and others) went down to injury. His age (31 on Saturday) also makes him older than every Rockies position player except Todd Helton, and all the pitchers except King, DeJean, Mesa, and Cortes, so he doesn't really fit the "youth movement." I guess you could sell it as insurance policy in case Luis Gonzalez can't adjust to being the regular second baseman, Josh Wilson flat-out sucks, and Omar Quintanilla isn't ready. But how many damn insurance policies do you really need at second base? Apparently, the answer is the same number of fifth-starter insurance policies you need; the depth chart on the Rockies' web site currently lists eight starting pitchers (Jennings, Cook, Francis, BK Kim, Day, Sunny Kim, Fogg, and Esposito.) Still, the Rockies have more pressing needs than signing a guy who basically plays the same role as Josh Wilson.

2006 NL East Predictions

2006-02-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

The Braves have won the NL East every year since the 1994 realignment. Yeah, the Expos were leading the division at the time of the 1994 strike, and the Marlins have won two World Series -- one more than the Braves -- despite never winning the division. So what? Everybody is going to pick against the Braves this year, but it's still pretty stupid to pick against a team that's won its division fourteen years in a row.

1. Braves: The Braves probably don't have as much talent as the Mets, but then 2006 won't be the first time in their run that the Braves haven't had the most talented team in the division. Rafael Furcal's departure from Atlanta leaves a hole in the leadoff spot -- who fills that void? Marcus Giles seems the most likely candidate. Edgar Renteria should fill in nicely at short now that he's back in the National League. Andruw Jones probably won't hit 51 homers again, but it's nice to see him finally living up to his massive potential. Chipper Jones has been hurt on and off but is still a solid player. Rookies Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann played well in 2005. The question is in left field, where Kelly Johnson, Matt Diaz and Ryan Langerhans all have a shot at winning the job. Adam LaRoche could be pushed by talented prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia if he doesn't perform, but Salty is probably a year away. The pitching staff is solid but not spectacular; Smoltz and Hudson are just fine, Horacio Ramirez is decent, and the Braves can probably find a couple of guys to fill the back end of the rotation. The bullpen looms as the biggest question mark. Still, everybody's been burned by picking against the Braves the past couple of years.

2. Mets: The Mets are more talented than anybody in this division and at worst should win the NL Wild Card. Carlos Delgado was a nice offseason pickup, and Paul LoDuca, though he's overrated, will fill in nicely for Mike Piazza. David Wright, if you haven't noticed, is pretty good. Carlos Beltran needs to bounce back from a weak 2005 and show why the Mets paid him that kind of money to come to New York. The rotation is aging, though Pedro Martinez is still very good. Tom Glavine hasn't been the same since he left Atlanta. Victor Zambrano isn't all that good; Aaron Heilman will finally get a legit shot at making the rotation. Billy Wagner was another nice offseason addition; he'll anchor the bullpen.

3. Phillies: Their window to win the division is probably gone. Jim Thome and Billy Wagner are both out of Philly; Bobby Abreu is still around, and Ryan Howard should be a nice replacement for Thome, but this really isn't a great team. The starting rotation is decent, but isn't anything to write home about. With the Nationals and Marlins in the division, though, the Phillies shouldn't finish any worse than third.

4. Nationals: Frank Robinson is a good manager, but that's about all that the Nationals have going for them. Ryan Zimmerman should be ready to play third base full-time after just half a season in the minors. Other than that, there's not a whole lot to be excited about. Alfonso Soriano is in town but refuses to play the outfield, and the Nationals already have Jose Vidro at second. Livan Hernandez and John Patterson aren't really an anchor for a pennant-winning rotation. Chad Cordero is solid, but may have worn down a bit over the second half.

5. Marlins: Basically, they're the 2006 version of the Rockies, with a couple of proven, young stars (Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis) and a bunch of other youngsters. Frankly, the Marlins won't really know what they've got with most of their young players until after this season, but the result could be 100 losses in 2006. There's a good base of prospects for the Marlins to contend in a couple of years, but the majority of those guys will need to pan out, and the Marlins shouldn't be expecting immediate results.

2005 NL Central Predictions

2006-02-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

The divisional rundown stops today at the NL Central, which has produced the last two NL Champions in the Cardinals and Astros. The Cardinals have won the Central each of the last two years, and four of the last six. The Astros have won the NL Wild Card the last two seasons. So does that hold again in 2006?

1. Cardinals: Outside of Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, and Jim Edmonds, the Cardinals' lineup is average at best. Of course, those three are good enough to carry any lineup, and they even make the rest of the players better. Chris Carpenter is coming off a Cy Young campaign, and while Mark Mulder struggled at times in 2005, he's generally been a very good pitcher in his career. Jeff Suppan is better than most #3 starters; the back end of the rotation isn't great but should be pretty solid. The Cardinals managed to avoid injuries in 2004, but Rolen missed most of 2005 with a shoulder injury that wouldn't go away. This team probably won't win 100 games, but should be good enough to win the Central.

2. Brewers: The Brewers may end up being a trendy pick to win the Central, though I don't think they're there yet. They did finish .500 last season for the first time since 1992, and should be improved. It seems the Brewers have a top prospect everywhere on the field, and the pitching staff is good as well (betcha didn't know Chris Capuano won 18 games last season.) Second place is a reasonable goal for this team; winning the division may still be a year or two away.

3. Cubs: The Cubs probably have more talent than the Brewers, but as Cubs fans know, winning baseball games isn't just about talent. Dusty Baker mismanaged this team to a fourth-place finish, wasting an MVP-caliber year by Derrek Lee in the process. The Cubs signed Jacque Jones and traded away three pitching prospects for Juan Pierre -- not the kind of moves that are going to make the difference between fourth place and first. What's more, any playing time that Neifi Perez takes away from Ronny Cedeno is a bad thing; the Cubs brass smartly traded away Todd Hollandsworth in an effort to force Dusty to play Matt Murton. The pitching staff is questionable; every year, it seems, at least one Cubs pitcher spends signficant time on the DL.

4. Astros: Remember how bad the Astros were in April and May of last year? It seems like everybody forgets that in May, the Astros were being mentioned in the same sentence as the Rockies and the Pirates for the distinction of being one of the worst teams in the National League. Then something happened, the Astros rallied down the stretch for the second year in a row and made the playoffs. But this year could be different. I just don't see this team going on the kind of run they did last year. Roy Oswalt is still around, and so is Andy Pettitte, but Roger Clemens may or may not be gone. The offense, other than Lance Berkman and Morgan Ensberg, is mediocre, at best. I don't see this team making the World Series again.

5. Pirates: Slowly, the Pirates are getting better. Players like Sean Casey and Joe Randa aren't going to make the difference between being one of the worst teams in baseball and making the playoffs, but they're miles better than the kind of players the Pirates normally acquire in the offseason. With Zach Duke, Oliver Perez, and Paul Maholm, the Pirates have the makings of a good young rotation. It's difficult to see the team passing the Astros, Cubs or Brewers in 2006, but fifth place isn't asking too much.

6. Reds: The Reds' offense was mostly an all-or-nothing operation in 2005, and it's even worse with Sean Casey gone. That does allow the Reds to give starting jobs to all four of their outfielders (with Adam Dunn moving to first), but Dunn, Kearns, and Pena all strike out a lot. Felipe Lopez is solid, and Edwin Encarnacion could be good; Ryan Freel could be productive with regular playing time, presumably at second. Of course, the Reds had to throw a wrench in there by signing Tony Womack. And the pitching staff... It doesn't help that the Reds play in a hitter-friendly ballpark; it also doesn't help when you sign extreme flyball pitcher Eric Milton and expect him to lead your staff. That Milton signing may rank up there as one of the worst in history. Sean Casey's move from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh may make the difference between fifth and sixth for those two teams.

Tap The Rox NL West Predictions

2006-02-11T23:16:00.000-07:00

That's right, pitchers and catchers report on Thursday. Even ESPN Radio is starting to talk about baseball (now that football season is over, ESPN has to find something to do with the 95% of their time that they used to spend talking about football.) So here's a quick breakdown of the NL West in 2006.

1. Dodgers: The West is there for the taking, and based on talent alone the Dodgers should be the best team in the division. That says a lot about the NL West, considering that the Dodgers finished 71-91 in 2005 and fired their GM in the offseason. Still, this team isn't going to scare anyone. J.D. Drew is an injury waiting to happen. Nomar Garciaparra is, too, and is he really going to provide the production you'd like from a first baseman? Jeff Kent is still productive but aging, and Rafael Furcal is overrated. So is Derek Lowe. This team has good, though not overwhelming, talent, and should be considered the favorite in the NL West -- but without a lot of margin for error.

2. Giants: If Barry Bonds is healthy for an entire season, the Giants may be good enough to win the division. Like the rest of the Giants' offense, though, he's aging, and another knee injury for Bonds may derail this team's hopes. Jason Schmidt should bounce back from a disappointing '05, but Matt Morris is mediocre these days, and Noah Lowry and Matt Cain are still young. Like the Dodgers, the Giants could win the NL West; but also like the Dodgers, they'd be a third-place team at best in most divisions.

3. Rockies: It's a bit of a homer pick, though it's certainly realistic considering the problems that the Padres and Diamondbacks have. Among the projected starting lineup, only Yorvit Torrealba is new, and only he and Todd Helton is over 26. The Rockies' regulars aren't world-beaters, but they should be better with a year of experience under their belts, and even Helton should put up better numbers if the rest of the Rockies pick up. The pitching should be at least solid, with Cook, Jennings, Francis, and the two Kims in the rotation, and Fuentes closing. Middle relief is a question mark, though it certainly got better down the stretch, and new additions Jose Mesa and Ray King, though not spectacular, have proven to be reliable in the past. .500 is a realistic goal for this team.

4. Padres: The Padres' window to win the NL West was very small, and after winning the division with an 82-80 record last season, they may be quite a bit worse this season. The Padres are an injury or two away from a complete disaster. At this point in his career, Mike Piazza is actually a downgrade from Ramon Hernandez. Brian Giles is solid, but having Ryan Klesko, Vinny Castilla, and Dave Roberts at the other corner spots is not a good thing for any team with serious ideas of winning the division. Mike Cameron was a nice offseason addition, but trading Mark Loretta for Doug Mirabelli is a terrible idea any way you look at it. And the starting rotation, after Jake Peavy, is mediocre at best.

5. Diamondbacks: The Snakes somehow won 77 games in 2005, but it always seemed like last year's team was overachieving. When you're heading into the season with Russ Ortiz as your projected #2 starter, you have problems. The D-backs will miss Troy Glaus's production, and Tony Clark is unlikely to equal his 2005 production. Luis Gonzalez and Shawn Green are both well past their primes. Unfortunately, the past management signed a bunch of aging veterans like Gonzalez and Green to long-term contracts, preventing the team from giving some solid prospects a look. The D-backs have the look and feel of a last-place team, but then they did last year as well -- and finished second. Interesting note: The Diamondbacks went 41-40 on the road last season -- better than any team in the NL except the Phillies and the Cardinals.

Rockies sign another fifth starter

2006-02-10T11:07:00.000-07:00

The Rockies agreed to terms yesterday with former Pittsburgh P Josh Fogg for a one-year contract.

Is this a good signing? I don't know. Fogg went 6-11 with a 5.05 ERA in 2005, and that was at PNC Park, not Coors. He's primarily a soft-tosser, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. On the other hand, Fogg at least has proven himself (somewhat) as a starter, something that Zach Day and Sunny Kim have not done. And we are talking about the fifth starter here; it's not as though the Rockies are asking Fogg to come in and be the ace of the staff. Unless the Rockies are paying him $8 million to do that, I don't think this is a bad signing. At worst, Fogg will be a decent swingman for the Rockies. Okay, it IS Coors Field, so worst-case scenario is that Fogg has an ERA somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 and blows out his arm in June. But then the Rockies take that risk with virtually any pitcher.

Rockies Prospects to Watch in 2006

2006-02-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

The first installment of our Rockies prospect coverage. What to look for from some of the top prospects: (I'm not bothering to rank them right now. I just noticed that I didn't even finish the "50 to Watch" list last season.)

Ian Stewart, 3b: I expect Ian to start the season at Tulsa and maybe, just maybe, be in Denver by the end of the season. That's actually fairly unlikely though not inconceivable, particularly if Garrett Atkins goes into a sophomore slump. He'll have Jeff Baker ahead of him at Colorado Springs as well, so Ian could really be spending the entire season at Double-A.

Troy Tulowitzki, ss: Tulo was hurt in 2005, which led to poor stats and missing a bunch of games. He'll be at Rockies spring training as an NRI, so a strong performance could lead the Rockies to be aggressive with him and slot him at Tulsa. A weak performance could send him to Modesto to start the season.

Ryan Shealy, 1b-of: The big question is whether or not Shealy can play the outfield well enough to be a regular. Helton isn't moving anywhere, but if Shealy can cover right field at least adequately, he could platoon with Brad Hawpe -- or replace him.

Chris Iannetta, c: Once again, spring training performance could have him headed to Tulsa -- where he finished last season -- or, if he plays really well, Colorado Springs. That's doubtful, though.

Ubaldo Jimenez, rhp: It's time to start to see what we've really got with U-ball, as he'll get a full season at Tulsa.

Juan Morillo, rhp: Still not all that sold on Morillo. I'd guess he'll start the year at Tulsa as well (Tulsa will be loaded, for those of you who haven't figured that out.)

Shane Lindsay, rhp: Unfortunately, he may miss the entire season.

Chris Nelson, ss: Nelson needs a bounceback year in the worst way. It's possible he'll be slotted at Asheville again, though more likely the Rockies will put him in Modesto and see how he does. Right now he's behind Tulo on the Rockies' depth chart and may need to move to another position, perhaps second or the outfield.

Franklin Morales, lhp: Morales had a very strong 2005 at Asheville; now, he'll get a shot to prove himself even further at Modesto. I like this guy.

Chaz Roe, rhp: Young, tall righty who will get a shot to show his stuff in Asheville. Could be on the fast track to the majors if he performs well there.

It's that time of year.

2006-02-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

Good news for all Rockies fans: Pitchers and catchers report in just 12 days. That's music to my ears.

After the XL-sized hype that surrounded Super Bowl XL ends, true baseball fans will have one fewer distraction in the way of concentrating on the Boys of Summer. The Rockies certainly wouldn't be going into 2006 in a position to contend if they played in, say, the AL East, but in the NL West, anything is possible.

Unfortunately, most other members of the Rockies blog avalanche (myself included, though that's about to change) are apparently too busy to notice just how close spring training is. On March 1 (that's a mere 24 days away, partner) the Rockies open spring training with a game against the defending World Series champs, the Chicago White Sox.

In some ways, it's a good thing that the Rockies' roster this season bears a strong resemblance to their 2005 roster. Yeah, the Rockies sucked in 2005, but 67-95 isn't that far out of contending in the NL West, and with the exception of Todd Helton, most of the Rockies are in a position to get better, not worse. Even Helton, who suffered through injuries and virtually no protection in the Rockies lineup in '05, figures to bounce back in 2006. The other good thing about the Rockies not making a big splash in the offseason is that there aren't any glaring signings that could come back to bite the Rockies in the rear, as the signings of Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle did a few years back. I seriously doubt that Jose Mesa will be the difference between finishing last and finishing first in the NL West, but at least he won't be all that expensive and the Rockies won't be paying him not to play for him in, say, 2009. In addition, there's really nobody I can point to in the Rockies organization that I'd be comfortable having fill the eighth-inning role. Jay Witasick was fine, but the Rockies traded him for a net result of Omar Quintanilla and half of Ray King's 240-pound, Lambuth-grad ass. Trading Marcos Carvajal for Yorvit Torrealba was a pretty stupid idea, too, since Torrealba isn't really an improvement over what the Rockies already had at catcher and Carvajal could be, at worst, a serviceable bullpen guy in his career.

As far as spring training goes, though, I'm watching closely. Only three spots in the Rockies lineup seem to be set in stone: Helton at first, Holliday in left, and Barmes at short (and even Barmes is a little iffy.) Luis Gonzalez should be the regular second baseman now that Aaron Miles is gone, but Omar Quintanilla or Josh Wilson could prove worthy of that spot. Jeff Baker and Garrett Atkins could have an interesting competition to see who will be the stopgap until Ian Stewart is ready. Choo Freeman has one last chance to prove that he's not a complete bust; fortunately for him, Cory Sullivan isn't exactly a world-beater in center field; Jeff Salazar will be in the mix, too. And could Jorge Piedra or Ryan Shealy earn the starting job in right? Don't even get me started on the catching situation.

The pitching staff is pretty fluid as well. Aaron Cook, Jason Jennings, and Jeff Francis are almost sure bets to be the top three in the rotation, and Brian Fuentes will be the closer, but the last two starting spots and several bullpen spots are on the line. Pencil in BK Kim as the fourth starter; the fifth starter job will likely come down to Sunny Kim, Zach Day, and Mike Esposito. All bets are off on that one. Among the relievers, Jose Mesa, Ray King, Scott Dohmann, and Mike DeJean will have jobs somewhere in the Rockies bullpen; perhaps one of the odd men out from the starting rotation will as well. It will also be interesting to see how Chin-hui Tsao comes back from his latest injury.

Among the NRIs, the most intriguing are (obviously) Ian Stewart and Troy Tulowitzki, though I highly doubt either one of them will earn a roster spot out of spring training. You can probably go ahead and write off Chris Iannetta as well, who's another bright prospect but isn't major-league ready, though in his case the competition isn't that stiff. Worth watching are the two outfielders -- Eli Marrero and Ryan Spilborghs -- who could press for playing time. Jose Acevedo is worth watching, obviously, as he could press for a bullpen role (or even the fifth starter spot.) Keep an eye as well on young relief prospect Jim Miller, who could push for a bullpen role, though he's more likely headed for Colorado Springs to start the season. I've been hearing a lot about Judd Songster, and Sandy Nin, Zach Parker, and Justin Hampson could be worth something as well. Others on the list are mostly big-league washups or non-prospects; Miguel Asencio had some potential a few years ago, but arm problems derailed his career; however, he's only 25.

Anyway, that's about a wrap as far as looking forward to spring training goes. In a few weeks, assuming class and work don't get in the way, I'll be posting some more thoughts, as well as a look at the top Rockies prospects heading into 2006.

Oh yeah, one final thing... I'll be going to Washington University in St. Louis for law school. The big factor in my decision was that while I'd love to live in Colorado, and Boulder's a great town, the law school left a little bit to be desired. And at least I'll be fifteen minutes away from a major league park where the Rockies will play three games a year. Besides, the ultimate goal is to practice law in Colorado, something that can be accomplished with a degree from WashU.

Should be a fun season. I'm looking forward to it.

Rockies do something!

2006-01-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

By not doing anything for a while, the Rockies actually helped themselves for 2006 and for the future. There was talk for a while that the Rockies would bring back Shawn Estes, who won 15 games for the Rockies in '04 but won 15 games combined in 2003 and 2005, while posting not-so-encouraging component ratios. Instead, Estes signed with the Padres. Estes would not have done anything that Mike Esposito couldn't (other than pitching with his left arm) and would have cost the Rockies a lot more.

Instead, to fill the fourth starter role, the Rockies signed... BK Kim. Good signing. Kim is not great, but he can slide nicely into the fourth starter role behind Cookie, Franchise, and JJ. He's better than Sunny Kim and Zach Day, in any case. Kim slots into the fourth spot, with Day, Sunny, and Esposito battling for the fifth spot in spring training. The Rockies are also reportedly close to signing Alan Embree, which would give them three lefties in the bullpen -- though one is the closer. Add Jose Mesa (who's overrated, but could fill the eighth-inning role nicely), Mike DeJean, and probably one of the three pitchers in the mix for fifth starter as the swingman. That leaves Scott Dohmann, Ryan Speier, and Chin-hui Tsao to fight for the last spot on the pitching staff. Tsao has the best stuff of those three, but he's also coming off a major injury that caused him to miss virtually all of 2005.

The Rockies also picked up infielder Josh Wilson from the Marlins for a PTBNL or cash. Let's just hope the PTBNL is not somebody the Rockies could actually use. Wilson can back up Barmes and Gonzalez and allow Omar Quintanilla more time to develop at triple-A.

And finally, the Rockies are close to signing Eli Marrero, who can play the corner outfield spots and prove a right-handed bat off the bench. That would settle the Rockies' outfield nicely, giving them a starting outfield of Holliday, Sullivan, and Hawpe, and with Piedra and Marrero as the fourth and fifth outfielders. It screws over Ryan Spilborghs, though.

More to come later.

More offseason!

2006-01-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

The good news is that pitchers and catchers report in about a month and a half.

The bad news? College basketball, my other favorite sport, can only keep me so occupied until baseball season starts back. Actually, basketball, plus the overhyped football bowl season (and the impending NFL playoffs) has kept me pretty well occupied for the last month or so; Rox Girl over at Purple Row has her Trojans to root for in the national championship game, but for those of us who are not fans of USC or Texas, bowl season can be pretty boring. And no, I'm not buying that USC is the greatest team of all time. Let's at least wait until after they've played Texas to start referring to them as such.

Conveniently, college basketball season ends sometime around Opening Day. Also conveniently, I'll have to make a decision about where I'm headed to law school by about April 1. For those keeping score at home, I've already been accepted to CU, but I've also been accepted to Baylor, and Baylor has offered me a full scholarship. Colorado's waiting until March to inform me whether or not they'll match that offer, but at this point they'll pretty much have to for me to move to a spot about half an hour away from our beloved Coors Field. Oh yeah, I'm considering Vanderbilt and Washington U. (in St. Louis) also, for the "close to home" factor (well, also, those are considered better law schools than CU) and at least St. Louis has a major league team that's distinguishable from the club's triple-A team. If I get accepted to Harvard or Northwestern, I'd have to consider those as well. But I'm sure my readers don't really care too much about my plans for the future... except that there's really so little to write about in a rather uneventful offseason (and my handle "Rox Fan in TN" over on Purple Row may no longer be accurate in four or five months.)

What has happened, you ask? Well, since my last post, about all the Rockies have done is ink supersub Willie Harris. With Luis Gonzalez likely taking over the starting job at second base, since the Rockies struck out on all prior attempts to screw him over, Harris will probably take over Gonzalez's former supersub role on the Rockies. At least, that's what I hope. Knowing Clint Hurdle, though, Harris may be the starting second baseman and Gonzalez will continue to be screwed by the organization.

Actually, by not doing anything, the Rockies are showing some commitment to their youth movement. Their proposed actions went against said movement, so really it's probably just that Dan O'Dowd wants to acquire some useless free agents to screw over the organization's homegrown players, but couldn't, so now he's stuck with a 2006 team that may actually be better than the 2005 version of the Rockies (not that that's saying a lot...) He did get Yorvit Torrealba to help screw over JD Closser, but at this point it's not clear that screwing over Closser is that bad of an idea, and in any case Torrealba is a better option for the future than Danny Ardoin.

That's about all for now. More later.

Rockies offseason moves

2005-12-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we weren't expecting Dan O'Dowd to really make an effort to make the team better through free-agent signings. But are you kidding me?

One of the major moves that O'Dowd made was to trade Aaron Miles and Larry Bigbie for Ray King. Okay, this one's fine. Miles and Bigbie had little use for the Rockies; Miles is clearly not better than Luis Gonzalez at second and Bigbie is kind of useless since the Rockies already had two lefty-hitting starting outfielders (Hawpe and Sullivan) and another off the bench (Piedra), and Bigbie isn't really better than any of those. Of course, those guys didn't really have a lot of use to other teams, except the Cardinals, who apparently may start Miles at second and may use Bigbie somewhere in the outfield. Ray King, a solid lefty reliever who happens to be a Lambuth alum, is just compensation for ridding the Rockies of those two. At worst, King will be a pretty good LOOGY for the Rockies, who already have Brian Fuentes in the bullpen.

But... Marcos Carvajal for Yorvit Torrealba? It's sad that Torrealba may actually be the best catcher the Rockies have now. He's better offensively than Danny Ardoin, and better defensively than J.D. Closser (not that that's really saying much.) Torrealba may finally get his shot at a starting job in a Rockies uniform, after the Giants decided that Mike Matheny was a better option and the Mariners signed Kenji Johjima to catch. But, seriously, will he help the Rockies more than Carvajal might have? Carvajal had already had a good season as a 21-year-old at Coors Field. Those types don't exactly grow on trees.

Going against the youth movement, the Rockies also signed Jose Mesa to a one-year contract. Hey, at least O'Dowd wasn't dumb enough to offer a 40-year-old a multiyear deal. Unfortunately, O'Dowd may also be dumb enough to insist that Mesa be the closer over Brian Fuentes.

Okay, so none of these moves really help the Rockies for 2006, except maybe acquiring Torrealba. That also happens to be the only deal that has the potential to harm the Rockies in the long-term, though, as I'd much rather have Carvajal in, say, 2007 or 2008 than Torrealba.

Bill Snyder to retire

2005-11-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know, this has nothing to do with the Rockies or even baseball. I just think it's worth writing about.

Bill Snyder will announce his retirement as Kansas State's head football coach today. A lot of people think that Snyder's work in building the K-State program is second only to Bobby Bowden's job at Florida State among current football coaches.

I'm not discounting Bobby Bowden, but I personally find Kansas State's turnaround under Snyder more impressive. Both programs were terrible before their current coaches arrived; Kansas State had gone 0-11 in each of the two seasons before Snyder's arrival. Now, Snyder has not had the sustained success or the level of success that Bowden has had at Florida State, so in that respect Snyder's turnaround is less impressive (as it's less impressive that Howard Schnellenberger's job at Miami in the 1980s, continued by Jimmy Johnson, Dennis Erickson, Butch Davis, and now Larry Coker.) K-State has been down the past two years, slumping to 4-7 last season after winning the Big 12 Championship in 2003 and 4-6 this year, with what's likely to be a highly emotional home game against Missouri to come this weekend. The Wildcats came very close to a national championship in 1998, losing to Texas A&M in overtime in the Big 12 championship game.

But consider this. Even though both Florida State and Miami's football programs were in a sad state prior to the arrivals, respectively, of Bowden and Schnellenberger, there's a big factor that those two programs had playing in their favor: recruiting. It's not hard to sell recruits on spending four years of their lives in Miami, or even Tallahassee (which isn't what people think of when they think Florida.) What's more, Florida is the #3 state for football recruiting, after Texas and California. It probably wasn't in the 1970s, when there weren't as many people in the state, but when you have a huge selling point like that, recruiting is much easier. Compare that to trying to convince players that they'd like to spend four years (or even two years, in the case of junior college recruits, who were a large portion of the players Snyder recruited) in Manhattan, Kansas. Yes, Manhattan, in the middle of Kansas, population 44,000, where it's cold and gray and flat all around, and where the nearest major metropolis, Kansas City, is two hours away. Never mind the complete lack of football tradition at Kansas State -- not only did K-State have the lowest winning percentage of any major college football program prior to Snyder's arrival, it had won three games in four years!

At least in the cases of Florida State and Miami, there was a little bit of hope. With Kansas State, you had to wonder, how in the hell did that happen? FSU and Miami were independents, and later competed, respectively, in the ACC and Big East, conferences which they could dominate. Kansas State, when Snyder took over, competed in the Big 8 Conference, traditionally dominated by Nebraska and Oklahoma, with Colorado at the time also a dominant power. Later it would move to the Big 12, which added traditional powers Texas and Texas A&M.

Finally, Miami has already survived several coaching changes without completely falling off the map, and Florida State likely will continue its current level of dominance once Bobby Bowden retires. Kansas State is already beginning to fall off the map, and might do so even more with Snyder gone. It's no disrespect to Bowden to call Bill Snyder's coaching job at Kansas State the greatest turnaround in history. But it needs to be said.

Back to the Rockies the next time I make a post. There's just something about the color purple for me, I guess.

Rockies offseason news

2005-11-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

It's not a huge offseason for the Rockies. The only players who have departed are Todd Greene, Dustan Mohr, BK Kim, and Jamey Wright (and Kim may yet return.) All four are easily replaced, and can probably be replaced from within the system.

That said, the idea of Matt Morris in a Rockies uniform is very appealing, though I doubt it will happen (why would Matty Mo want to pitch in Colorado?) His presence would immediately solidify the front of the rotation, as well as the back of the rotation. Jeff Francis would move to the pressure-less fourth starter role, where he would be free to develop without the pressures to produce right now. The fifth spot could then be filled by Sunny Kim, Zach Day, or Mike Esposito.

Wright is a swingman-type; there are dozens of those floating around, and the Rockies could use one of the guys I've already mentioned in that role. Dustan Mohr is not needed now that Jorge Piedra has proven himself to be, at the very least, a useful fourth outfielder and Larry Bigbie and Ryan Spilborghs are available as well. And Todd Greene was apparently the odd man out in the three-headed catching monster from 2005; the Rockies have also added Miguel Ojeda, though I have no idea what they're going to do with him.

The Rockies really can be better in 2006 without making any major moves in the offseason.

Geez... no baseball until March?

2005-10-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

Are you kidding me?

Raise your hand if you said back in March that the White Sox would win it all. Hell, raise your hand if you thought the White Sox would win the AL Central back in March. All right, now raise your hand if you thought the White Sox would roll through the playoffs in the most dominant fashion that my 21-year-old mind can remember.

Didn't think so.

The postseason seems like it ended almost too quickly. While I would have liked the Cardinals to win the Series, I don't think that even they could have beaten the White Sox. The White Sox were not only a good team, they peaked at just the right time. That sweep of the Indians to close out the regular season was a harbinger of what was to come in October.

Okay... back to your regularly scheduled Rockies programming. There's not a lot of news to report. No new ideas about who will be back with the team in 2006 and who won't. It looks like the proposed changes to the minor league system won't be approved in time to make them applicable for 2006. The major proposal is to eliminate the complex leagues (which doesn't affect the Rockies, who don't have a complex league team.) The other big one is to limit each team to five minor league affiliates -- which would affect the Rockies, who currently have six.

As for the Arizona Fall League -- Ian Stewart is doing all right, with a line of .333/.435/.615, with three homers in 12 games. Chris Iannetta and Jeff Salazar are hitting, respectively, .120 and .118. Just a thought, but Jeff probably won't be the Rockies' starting centerfielder in '06. As for the pitchers, Jon Asahina's 5.89 ERA is the best of the three Rockies pitchers there.

I'm thinking of starting another blog sometime during the short dead period between the end of baseball season and the start of college basketball season (officially November 8.) Besides baseball, college basketball is the one sport I go crazy about. After that, in rough order it's college football, pro football, pro basketball, and hockey.

Tap the Rox will have periodic updates during the offseason. For now, though, it'll probably be a while.

NLCS Preview: Cardinals vs. Astros

2005-10-09T17:26:00.000-06:00

Unlike the AL, the NL will get a rematch of last season's Championship Series as the NL Central champs, the Cardinals, face off with the wild-card winning Astros once again. Last season's NLCS was an epic seven-game affair. This season? I'm not so sure. I know, the NLDS between the Braves and Astros just ended an hour ago, and I'm not even sure of the pitching matchups yet. But here's a quick breakdown.

Starting Pitching
The Cardinals' playoff rotation consists of Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, Matt Morris, and Jeff Suppan. The rotation is solid, but the issue is rest. Obviously the Cardinals' rotation will be well-rested; Chris Carpenter will most likely pitch the series opener on Wednesday, after last pitching last Tuesday. Jeff Suppan wasn't even used in the Division Series.

The Astros' rotation of Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt, and Brandon Backe is undoubtedly very strong. Clemens, however, pitched two innings of relief on Sunday, though he should get three days' rest before his likely start in Game 2 on Thursday. Backe was awful against the Braves on Sunday, though of course the Astros went on to win the game. I'd take Suppan over Backe, but I'd also take Pettitte, Clemens, and Oswalt over Carpenter, Mulder, and Morris -- though barely. Advantage: Astros

Bullpen
The Cardinals' bullpen is hurting with the loss of Al Reyes, who was surprisingly one of their more consistent relievers this season. Jason Isringhausen is very good, and the rest of the bullpen is solid, with the lefty-righty combo of Ray King and Julian Tavarez, plus another lefty, Randy Flores. Jason Marquis is available both as a reliever and for pinch-hit duty; he hit .310 in the regular season.

The end of the Astros' bullpen (Brad Lidge) is very good, and Dan Wheeler has been surprisingly good this year as well. But the rest of the 'pen is average at best. And it's more of an issue for the Astros, as their starters, Clemens in particular, don't go as deep into games. Advantage: Cardinals

Catcher
Yadier Molina is the best defensive catcher in baseball this side of Danny Ardoin, and he can swing a decent stick as well (.252-8-49). Brad Ausmus is one of those guys who's got a great reputation for no apparent reason (.258-3-47). Given that Molina is the superior defensive catcher and has a bit more power, I've got to give the Cardinals the advantage on this one.

First Base
The Astros evidently have Mike Lamb (.236-12-53) manning first base for them, though Lance Berkman has been used quite a bit there as well. The Cardinals have Albert Pujols (.330-41-117) at first. 'Nuff said. Advantage: Cardinals

Second Base
Mark Grudzielanek (.294-8-59) has had a nice season, but it really doesn't compare to Craig Biggio (.264-26-69), whose 26 homers were a career best for him. Advantage: Astros

Shortstop
After his solid 2004, Adam Everett (.248-11-54) regressed a bit this season; his .290 OBP is just awful. David Eckstein (.294-8-61) has provided a nice spark at the top of the Cardinals' order; his .363 OBP in the leadoff spot is a big reason the Cardinals won 100 games in the regular season. Advantage: Cardinals

Third Base
Abraham Nunez (.285-5-44) was surprisingly good in Scott Rolen's absence. But he's no Rolen. Morgan Ensberg's numbers (.283-36-101) were Rolen-like this season. Now, Ensberg is no Rolen with the glove, but the difference in offense between the two is more than enough to give the Astros the advantage.

Left Field
Reggie Sanders, the hero of the NLDS for the Cardinals, had a nice regular season (.271-21-54), particularly considering he missed 69 games due to injury. Lance Berkman (.293-24-82) made the difference between the Astros making the playoffs and being mentioned in the same sentence as the Rockies (as they were in April and May, when they had one of the worst records in baseball.) Advantage: Astros

Center Field
Willy Taveras has had a nice rookie season, but he doesn't even come close to being on the same level as Jim Edmonds. Edmonds hit .263-29-89 -- and that was widely considered a down year for him. For Taveras, that would probably be considered a career year. Advantage: Cardinals

Right Field
Larry Walker was another Cardinal who missed time due to injury, but he was productive when healthy (.289-15-52). Jason Lane also had a pretty good season (.267-26-78). Give the edge to the Astros, though it's a slim one.

Bench
Orlando Palmeiro is about as good as it gets for the Astros off the bench. Jeff Bagwell is there, too, but he's a shell of his former self. The Cardinals' bench isn't deep by any means, but they have some decent bats (John Mabry, John Rodriguez) as well as a solid defensive replacement in So Taguchi. Advantage: Cardinals

Manager
Phil Garner seems almost as though he's been to two consecutive NLCS almost by accident. Getting the services of Carlos Beltran in '04 and Lance Berkman in '05 were keys. Tony LaRussa has won a World Series himself with Oakland in '89, ranks third in all-time wins, and is now taking the Cardinals to the NLCS for the fourth time. While LaRussa has his quirks, there isn't a better manager in baseball right now. Advantage: Cardinals

The Big Picture
That's seven for the Cardinals and five for the Astros. Note, however, that the Astros' advantages are generally pretty slim (Lane vs. Walker, Biggio vs. Grudzielanek, Berkman vs. Sanders) while the Cardinals have a few notable wide advantages (Pujols vs. Lamb, Edmonds vs. Taveras, LaRussa vs. Garner.) The Astros took the Cardinals to seven in last year's NLCS, but this isn't the same Astros team. Beltran's gone, and Bagwell is hurting. They do have Pettitte, which they didn't in last year's NLCS -- but then the Cardinals didn't have Chris Carpenter in last year's playoffs, either, and they've added Mark Mulder to the rotation as well. Quite frankly, the Astros just don't pose the same matchup problem that they did for the Cardinals last season. Although the Cardinals' record wasn't as good this season as it was in '04, this is a team that's better built to succeed in the postseason. While losing Rolen hurts, it doesn't hurt as much as losing Carpenter did last year. The Cardinals owned the Astros in the regular season, winning 11 of 16. I think the Cardinals will win the NLCS in six games.

NL West 2006

2005-10-09T14:30:00.000-06:00

The NL West was by far the worst division in baseball in 2005, and could be again in 2006.

The Padres, division champs at 82-80 in 2005, are getting older. They have a solid duo at the top of the rotation in Jake Peavy and Adam Eaton, but Brian Lawrence is average at best. Woody Williams is probably done. Trevor Hoffman may leave the Padres in the offseason. Brian Giles, the Padres' most consistent hitter in 2005, is a free agent as well and may not be back. Ramon Hernandez is a free agent this offseason as well. Ryan Klesko's skills are deteriorating, Khalil Greene had a disappointing '05, and Sean Burroughs has been a major disappointment. The Padres' farm system doesn't offer much promise, either. Ben Johnson may be able to replace Giles in the outfield, though he probably won't replace his production. And with a rather thin free-agent market, the Padres' window of opportunity in the West is looking like it may have already closed.

The Diamondbacks finished second in the division at 77-85. Troy Glaus at least panned out, while Russ Ortiz was a complete bust, and the D-backs are stuck with his ridiculous contract through 2008. There's a little promise of help from their farm system with Carlos Quentin and Conor Jackson on the way. But still, do you really expect the Diamondbacks to contend with a lineup that includes Shawn Green and Luis Gonzalez, both of whose careers are clearly on the downswing? And do you really expect Tony Clark to duplicate his good '05 season? And Royce Clayton? Brandon Webb is a solid young starter, though he's no ace. However, this team may contend in the weak NL West.

The Giants came in third, with a record of 75-87, and that was without Barry Bonds most of the season. Bonds is only expected to play around 120 games in '06, but that may be enough to win the division. They have some promise in their rotation, with Noah Lowry and Matt Cain behind Jason Schmidt, whom the Giants will certainly try to bring back. The G-men probably won't bring back J.T. Snow and Edgardo Alfonzo, but Pedro Feliz can likely take over full-time at third, and first basemen who can hit aren't that hard to find. Hell, the Giants might move Bonds to first due to his knee. This could be the team to beat in the West in '06.

The Dodgers came in fourth at 71-91, a bit of a disappointment with all the moves the Dodgers made this past offseason. However, the Dodgers do have the #2 farm system in all of baseball according to Baseball America. Jim Tracy is gone as manager, but the Dodgers could be good once again in 2006, thanks largely to contributions from the team's own homegrown players. Andy LaRoche and Willy Aybar could have starting jobs out of spring training; Jeff Kent, who had a good season in '05, could be moved to first to accomodate the newcomers. A healthy J.D. Drew and Eric Gagne could go a long way toward making the Dodgers contenders again, though in both cases that's iffy. Odalis Perez should bounce back from his mediocre '05 season as well.

That leaves the Rockies, whose 67-95 record was better than most expected; it was only a game off their '04 record, when Vinny Castilla, Jeromy Burnitz, and Preston Wilson donned the purple and black for a full season. With the notable exception of Todd Helton, virtually all of the Rockies are in the upswing of their careers, and even Helton should bounce back from his rather weak (for him, anyway; most hitters would kill for .320-20-79) '05 season. Matt Holliday could have a 30-HR, 100-RBI season. It's less clear what will happen with Brad Hawpe, Garrett Atkins, and Clint Barmes, though the Rockies have other options at third (Jeff Baker, perhaps Ian Stewart sometime around July) and there's talk that Ryan Shealy may be moved to right to get his bat in the lineup (though that would be disastrous from a defensive standpoint.) With Mike Hampton, Preston Wilson, Charles Johnson, and Larry Walker coming off the books, the Rockies will have money to spend; whether or not they do is another issue. The Rockies will be improved in '06, but they're at least a year away from contending. .500 is a reasonable goal.

Geez, this offseason stuff is killing me. I know the playoffs are on, but the Rockies aren't playing.

In other news, the Colorado Buffaloes took Texas A&M out to the woodshed yesterday. Wasn't Texas A&M supposed to be good?

Offseason news: Rox exercise option on Holliday, decline Greene

2005-10-05T20:44:00.000-06:00

It's the offseason, which means things are going to be slow until March. Okay, really I'm watching the playoffs for the next month or so. But the Rockies' season is over, and if the Cardinals don't make it to the World Series I'm going to be pissed. This also lets me concentrate on law school applications (okay, really I've finished pretty much all of them), and other, lesser sports like football, hockey and basketball. Of course, in those three sports I don't have a team that I follow like I do the Rockies, so it's a lot less fun.

First news of the day is that the Rockies exercised their 2006 option on Matt Holliday, and declined their option on Todd Greene. Holliday will be the Rockies' starting left fielder in '06 after a stellar second half in 2005. I didn't realize this, but Holliday's 64 RBI after the All-Star break ranked second in the National League. Imagine what would have happened if he hadn't gotten off to a slow start and hadn't gotten hurt. Should Holliday remain healthy in 2006, he could put together a 30-homer, 100-RBI campaign, giving Todd Helton some needed protection from the fourth spot in the order.

As for Greene, the Rockies may still bring him back, but apparently didn't want to pay him $800,000. He may be the odd man out in the Rockies' three-man catching corps. He's not nearly as good defensively as Danny Ardoin, and though he's better on offense than JD Closser, he's 34 while Closser is 25. This also could be a signal that the Rockies may pursue a free-agent catcher this offseason.

The Rockies also signed LHP Jaime Cerda, formerly of the Royals. What makes the Rockies think he will succeed at Coors Field is beyond me, though I'm not certain if he's slated for the big-league club or the minors.

More later. Until then, I'm watching the playoffs.

Playoff series previews

2005-10-03T23:08:00.000-06:00

First off, I'd like to give a shoutout to BA's Southern League Top 20. I've caught a ton of West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx games this summer and have personally seen a number of players in the top 20 -- and a number of others who didn't make the top 20 but could crack the majors eventually. Matt Murton is a stud, and he's #12 on their list. That tells you something about the SL's depth this season.

Anyways, it seems everybody is putting in their two cents about the playoffs, so here's my go.

Cardinals vs. Padres: If the Padres played in any division other than the NL West, they wouldn't have even sniffed the playoffs. Seriously, the Padres finished only a game ahead of Milwaukee and Washington. There are reasons for concern if you're a Cardinals fan: Chris Carpenter was just plain awful in September (I guess that's better than not pitching at all in September or October), Abraham Nunez isn't Scott Rolen at the hot corner, and the bullpen will take a hit with the loss of Al Reyes. Still, the Cardinals should make quick work of the Pads -- though I think the Padres could take Game One, if Chris Carpenter is in his September form and not his April through August form. Cardinals in four.

Braves vs. Astros: The Astros are the trendy pick, because pitching "always wins in the playoffs," the Braves always choke, and wild card teams have won the last three series. Houston must be commended for coming back from being about as bad as the Rockies in April and May to make the playoffs. However, there are two problems here. First of all, the Astros have a very weak offense -- so weak that Roger Clemens went 13-8 despite an ERA under 2. The Astros just don't have enough firepower on offense to take advantage of the Braves' injury- and Dan Kolb-trade-wracked pitching staff. Second, these aren't the same Braves that bowed out early the past few years. The rotation is more geared for postseason success, with a pair of power pitchers in Smoltz and Hudson (though Smoltz is hurting) as opposed to finesse pitchers like Maddux and Glavine, who were more primed for success in the regular season. There's also a lot of young talent that's brought some excitement to the clubhouse. The Braves' bullpen, of course, will blow one or two. Braves in five.

Yankees vs. Angels: The Angels are a no-name team. Neither Michael Wilbon nor Tony Kornheiser on PTI could name more than three players on the Angels roster. That's not to say the Angels don't have talent; Bartolo Colon led the AL in wins, while John Lackey finished third in strikeouts. And there's Vlad Guerrero. The Yankees have big names, but the reason they're in the playoffs is due to no-names like Aaron Small, Chien-Ming Wang, Robinson Cano, and Shawn Chacon. Many sportswriters actually think it's a good thing that Chacon is the Yankees' Game 2 starter. How a guy goes from being the #4 starter on the second-worst team in baseball to being the #2 starter for a playoff team is beyond me. And does anybody honestly think that Mike Mussina can beat Bartolo Colon in Game 1? Angels in five.

White Sox vs. Red Sox: I've already picked against two teams I don't like (Astros and Yankees), so to expect any less in this series would be futile. The Red Sox bullpen is actually worse than the Braves'. The Red Sox starters are Matt Clement, David Wells, Curt Schilling, and Tim Wakefield. Wells is past 40, and Schilling and Wakefield are pushing it. I don't care how much offense the Red Sox have, they're not going to be able to simply outscore teams in the playoffs. The White Sox offense isn't great, but it ain't bad, either. A return to April-to-June form by any two of Garland, Buehrle, and Garcia would help. White Sox in five.

Series preview: Rockies vs. Mets

2005-09-29T12:46:00.000-06:00

Ah, that's right. The final series preview of 2005. Come back next season, folks.

Actually, this series is pretty darned important for the Rockies. First of all, the Rockies need a split to get to 68 wins -- which would equal last year's total, when the Rockies reportedly had a better team with Vinny Castilla, Jeromy Burnitz, Larry Walker, and Preston Wilson still in Rockies uniforms. Of course, the West wasn't so darned weak last season.

Second, there's draft position. The Royals clinched the #1 overall pick in the 2006 draft a long time ago. Depending on what happens this weekend, the Rockies could pick anywhere from second to sixth. Sixth is basically out, since it would require the Rockies to sweep the Mets and the Dodgers to lose their final game against Arizona and then get swept at San Diego -- and even then, I'm not sure the Rockies would lose the tiebreaker. Currently, the Rockies sit at 66-92; the Pirates are 65-94, while the Devil Rays and Mariners are both 67-91. Tampa Bay goes for the sweep in Cleveland tonight, then heads home for three against Baltimore (which gave up on the season a long time ago), so they could conceivably win out. The Mariners, who have lost their last four, conclude a three-game set against the Rangers today, then have three against the A's at home. Pittsburgh closes with three at home against the Brewers, who are looking for their first winning season since 1991. Hey, I'm happy with Ian Kennedy or Dallas Buck.

On to the series. The Rockies could get that series split, even though the Mets are on a roll lately and will finish over .500 if they don't get swept. The Mets do look better on paper, though.

CATCHER
Rockies: Danny Ardoin/JD Closser
Mets: Mike Piazza
Future Hall of Famer, or either a career minor leaguer or a mediocre 25-year-old. Hell, if the Rockies go with Closser, he's not even an improvement defensively over Piazza.
Advantage: Mets

FIRST BASE
Rockies: Todd Helton
Mets: Mike Jacobs
Who the hell is Mike Jacobs? Apparently he's replaced Mientkiewicz.
Advantage: Rockies

SECOND BASE
Rockies: Luis Gonzalez
Mets: Kaz Matsui
Matsui was supposed to be really good. Instead, he's an overpaid Met with only three homers while batting .255.
Advantage: Rockies

SHORTSTOP
Rockies: Clint Barmes
Mets: Jose Reyes
I like Barmes, but Jose Reyes is one of the best young shortstops in the majors. He leads the majors in both stolen bases (59) and triples (17), both testaments to his great speed.
Advantage: Mets

THIRD BASE
Rockies: Garrett Atkins
Mets: David Wright
As good as Atkins has been this season, you can't really do much better than a guy hitting .306-24-97 at age 22.
Advantage: Mets

LEFT FIELD
Rockies: Matt Holliday
Mets: Cliff Floyd
Floyd has been surprisingly good, even in pitcher-friendly Shea Stadium.
Advantage: Mets
Advantage in 2006: Rockies (come on, you KNOW Floyd won't stay healthy two years in a row)

CENTER FIELD
Rockies: Cory Sullivan
Mets: Carlos Beltran
Sullivan is making rookie salary; Beltran is one of the highest-paid players in baseball. So you would think there'd be a big difference in production, right? Wrong.
Beltran: .270/.334/.420, 17 SB's in 567 AB
Sullivan: .293/.343/.386, 11 SB's in 365 AB
I'm going to give this one to the Rockies, just to rub it in for Mets fans.
Advantage: Rockies

RIGHT FIELD
Rockies: Brad Hawpe
Mets: Victor Diaz
A few months ago, I'd have taken Hawpe, but Diaz has more potential. And now Hawpe is playing poorly.
Advantage: Mets

STARTING PITCHING

Thursday: Sunny Kim vs. Tom Glavine
Glavine is a Hall of Famer when he retires. Unfortunately, he hasn't pitched that well this season, and Sunny is pitching well EVEN AT COORS FIELD!!!
Advantage: Rockies

Friday: BK Kim vs. Kris Benson
Benson's record, ERA, and peripherals don't scream "great pitcher."
Advantage: Rockies

Saturday: Mike Esposito vs. Jae Seo
Seo has been surprisingly effective this season. Esposito hasn't in two starts, though no one is really surprised by that.
Advantage: Mets

Sunday: Aaron Cook vs. ~~Scott Kazmir~~ Victor Zambrano
Need I say more? This, by the way, is the only pitching matchup that does not involve a Korean.
Advantage: Rockies

BULLPEN
This has been a major problem for the Mets this season.
Advantage: Rockies

So I like our chances in three of the games, and could even see a sweep, though not really. Other storylines: who's playing their last games in a Rockies uniform? My guess is that Jamey Wright and Dustan Mohr will not be brought back in 2006. BK Kim could be gone as well, though the Rockies will bring him back if they're smart (which we're not sure that they are.) Todd Greene could be gone after this season as well, as the Rockies likely won't need three catchers next season. Aaron Miles could be playing his last games as a Rockie, and who knows what the Rockies will do with the Helton/Shealy situation over the offseason (though there's talk that Shealy may be moved to the outfield to make room for him.)

And finally, there's the possibility that Clint Hurdle will start nine rookies on Saturday (Esposito's start.) That should be interesting.

Roster previews for 2006

2005-09-27T12:52:00.000-06:00

When cleaning up my room, I managed to throw away the paper copy I had written down of the 50 to Watch. Geez...

Anyways, on to our next feature. Who do I think will be on each roster to start the 2006 season? Obviously, I'm not looking at the short-season leagues since those won't start until June and contain mostly draft picks anyway. I'll list backups for the major league team but won't bother much with them for the minor league affiliates.

ROCKIES (MLB)

Catcher: J.D. Closser (by default)
Backup: Todd Greene?
Iannetta's not ready, and Closser is a better option than Greene or Ardoin.

Infield: Helton, Gonzalez, Barmes, Atkins
Backups: Miles, cheap scrap-heap free agent
Ultimately, I think the Rockies will trade Ryan Shealy since he doesn't need another year at triple-A and another team can find a better use for him. Quintanilla needs to go back down to triple-A for more seasoning, so I think Gonzalez gets the job at second. Baker could conceivably start at third.

Outfield: Holliday, Sullivan, Hawpe
Backups: Bigbie, Piedra
Sullivan is starting to look more like his struggles had to do with rookie jitters rather than general suckitude. He's the best option we have right now, anyway, and it doesn't look like the Rockies will blow money on a free agent here. Piedra has been solid off the bench but there really isn't a spot for him in the everyday lineup. My guess is that the Rockies let Freeman walk.

Starting rotation: Cook, Jennings, Francis, the two Kims
If the Rockies are smart, they'll re-sign BK. Sunny Kim's most recent start earns him a role as the fifth starter in 2006 as well. Meanwhile, Zach Day has pitched himself out of the rotation, while Mike Esposito clearly needs more time in the minors.

Bullpen: Fuentes (closer), Tsao (setup), Day (swingman), Dohmann, Acevedo, Speier (middle relief), lefty specialist (please, God, don't let it be Randy Williams)
There's something to like about this bullpen. The only other minor leaguer I can see being in the mix is Judd Songster, who's been solid at double-A, and maybe Jim Miller if he's ready.

COLORADO SPRINGS SKY SOX

Catcher: Dan Conway
Not a prospect, but Iannetta's short time at double-A isn't enough to convince me he's ready for the PCL.

Infield: Joe Koshansky, Jayson Nix, Omar Quintanilla, Jeff Baker
I'm being a bit aggressive with Koshansky here, but he didn't do poorly in 45 double-A at bats to end the season, and he IS 23. Nix gets promoted not so much because he's deserving, but more because of the middle infield prospects below him that are pressing.

Outfield: Jud Thigpen, Jeff Salazar, Ryan Spilborghs, (Tony Miller)
Though I'd like to see Tony Miller in center, he'll probably be the fourth outfielder. The corners are good.

Starting rotation: Mike Esposito, Emmanuel Ulloa, Sandy Nin, Jon Asahina, Justin Hampson
Closer: Jim Miller
Setup: Jud Songster
Swingman: Christian Parker
Best guess here. U-ball isn't ready for triple-A.

TULSA DRILLERS

Catcher: Chris Iannetta
He'll start the season here, but could be in the majors by September.

Infield: Michael Davies, Jonathan Herrera, Matt Macri, Ian Stewart
Stewart is the big one here, of course. Macri could bounce back from his injury-plagued 2005.

Outfield: Seth Smith, Joe Gaetti, Christian Colonel
Good outfield here.

Starting rotation: Ubaldo Jimenez, Juan Morillo, Zack Parker, Ramon Ramirez, Steven Register
Closer: Jason Burch
Setup man: Josh Newman
Swingman: Marc Kaiser
U-ball and Morillo are the Rockies' top pitching prospects, so that's a good way to lead off the rotation. Newman's K/IP ratio at high-A this season was very impressive.

MODESTO NUTS

Catcher: Kyle Wilson
Not really repeating, since he only got 78 AB's at Modesto.

Infield: Dustin Hahn, Jose Valdez, Troy Tulowitzki, Jeff Dragicevich
Realistically, Joe Koshansky will probably be manning first here, though for the sake of this projection, I need a spot for both Hahn and Dragicevich.. Tulo comes back here due to injuries, though he could be in the majors by the end of the season. I'm still not sold on Valdez; this is his chance to prove himself.

Outfield: Matt Miller, Travis Becktel, Justin Nelson
Being a bit aggressive with Becktel, though his stat line at Tri-City justifies it. Miller and Nelson get a chance to prove that their stats at Asheville weren't a fluke.

Starting rotation: Franklin Morales, Samuel Deduno, Ching-lung Lo, Aaron Marsden, Ryan Mattheus
Closer: Adam Bright
Swingman: Jarrett Grube
Morales and Deduno look like studs. Lo is young and could be good.

ASHEVILLE TOURISTS

Catcher: Kyle Blumenthal
Okay, I have no idea about our catching prospects below low-A, so our favorite guy is here by default.

Infield: Christopher Cook, Corey Wimberly, Chris Nelson, Philip Cuadrado, (Jason Van Kooten)
Nelson repeats thanks to a poor, injury-plagued '05. Wimberly and Cook jump past short-season ball, largely because of their age I think the Rockies would be doing them a disservice otherwise.

Outfield: Michael Paulk, Dexter Fowler, Daniel Carte
I like this outfield. Hopefully Carte can bounce back from a poor showing at Tri-City.

Starting rotation: Shane Lindsay, Chaz Roe, Zach Simons, Ethan Katz, Buzz Vargas
Closer: Andrew Johnston
Setup man: Brett Strickland
Swingman: David Patton
The top three are good.

Of course, the X-factor is perhaps the Rockies losing a farm affiliate.

Yeah...

2005-09-16T13:58:00.000-06:00

It's been almost two weeks since the last time I updated. I know. I've been distracted due to (in no particular order):

1. Parties
2. Liquor
3. Beer
4. Work
5. School

Don't think that time away from the blog is helping me in any of those, either. I made a D+ on my first English Lit paper (that's more related to 1, 2, and 3.) Anyways, I should finally be getting the remainder of the 50 to Watch up tonight. Later this month, I'll post a few projections for the Rockies and their upper level farm teams for next season.

Tap the Rox 50 to Watch: Part 2

2005-09-04T17:28:00.000-06:00

Took a couple of days off from the countdown due to fraternity rush (the last two nights.) So we're back today with prospects #40-31.

40. Christian Colonel, 1b-of: He really doesn't have a position, but he's a good hitter, though a bit advanced for A-ball. I'm not that high on him but he could surprise.
39. Jonathan Herrera, 2b: He's ahead of Jose Valdez, though he's less impressive on offense and I don't see a 5'9", 155-pound guy being much more than a utility infielder in the majors.
38. Xavier Cedeno, lhp: Lefty pitching prospect who's having a nice season at Casper after signing as a draft-and-follow. He could really rise next year with a good season at a higher level.
37. Ramon Ramirez, rhp: Guy we acquired from the Yankees for Chacon. Nobody is really high on him, though he hasn't been that bad at Tulsa.
36. Kyle Blumenthal, c-1b: Probably won't stick at catcher, but he's hit well at Casper, though he's too advanced for that level. Could eventually find a spot as a lefty hitter off the bench.
35. Kyle Wilson, c: Similar to Blumenthal. I'm putting him here ahead of Blumenthal due to age-relative-to-league.
34. Mike Esposito, rhp: 23-year-old at AAA whose stats aren't really that impressive, but there's talk he could be in the Rockies' rotation next season, especially with Jason Young now in Cleveland.
33. Choo Freeman, of: Most in the Rockies organization have given up on him, but he'll at least get a crack at the starting job in center next season.
32. Jason Burch, rhp: Nice K rate, but I'm always skeptical of relievers in the low minors. He could turn out to be a decent reliever though.
31. Jud Songster, rhp: From all the talk, he could give the Rockies some bullpen help, like, next year. His K rate is very nice, as is his hit rate.

Rockies 50 to Watch: 50-41

2005-09-01T12:09:00.000-06:00

It's a five-part series, counting down to #1. Then again, #1 probably won't be a surprise. By the way, for the first time this season that I can recall, one of our prospects make BA's Hot Sheet (Shane Lindsay, at 10.) Lindsay has struck out more than a batter per inning in each of his 13 starts for Tri-City this season.

I haven't been paying as much attention as I should to the minors for the last month and a half, due to vacation, work, school, and the fact that milb.com tends to be very slow to load on my computer. But the 50 to Watch is on its way now.

Note that this will be updated before the beginning of next season.

50. Marc Kaiser, rhp: A rather weak K rate for a 23-year-old at A-ball, plus a high opponents' BA. I'm not that high on this guy, but he might be a surprise. He has a nice K/BB rate, but like most finesse pitchers, he shouldn't be rushed. He rarely gives up homers, which is good.

49. Eric Young, Jr., 2b: Decent BA and a little power, lots of speed, rather weak defensively. His dad played in the big leagues, so of course he'll get his chances.

48. Cole Garner, of: Good power, but a very ugly strikeout rate. His average isn't so hot, and he's a rather incredible 1-for-9 on stolen base attempts. There's an outside shot that he could turn into a major leaguer, but I'm not betting on it.

47. Ethan Katz, rhp: Rarely walks anybody, which is good, and has a nice ERA. However, I'm a little skeptical of that due to park/league context. Plus, at 22, he's a little old for the Northwest League.

46. Steven Register, rhp: Similar numbers to Kaiser, though he's a year younger and a bit more durable. Another finesse righty who doesn't need to be rushed to the majors.

45. Aneury Rodriguez, rhp: Biggest factor working in his favor is age (he's only 17.) He's been up and down this season, and his stats really aren't that impressive (7.20 ERA, 44 K in 60 innings.) However, he reportedly has good stuff and could break out in a year or two.

44. Michael Paulk, of: Mainly here because I'd like to see him at full-season ball before I get too high on him. His .313/.401/.449 line is pretty impressive.

43. Daniel Carte, of: He's ahead of Paulk because he's reportedly got more potential, though it isn't showing up in the numbers (.227/.308/.386.) There's some power here, and while he strikes out quite a bit, he's not as bad as, say, Cole Garner.

42. Justin Hampson, lhp: He makes the list for being lefthanded and being in the high minors, though other than that there isn't a lot to like. His K/BB rate (88/70) is pitiful. So is his record (4-13.)

41. Jose Valdez, 2b: Despite 20 homers, I'm not that high on him due to past performance and his home park, both of which make me skeptical. Is this a breakout year, or does he revert to his 2003-04 form next season, probably at Modesto?

We count down to 31 tomorrow.

Series preview: Rockies vs. Giants

2005-08-28T18:43:00.000-06:00

Something has gotten into the Rockies. That's four straight road series that the team has won, including going 4-2 on their current road trip. Still, the Rockies have yet to sweep a series on the road this season. And the Rockies went 6-8 on a recent 14-game homestand.

This, however, could be the Rockies' chance to sweep one on the road, and continue the franchise record to five consecutive series wins on the road. The team goes to SBC Park for three against the Giants. Working in the team's favor: the Rockies won't see the Giants' two best pitchers, Jason Schmidt and Noah Lowry. Also working in the team's favor: the Giants won't see Jamey Wright, who got a hard-luck loss to the Padres on Sunday, dropping his record to 6-16. Instead, the Rockies will send out the mighty Kim, Cookie, and Franchise, all on regular rest.

There's a Giant hole in San Francisco's batting order caused by the lack of Barry Bonds, who's been MIA for the entire season, and certainly won't be making an appearance at SBC Park this week. Not to play baseball, anyway. Instead, this is a team whose leading homer and RBI man, Pedro Feliz (18 and 71), is a man without a position, starting 67 games in left, 47 at third, and 4 at first this season. (In 2004, he even made 14 starts at short.)

Unlike the Rockies, though, the Giants are old and their players are probably not getting better, which is why Giant fans should be a bit worried that their team is only 6.5 games ahead of the Rockies in the standings. Granted, they weren't planning on having Barry Bonds miss the entire season. Moises Alou, at 39, is having a fine season (.319-14-47), but he's only played in 95 games due to injuries. 38-year-old Omar Vizquel (.287-3-38) has been okay; 37-year-old J.T. Snow (.269-3-30) has put up some awful stats for a first baseman (in his defense, he's missed a good portion of the season, but 3 homers in 290 AB's still translates to... six for a full season.) 34-year-old Mike Matheny (.250-10-47) hasn't been that good, but in his defense those offensive numbers are about what the Giants expected. Ray Durham, at 33, has been all right (.296-9-47), but he almost never steals any more (3 SB/3 CS.) Edgardo Alfonzo, at 31, was projected to be the Giants' youngest regular, making him the same age as the Rockies' oldest. His stats have been, um, not so good (.285-2-41.)

And there really isn't a lot of young help on the way, on offense anyway. Lance Niekro has 11 homers in 236 AB, but at 26 he's not a high-ceiling guy, similar to a lot of the Rockies rookies. Todd Linden is up after tearing up the PCL, but isn't playing every day as the Giants go with an outfield of Feliz-Winn-Alou.

In short, injuries have been the story of the Giants' season, not just to Bonds but to Alou, Snow, Alfonzo, Schmidt, Benitez, etc. Bonds is the big one, but the fact that others have missed so much time or not lived up to what their past performance would suggest they'd do is really hurting this team.

All three games in this series are winnable. On Monday it's Brett Tomko against BK Kim. (Note: I had originally heard that Tomko would be moved to the bullpen and Matt Cain would get the nod on Monday. Instead, it appears that Cain will start on Wednesday and either Kevin Correia is being sent to the 'pen or the Giants are going with a six-man rotation.) Anyway, with the way that Tomko has pitched this season he certainly deserves to be moved to the bullpen. He's 7-14 with a 4.93 ERA, despite a pitcher-friendly ballpark. He's been little more than a reliable innings-eater for most of his career, and though his homers have dropped off sharply since moving into SBC Park (19 last season and 18 this season, versus 31 and 35, respectively, in 2002 and 2003 in San Diego and St. Louis.) In fact, Tomko's ERA is only .19 lower than Kim's, despite the vast disparity in the friendliness of their ballparks. That's not good. Now, Kim has been less effective on the road than at home, but still, the Rockies should win this one.

Tuesday sees Brad Hennessey and his 5.35 ERA against Cook. None of Hennessey's stats (4-6, 5.35, 42/37 K/BB) suggest effectiveness. In fact, don't ask me how in the hell this happens, but Cook's ERA (4.15) is over a run lower than Hennessey's! And four of Cook's six starts have come at Coors Field! The one troubling thing about Cook is his K rate (only 10 in 34.2 innings.) If you throw out his first start after returning, Cook's ERA is 2.67.

Wednesday sees Cain against Francis. Cain's making his major league debut. He tore up the PCL this season at age 20, which suggests that he may be a very good pitcher someday, but hopefully for the Rockies "someday" is not Wednesday. Francis has been maddeningly inconsistent, as many rookies are, but he was very effective in his most recent start, also at a pitcher's park, and on balance he's 12-9 on the season, although he has an ERA of 5.86. So it's two rookies in this one, and I'll take our guy despite the fact that Matt Cain went to high school in my hometown of Germantown, TN (and graduated the same year I did.)

I'm predicting a sweep, obviously.

Correction: Matt Cain will replace Tomko in the rotation, as originally reported, and make the start on Monday. It's Kim-Cain tonight and Francis-Correia on Wednesday. With that in mind, I think the Rockies will take two of three, losing tonight but winning the last two.

Tap the Rox 50 to Watch: Honorable Mention

2005-08-23T20:05:00.000-06:00

I promised this would be coming around the first of September. The minors' season isn't over yet, but I figured I'd go ahead and start. Today was the first day of class for me... only had one class, though, which left me pretty bored all day. And we know what happens when I'm bored.

The standards -- just to let everybody know beforehand, Omar Quintanilla, Ryan Shealy, Ryan Speier, and Choo Freeman all qualify. Other rookies on the major league club do not.

We'll start out with the honorable mention list -- 14 players who didn't quite make the top fifty, but for whatever reason have caught my eye. You all know what I generally think about these guys from my earlier prospect reviews (if you've been keeping up), but just to fill everybody in, there's a short blurb about each guy.

In no particular order:

Edwardo Sierra, rhp: One of the players Dan O'Dowd accepted in exchange for Shawn Chacon, so Rockies brass must think something of him. I'm not sure what.
Jon Asahina, rhp: Weak K rate, though a pretty good K/BB rate. 24 and at AA, so he may be able to help soon, but probably has a low ceiling.
Zach Parker, lhp: Similar to Asahina, except he's lefthanded and eight months younger. Being lefthanded, of course, pushes his potential value to the Rockies up a bit.
Aaron Marsden, lhp: Big (6'5", 210) finesse lefty. Because of that, he'll probably get quite a bit of a leash from the Rockies organization, but his stats aren't that impressive.
Josh Newman, lhp: Another lefty prospect who has a very impressive K rate, but some control problems. He's not particularly young for the Cal League, either.
Ryan Mattheus, rhp: Stats aren't great, though it's unclear how much of that has to do with his home park. Decent K rate and walk rate.
Justin Nelson, of: Pretty good power stats, but he's rather old for the Sally League and he's being helped by McCormick Field, so I'm skeptical (even moreso than with Miller, etc.0
Phillip Cuadrado, 3b: Has decent power and a decent average at Tri-City, but shaky glovework lands him here.
Buzz Vargas, rhp: He actually has better stats than Zach Simons, including a higher K rate, but also has an ERA that's a run and a half higher -- he's more homer-prone than Simons.
David Patton, rhp: Good K rate and K/BB rate, but an ERA of 6, largely due to a high hit rate.
Corey Wimberly, 2b: The second coming of Juan Pierre. Good speed, rather weak defensively.
Christopher Cook, 1b: Leads Casper with 11 homers (in just 140 AB) but age (22) and position (first) equal little excitement.
Alan Johnson, rhp: Has a good strikeout rate, though he gives up too many hits.
Andrew Johnston, rhp: Good stats, but I'm always skeptical of low-minors relievers. Show me something at higher levels. Largely is down here because, well, the 50 to Watch only has fifty spots.

Quick note: You may see several of these players on the preseason 50 to Watch list in 2006, since Quintanilla, Freeman, and Shealy probably will not qualify, and offseason trades may change things a bit.

Minor League Report: August 17

2005-08-18T01:21:00.000-06:00

Rockies lose again.

Colorado Springs lost, 6-3. Christian Parker didn't have a particularly bad night (eight hits, two walks in five innings) but gave up five runs (four earned.) The Sky Sox's only extra-base hit was a triple by Choo Freeman. Bigger news from Colorado Springs was that the Rockies waived Jason Young, who was claimed by the Indians. I have no idea why, though I wasn't particularly high on him, he looked like a good #5 starter candidate for '06.

Tulsa got shut out by Corpus Christi, 8-0. Nothing went right for the Drillers, including Ubaldo Jimenez, who only went two thirds of an inning (due to reaching his pitch count for a single inning; he managed to throw 53 pitches in the first inning.) It didn't help that the Drillers, like the Sky Sox, only managed one extra base hit. Also, Ramon Ramirez is apparently a reliever now.

Modesto lost to Bakersfield, 7-6 (there seems to be a pattern here.) Kyle Wilson homered, and Randy Blood and Michael Davies each added two hits. Marc Kaiser gave up seven runs in seven and a third, including, uncharacteristically, two homers.

Asheville got shut out by Lake County, 3-0, and the Tourists only got three hits. (If you didn't guess, this game was NOT played at McCormick Field.) Franklin Morales was fine, though he took the loss due to the utter lack of offense. He gave up two hits over five innings, though he allowed two runs and four walks while striking out six.

Tri-City beat Eugene 5-4. Brian Kirby hit his seventh homer of the season.

Casper was off tonight.

Another look at the future

2005-08-17T16:57:00.000-06:00

I looked at baseball-reference.com's "Similar Players" listings for some of the current Rockies. You'd be surprised.

Jason Jennings (through age 25):
1. Chris Carpenter
2. Kyle Lohse
3. Hank Johnson
4. Jaret Wright
5. Jason Bere
6. Jeff Suppan
7. Dave Fleming
8. Eric Milton
9. Scott Elarton
10. Sterling Hitchcock

Mostly middle-of-the-rotation innings eaters, with the exception of Carpenter, who was one before 2004 but is now a Cy Young frontrunner. Hey, I'll take an incredible season from Jennings at age 30 (2009) -- problem is, that only helps if he's still a Rockie then.

Aaron Cook (through age 25)
1. Rich Robertson
2. Lil Stoner
3. Julio Santana
4. Herman Fink
5. Sean Bergman
6. Jose Silva
7. Jose Acevedo
8. Ramiro Mendoza
9. Bill Swift
10. Aaron Harang

Cookie really doesn't have enough meaningful stats at the MLB level. But it's at least encouraging to see, aside from a bunch of guys I've never heard of, Swift (another guy who had one really good season) and Harang (who looks like he could do the same thing.)

BK Kim (through age 25)
1. Ugueth Urbina
2. Rollie Fingers
3. Lance McCullers
4. Scott Garrelts
5. Neil Allen
6. Mark Littell
7. Bobby Bolin
8. Dick Selma
9. Bill Caudill
10. Mark Clear

Hey, BK gets a Hall of Famer on his list, though it's a bit misleading because I doubt Kim will ever be a prime closer again. It'll be more interesting after this season, when Kim will have more than 16 career starts.

Brian Fuentes (through age 29)
1. Dave Leiper
2. Mike Matthews
3. Jason Christiansen
4. Pedro Martinez (not THAT Pedro Martinez)
5. Billy Brewer
6. Bob MacDonald
7. Mike Munoz
8. Bob Smith
9. Ed Glynn
10. Don Shaw

Another one that's misleading, since Brian had four career saves heading into this season. Mostly middle-relief specialists here.

Todd Helton (through age 30)
1. Hank Greenberg
2. Chuck Klein
3. Frank Thomas
4. Hal Trosky
5. Jeff Bagwell
6. Joe DiMaggio
7. Manny Ramirez
8. Johnny Mize
9. Carlos Delgado
10. Ted Williams

That's five Hall of Famers, plus another pretty certain and two possibles. Most of the retired guys were good players until age 35 or so.

Aaron Miles (through age 27)
I won't even bother to list them. Just know that it's not pretty.

(Note: The other Rockies don't have listings yet due to lack of major-league AB's, or I just plain don't care.)

For the sake of argument:

Preston Wilson (through age 29)
1. Wally Post
2. Ron Gant
3. Tony Conigliaro
4. Joe Carter
5. Kevin Mitchell
6. David Justice
7. Richard Hidalgo
8. Jermaine Dye
9. Frank Thomas
10. Frank Howard

Low average guys with good power. Carter had some fine seasons after age 30; Gant was another low-average slugger who didn't hit more than 26 homers in a season after 30. Mitchell had a couple of good years but tailed off very quickly after age 32.

Shawn Chacon (through age 26)
1. Frank Rodriguez
2. Felipe Lira
3. Bill Dietrich
4. Pat Caraway
5. Les Tietje
6. Jesus Sanchez
7. Willie Banks
8. Mac Suzuki
9. Jimmy Haynes
10. Jimmy Anderson

Who the hell are these guys? Only defense I can make is that the Rockies' failed experiment at making him a closer has something to do with these comparables.

Joe Kennedy
1. Jamie Moyer
2. Jason Schmidt
3. Scott Karl
4. Allen Watson
5. Neal Heaton
6. Alex Kellner
7. Vern Law
8. Wade Blasingame
9. Jim Gott
10. Steve Woodward

Only furthers my previous argument that the Rockies could have made something of Kennedy. It doesn't hurt that he has better stuff than Moyer, either.

Interesting stuff. Only problem is that you can't predict the future. Jennings, for example, has about as much chance of being Jeff Suppan (middle-of-the-rotation innings eater) or Scott Elarton (spot starter/swingman) as he does of being Chris Carpenter (Cy Young candidate.)

Minor League Report: August 15

2005-08-16T06:01:00.000-06:00

It's a little late, but it'll do. By the way, impressive win by the Rockies last night against a good pitcher and a good Milwaukee team. I was not expecting 11-2, and suddenly I'm looking smart for predicting two out of three. Hey, two out of three ain't bad.

The Sky Sox (the real ones, not the major league club in Denver that's been posing as them for much of the year) lost to Portland, 8-7. Zach Day was not great but gave the team six solid innings, and was in line for the win until another Zach (McClellan) came in and promptly gave up two homers, a solo shot by Dustin Dellucchi, and a three-run bomb by Ben Johnson (who, coincidentally, is from my hometown.) That overshadowed a decent offensive showing from the Sox, including two homers by Todd Greene (yeah, he's ready.)

Tulsa beat Corpus Christi, 5-4, despite getting... three hits? One of the hits was a three-run homer by Jud Thigpen, his eighth, that sealed the deal as the bullpen preserved a win for Sandy Nin with four scoreless innings.

Larry Robles was not very effective as Modesto lost to Bakersfield, 6-4. Kyle Wilson did hit a three-run homer, though, his twelfth of the season (of course, several of those were a result of playing at McCormick Field.)

Asheville lost to Lake County, 8-7; ironically, for a game of that score, there were no homers on either side. Jose Valdez tripled and stole a base, though his recent hot streak hasn't convinced me that he's anything more than an organizational soldier.

Tri-City beat Eugene, 6-4, fueled by a four-run eighth inning. Travis Becktel continues to impress, hitting his fourth homer of the season. Michael Paulk had a pair of doubles and an RBI.

Casper lost at Missoula, 9-7. Christopher Cook hit his ninth homer and Cole Garner contributed three RBI, though it wasn't enough to overcome a rather mediocre start by Xavier Cedeno, who gave up five runs in five innings. Then again, in the Pioneer League I guess that's not so bad.

Series Preview: Brewers-Rockies (and other notes)

2005-08-15T13:28:00.000-06:00

Wow, I was way off. The Rockies get swept and only manage to score four runs over three games at Coors Field. They got shut out by -- get this -- Tony Armas Jr.

In a quick minor league note, there's a proposal on the table that would eliminate the complex leagues (this doesn't affect the Rockies) and limit each team to five minor-league affiliates rather than six (this does.) The Pioneer League would be promoted to the short-season level and the Appalachian League would be run as a co-op. This would be that current players at the rookie level would instead be sent to a sort of extended spring training rather than playing actual games (this makes no sense.) Probably no one would miss the complex leagues, but I don't see any added benefit to limiting teams to five minor league affiliates, other than reducing the number of minor league teams. Either Casper or Tri-City (probably Tri-City) would lose their affiliation with the Rockies under this proposal.

Anyways, tonight the Rockies begin a three-game series at Coors Field against the Brewers. Oddly enough, after a road trip in which the Rockies went 4-2, they've gone 3-5 so far on this home stand, sweeping a doubleheader with the Marlins, then losing two of three to the Pirates and getting swept by the Nationals. Part of this can be blamed on the Clint's sudden decision (almost as sudden as the first one) to put Aaron Miles back in the starting lineup, even though the team was winning without him. In addition, Omar Quintanilla is struggling a bit against major-league pitching.

The Brewers are currently 57-61 and 17 games out of first place in the NL Central, 6.5 out in the wild card -- though, of course, they'd only be 1.5 out in the NL West. A sweep by the Rockies would probably end the Brewers' playoff hopes. Will that happen?

The Brew Crew, like the Rockies, have one of the best farm systems in the majors -- #3, according to Baseball America (the Rockies are #6.) The major difference between the two is that the Brewers' premium talent is either already in the majors this season or very close. The Brewers also have more depth in the farm system than the Rockies, though the Rockies have about the same number of premium players.

The Brewers' offense is built around Carlos Lee, who's having a career year with 27 homers and 91 RBI (though he's only batting .267.) He even has 11 stolen bases despite being 6'2", 240. Center fielder Brady Clark is a good table-setter (.372 OBP.) Geoff Jenkins in right field is just all right (.290, 16 homers, 58 RBI) -- though he's better than any of the current Rockies except Todd Helton. First baseman Lyle Overbay doesn't give you quite as much power as you'd like at first, though he does have 16 homers.

Then you have the youngsters. Second baseman Rickie Weeks has had the best debut of anyone in the NL not named Francoeur; in 219 ABs he has 9 homers, though he's only batting .265. Shortstop J.J. Hardy is only batting .206, though he's a fine defensive player. 23-year-old Corey Hart was just called up; he's apparently a third baseman now. Bill Hall, at 25, is having a surprisingly good season, batting .266 with 15 homers.

As for the pitching matchups: Tonight, Aaron Cook goes against Ben Sheets. Cook is 0-1 in three starts, but more importantly, the Rockies are 2-1 in the games that Cook starts, including wins in his last two. Sheets has had a typical season for him: good ERA, lots of strikeouts, low win total due to the fact that, well, he plays for the Brewers. Sheets is also a bit homer-prone, which doesn't bode well for Coors Field. On Tuesday, it's Franchise against Victor Santos: two guys on opposite ends of the run-support spectrum. Santos is 3-11, with a 4.18 ERA -- not great, and his peripherals (76 K, 52 BB in 127 innings) aren't good either. Of course, it doesn't help him that the Brewers tend to score 1 or 2 runs when he starts. He's 1-6 in his last ten starts, and the Brewers are 3-7 in those games. Francis, on the other hand, is 11-8 despite a 5.77 ERA (okay, he plays for the Rockies.) His peripherals are a bit better -- 101 K's, 54 walks in 135.2 innings -- though his .314 batting average against is ugly. And on Wednesday, it's Jamey Wright against Chris Capuano. Capuano's having a fine season -- 12-8, 3.77 ERA -- and the Brewers are 7-3 in his last ten starts, with Capuano posting a 6-2 record over that span. But he's also quite homer-prone, once again, not good for a starter at Coors Field. Of course, he's going against Wright, and we all know about Jamey Wright.

The Brewers' bullpen is all right. Derrick Turnbow has done a good job as the closer -- 24 saves, 43 K's in 49.1 innings; opponents are only hitting .197 against him. 21-year-old Dana Eveland has been solid as a lefty longman, though he walks too many batters. Jorge de la Rosa isn't so great. And there's recently called-up Jose Capellan, who has tons of potential.

I say the Rockies win two of three, winning Monday and Tuesday, losing Wednesday.

Preview: Rockies-Nationals

2005-08-12T14:47:00.000-06:00

It's a giant welcome back party for former Rockies Vinny Castilla and Preston Wilson, who will both be making their first appearance at Coors Field as members of the Washington Nationals.

Somehow, the Nationals are four games over .500 with a team that really isn't that much better than the Rockies. The outfield is all right, with Jose Guillen (20 homers) and P-Dub providing some power. Brad Wilkerson hit 32 last season but only has 8 this season; Frank Robinson is helping Rockies ROY candidates Jeff Francis and Brad Hawpe by utilizing Ryan Church in a backup role. Nick Johnson has been pretty good at first, though he's been hurt (as usual.) Jose Vidro at second has been hurt as well, and Brian Schneider is having a fine season at the plate. The left side of the infield may be perhaps the worst in baseball on offense. Vinny's power numbers are way down now that he's no longer a Rockie (35 homers last season, 8 this season.) Cristian Guzman still has an everyday job despite his .188 average (though, in his defense, that's about what Aaron Miles would be hitting if he played at RFK, and the Rockies only recently decided to remove him from his everyday gig.) The problem is that Coors Field will only help their bats.

Pitching? That's been all right for the Nationals. Livan Hernandez is an incredible innings-eater miscast as a #1 starter; the Rockies, fortunately, won't have to see him in this series. They will see Esteban Loaiza tonight, who's not nearly as good as his 2003 season with the White Sox, but is better than his 6-8 record indicates. Loaiza goes against Jamey Wright, who is, um, Jamey Wright. We all know what Wright's capable of, and the Rockies trot him out there every fifth day because, well, he's really better than any of the other options. Saturday brings Tony Armas, Jr., whose ERA (4.64) and record (6-5) are better than BK Kim's, but that doesn't mean he's a better pitcher (Tony even has a pitcher-friendly park bringing down his ERA.) His peripherals (46 K's, 42 walks in 83.1 innings) are pretty bad, and the Rockies could have a field day against him. Oh yeah, and did I mention that BK's starting for us? I worry that throwing so many pitches in his last start (he had to; the bullpen was pretty spent after game one of the doubleheader) might hurt him though, but the Rockies should be giving him some runs to work with. Sunday brings John Patterson, who's finally living up to the potential that made him the fifth overall pick back in '96. In 132.1 innings, he has 128 strikeouts, and a 2.52 ERA. However, the Nationals have a bad habit of giving him zero run support. In 21 starts, he's 6-3 -- that's a lot of no decisions. Case in point: on July 24, he gave up one run and struck out ten in eight innings, and the Nationals lost, 4-1. However, if Jose Acevedo pitches like he did in his last start, the Nationals will have no problem giving him plenty of runs to work with.

The bullpen is highlighted by MLB saves leader Chad Cordero, who has 37 saves and a 1.07 ERA. The rest of the 'pen isn't anything special, though. Patterson only averages six innings per start, which means that the Rockies could get to the bullpen pretty early, especially if Coors has an adverse effect on him. I think the Rockies will take two out of three, but I've been wrong before.

MLR: August 11

2005-08-12T00:55:00.000-06:00

The Rockies lose today 11-3. Geez... we can take two of three on the road from the D-Backs and Giants, and sweep a doubleheader against the Marlins, but lose two of three at home to the Pirates? Day Game Jeff Francis wasn't good today.

Colorado Springs got rained out, and Tulsa was off.

Modesto lost to Visalia, 4-3, in ten innings. Ian Stewart had an RBI double, and Seth Smith went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Steven Register went seven innings, but gave up ten hits while striking out only one.

Asheville beat Delmarva, 6-4, behind a four-run third. Joe Koshansky drove in two (he's got 96 on the season. Jake Postlewait struck out seven over five and a third to get the win. Trevor Allen got his first RBI in Asheville after being promoted there from Casper. Jose Valdez continued his hot streak, going 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Tri-City lost to Yakima, 4-2. Travis Becktel went 2-for-4 with two doubles (he's batting .343.)

Casper beat Helena, 6-2, behind a strong outing from Chaz Roe, who struck out six in five innings and only gave up three hits. Christopher Cook went 4-for-4 and was a triple short of the cycle, and he drove in three runs as well.

Rockies pitching prospects review, part four

2005-08-11T21:50:00.000-06:00

David Patton
Age: 21
Current level: Short-season A
Stats: 8 appearances, 7 starts, 3-5, 6.00 ERA, 39/13 K/BB in 42 IP, .293 OBA
There are some things to like about the Rockies' 12th-round pick in 2004, but the ERA (in a pitcher-friendly environment!) and OBA are things to worry about. Not really high on this guy.

Ethan Katz
Age: 22
Current level: Short-season A
Stats: 16 appearances, 2 starts, 1-1, 2.36 ERA, 27/4 K/BB in 34.1 IP, .244 OBA
The K/BB rate is excellent, and though he's a bit old for the Northwest League, I'm willing to give him somewhat of a pass due to the fact that it's his first season of pro ball. He was the Rockies' 26th-round pick this season, out of Sacramento State. Worth watching.

George Delgado
Age: 21
Current level: Short-season A
Stats: 18 appearances, 0-2, 3.26 ERA, 6 saves, 27/11 K/BB in 19.1 IP, .191 OBA
Good stats, decent relief prospect, though a bit old for the Northwest League. He put up similar numbers at Casper last season.

Chaz Roe
Age: 18
Current level: Rookie
Stats: 6 starts, 3-1, 2.81 ERA, 27/18 K/BB in 25.2 IP, .180 OBA
Except for the walk rate, he's dominating the Pioneer League and putting up a nice showing after being the Rockies' sandwich pick this year. I'm excited about this guy.

Aneury Rodriguez
Age: 17
Current level: Rookie
Stats: 10 starts, 2-2, 8.27 ERA, 27/16 K/BB in 41.1 IP, .310 OBA
The main thing to like about Rodriguez is his age; he won't be 18 until after the season. From all reports he has some electric stuff, including a high-90s fastball. But still, the stats don't bear it out, but give him time. He may have to repeat at Casper next season though.

Xavier Cedeno
Age: 18
Current level: Rookie
Stats: 7 starts, 0-1, 3.62 ERA, 22/7 K/BB in 27.1 IP, .267 OBA
In the hitter's environment that is the Pioneer League, Xavier is putting up some nice numbers. He was drafted by the Rockies in 2004, then signed as a draft-and-follow after a year at Miami-Dade CC. And he's lefthanded. There's a lot to like here.

Alan Johnson
Age: 21
Current level: Rookie
Stats: 9 starts, 2-1, 4.36 ERA, 40/11 K/BB in 43.1 IP, .320 OBA
Amazingly, he hasn't given up a homer this season, and the K rate is good. Still, at 21 and in the Pioneer League (albeit in his first season of pro ball), I'm going to have to see something at higher levels before I think a lot of him.

Andrew Johnston
Age: 21
Current level: Rookie
Stats: 19 appearances, 1-1, 0.87 ERA, 12 saves, 15/1 K/BB in 20.2 IP, .175 OBA
One walk in 20 innings is just incredible. Like Johnson, I'd like to see something at higher levels before I get really high on him. He was the Rockies' 9th-round pick this year out of Jefferson Junior College.

Rockies pitching prospects review, part three

2005-08-11T21:07:00.000-06:00

You may have noticed that most of my posts recently have been minor league-related. The reasons for this, well... first of all, my blog takes more of a minor league focus than other blogs, which primarily concentrate on the big league club. Second, what is there to write about with the Rockies? Okay, so they're on somewhat of a roll lately, winning 8 of 12 -- including 4 of 6 on the road. But really, the only thing Rockies fans should even be thinking about is the future. Yeah, we're only 14.5 games out of first place in the West, but we're not going to the playoffs. We might finish fourth if the Giants really blow up down the stretch or we just get unbelievably hot. But really... the future is the only thing to look forward to right now. We might contend in 2006.

Anyways, tonight I'm going to go ahead and finish parts three and four of our pitching prospect review, including all the guys at A-ball and the short-season guys. Minor league report coming later, probably around midnight or 1 AM.

Aaron Marsden
Age: 23
Current level: High-A
Stats: 22 appearances, 19 starts, 6-8, 5.67 ERA, 62/37 K/BB in 101.2 IP, .318 OBA
Okay, the stats and age/league context don't really bode well for Aaron, but there's a little bit to like about a lefty who's 6'5", 225. Given that, he'll probably get plenty of rope from the Rockies organization. But the numbers aren't promising.

Jason Burch
Age: 22
Current level: High-A
Stats: 45 appearances, 7-2, 2.88 ERA, 68/23 K/BB in 56.1 IP, .223 OBA
Jason came over in the Larry Walker trade and he's been pretty darn good this season as a reliever. I've heard reports that his stuff isn't overpowering, and he's been shaky since moving into the closer role. And you all know what I think about relievers in the low minors. Still, this guy could be all right as a middle reliever in the majors.

Josh Newman
Age: 23
Current level: High-A
Stats: 32 appearances, 4-2, 3.72 ERA, 66/35 K/BB in 46 IP, .199 OBA
The K rate and OBA are excellent; the walk rate is not. Another relief prospect, Newman's a lefty and the K rate tells me he could have some pretty good stuff. Still, he's 23 and in A-ball, but like Marsden the Rockies will probably give him a long leash because he's left-handed.

Jud Songster
Age: 25
Current level: Double-A
Stats: 41 appearances, 3-2, 2.38 ERA, 55/18 K/BB in 56.2 IP, .223 OBA
Going back up a level, at the suggestion of a poster on Purple Row, to include Songster. I noticed his K rate earlier but didn't include him because of his age; on second look, and with the comment that he has some of the best stuff on the Tulsa team, I think he could help the Rockies bullpen as soon as next season. He'll probably make an appearance in the Tap the Rox 50 to Watch next month, though he'll be relatively low on the list due to age.

Samuel Deduno
Age: 22
Current level: Low-A
Stats: 16 starts, 7-6, 4.74 ERA, 97/49 K/BB in 74 IP, .230 OBA
His K rate is nice, but the walk rate is pretty hideous. All reports are that he has electric stuff, and can be unhittable. Still, he needs to be able to harness his stuff better before he can be considered an elite pitching prospect. Plus there's his age -- 22 is a bit old for the Sally League.

Franklin Morales
Age: 19
Current level: Low-A
Stats: 17 appearances, 11 starts, 6-3, 3.27 ERA, 83/35 K/BB in 74.1 innings, .226 OBA
Less wildness than Deduno, though with a bit less impressive K rate. I'm surprised Morales isn't held in higher regard by Baseball America, etc. He's a young lefty who appears to be dominating the Sally League this season. We'll need to see something at higher levels, though, before we can get really excited.

Ching-Lung (Dragon) Lo
Age: 19
Current level: Low-A
Stats: 20 starts, 6-7, 5.50 ERA, 78/25 K/BB in 103 IP, .299 OBA
A lot of people aren't as high on Dragon as they were earlier this season due to his high ERA, high homer rate (22 this season) and the no-longer so impressive K rate (which was very good early in the season, but has come down to earth a bit.) But there's still a lot to like. First, the ERA and homer rate can be explained by his home park. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Marc Kaiser gave up 17 homers at Asheville last season; he's given up five at Modesto this season, with little change in peripherals. Second, his control is a lot better than that of Deduno or Morales; his walk rate is much better, and a K/BB rate of 3:1 is very good. Third, he's only 19 and already at low-A (he turns 20 a week from Saturday.) He's not going to be near the top of any prospect lists right now, but there's still lots of potential.

Ryan Mattheus
Age: 21
Current level: Low-A
Stats: 18 starts, 6-4, 5.69 ERA, 83/43 K/BB in 99.2 IP, .270 OBA
He's basically Lo without the control (12 wild pitches as opposed to 3 for Lo.) I'm not that high on him, but he's at least worth watching.

Adam Bright
Age: 21
Current level: Low-A
Stats: 44 appearances, 3-1, 2.91 ERA, 5 saves, 38/23 K/BB in 55.2 IP, .223 OBA
Case #1 of McCormick Field being friendlier to lefties than righties: Adam, despite a mediocre K/BB rate, has an ERA under 3 and a .223 OBA. (This could explain some of Franklin Morales's stats as well.) I'll have to wait until I see him at Modesto before I can get a real good read on him. And, once again, he's a reliever at low-A.

Chris Buechner
Age: 21
Current level: Low-A
Stats: 43 appearances, 3-3, 6.08 ERA, 3 saves, 51/17 K/BB in 50.1 IP, .275 OBA
And yet, this guy, despite very good peripherals, has an ERA over 6. I'm tired of trying to get reads on pitchers and hitters at Asheville. Can't the Rockies move their low-A team to a less hitter-friendly environment?

Shane Lindsay
Age: 20
Current level: Short-season A
Stats: 9 starts, 3-1, 2.36 ERA, 73/23 K/BB in 42 IP, .169 OBA
Do the stats not tell you enough about this guy? 15.64 K/9 is just plain sick, and he's not too advanced for the league, either. Control is somewhat of an issue (4.93 BB/9, plus nine wild pitches) but there's a lot to like here. Lindsay is one of our best young pitching prospects.

Zach Simons
Age: 20
Current level: Short-season A
Stats: 10 starts, 4-2, 2.43 ERA, 24/15 K/BB in 55.2 IP, .202 OBA
And then you have this guy, whose ERA and opponents' average indicate dominance... but 24 K's in 55.2 IP? I'm willing to give him a bit of a pass because he's in his first year of pro ball, but still, it's worth wondering how he will hold up at higher levels. I've also heard that his windup creates a lot of injury risk.

Minor League Report: August 9

2005-08-10T00:09:00.000-06:00

Colorado Springs beat Memphis, 8-2, as J.J. Davis hit a pinch-hit grand slam, his 15th homer of the season, and Wilton Chavez pitched seven solid innings. Jeff Salazar also had a pair of RBI, Todd Greene had three hits, and Mr. Helton hit a double.

Tulsa lost, 3-1, as Jon Asahina got no run support and took the loss. Nothing much else to report; Asahina managed to go seven innings and not record a single strikeout.

Modesto lost to Visalia, 7-3. Ian Stewart and Jonathan Herrera each had three hits; Stewart added two RBI. Aaron Marsden, um, sucked.

Asheville spanked Lakewood, 7-1, as Jose Valdez homered twice (15th and 16th of the year) and Samuel Deduno struck out eight in seven innings to get the win, his seventh. Deduno did give up a bunch of hits, though.

Tri-City also won, 7-1, over Yakima. Zach Simons put up a typical stat line for him: seven innings, three hits, no earned runs, no walks, but only one strikeout. The Dust Devil hitters, on the other hand, were providing a stiff breeze; Pedro Strop, Travis Becktel, and Michael Milliron all got the hat trick, and I don't mean that in a good way. (Milliron's .071 BA, by the way, is hideous.) Michael Paulk went 3-for-3 with 2 RBI; Jason Van Kooten had 3 RBI.

Casper beat Orem, 9-8. Aneury Rodriguez got roughed up for six runs and eight hits in 2.2 innings, though he got a no decision thanks to Casper's comeback. Daniel Mayora hit his first homer; Eric Young and Christopher Cook each had two RBI.

That's all for today. Pitching prospects review continues later this week; Rockies 50 to Watch coming around September 1. The top 30 will look similar to the one I posted on Purple Row.

Series preview: Rockies vs. Pirates

2005-08-09T18:09:00.000-06:00

The Rockies open a three-game set with the Pirates in less than an hour, so here's a quick preview.

In Game 1 (tonight), the Rockies send Jose Acevedo to the mound against Dave Williams. Williams one-hit the Rockies for six innings two weeks ago, but that's unlikely to happen again since this game is at a, um, less-friendly environment. And it's not the same Rockies team. See Purple Row for details and discussion.

Tomorrow night, Aaron Cook goes against Mark Redman. Redman is so good, he was actually considered one of the best pitchers available at the trade deadline. Well, unfortunately for the Pirates, he's still with the team. This is unfortunate because of Redman's 5-12 record and 4.61 ERA. Cook was awful in his first start back from injury but quite a bit better in his second start. Win.

Thursday, Josh Fogg takes the mound in the afternoon game. Fogg's 4.96 ERA (which, by the way, is not inflated by a hitter-friendly park), .288 opponents' batting average, and 62/36 K/BB ratio (in 130.2 innings) tell me that he's probably lucky to be sporting a 5-7 record. That, or he's Greg Maddux suiting up for the Pirates. Oh yeah, and what offense the Pirates have will be facing the deadly combination of Coors Field Jeff Francis (8-2, 3.59) and Day Game Jeff Francis (4-2, 3.96.) No contest.

Speaking of the Pittsburgh offense, who the hell do they have now that Matt Lawton's been traded? They have Jason Bay, who's pretty darn good (.296-21-61.) Other than that, um... they've got Jack Wilson, who's out to prove that his 2004 season was just a fluke and he's really just a .231 hitter. Jose Castillo, Rob Mackowiak, and Daryle Ward are at least somewhat decent. They've got two HUGE guys -- former Rockie Michael Restovich (6'4", 250) and Brad Eldred (6'5", 245) -- who haven't really done a whole lot in the majors. Chris Duffy is hitting .388, but that's in only 85 at bats.

I'm predicting a sweep. We came close in the last two, and those were on the road -- and the Pirates aren't even as good as the Giants or Diamondbacks. And, who else is glad that we got that doubleheader against the Marlins in August instead of April? Woulda been a much different result had we not been rained out.

Minor League Report: August 8

2005-08-08T23:21:00.000-06:00

Colorado Springs won, 2-1, in the ninth inning. Todd Helton made a rehab start and went 2-for-2 with an RBI. Justin Hampson was fine for seven innings, giving up one run, striking out four and walking one. Todd Greene also had an RBI in a rehab start.

Tulsa beat Corpus Christi, 4-2. Seth Barker went 2-for-3, including his 13th homer of the season. Sandy Nin went eight innings and struck out five to pick up the win; Jim Miller got his first save at double-A.

Modesto had the night off.

Asheville took both games of a doubleheader against Lakewood, 11-2 and 4-3. Joe Koshansky homered in the first game, his 33rd of the year; Jose Valdez (14th) and Justin Nelson (18th) also homered, and Nelson added his 19th in the second game. Ryan Mattheus struck out seven in five innings in the first game to get the win, though he did issue four walks. In the second game, Dragon Lo got the win, giving up only four hits over six and a third to make up for a rather anemic effort from the offense. Strangely, though, he only struck out two batters.

Shane Lindsay was also dominant. Six shutout innings, only one hit and one walk, and nine strikeouts. Tri-City won the game, 6-2, over Yakima. Daniel Carte hit his fourth homer, and Travis Becktel had his usual multi-hit game, going 2-for-3.

Casper lost to Orem, 9-4. The Rockies whiffed ten times.

Minor League Report: August 6

2005-08-07T00:47:00.000-06:00

What the hell?

2005-08-07T00:32:00.000-06:00

Something has gone awry at 20th and Blake. Actually, something is happening away from 20th and Blake Street, something good if you're a Rockies fan. The Rockies are actually winning away from Coors Field.

Granted, they're still 14-41 away from home on the season, but in the past week the Rockies are 4-1, taking two of three from San Francisco and taking the first two of a three-game series against the Diamondbacks.

What's more, this came at the exact time when the Rockies should be struggling. Todd Helton and Brad Hawpe are on the disabled list. Jason Jennings is done for the year. Helton's replacement, Ryan Shealy, is more than capable, though Hawpe's absence means more playing time for Dustan Mohr. Except, strangely, Mohr has been playing well lately. And the Rockies have been winning with a starting rotation that goes Cook, Francis, Wright, Kim, Acevedo.

So why are the Rockies suddenly turning things around? Well, first of all, there's the competition. In this current road trip, the Rockies have faced starting pitchers Brett Tomko, Brad Hennessey, Kevin Correia, Brandon Webb, and Mike Gosling. Tomorrow, they'll be facing Claudio Vargas. Of course, the Rockies' offense hasn't been lighting up the scoreboard save a 14-run outburst tonight; the pitchers have certainly reaped the benefits of facing the Giants' and Diamondbacks' hitters.

But the more important thing that's going on here is that the Rockies are finally learning to win close games. Early in the season, most reporters noted that the Rockies were losing, but for the most part they weren't getting crushed. They were losing a lot of close games. Now the Rockies are beginning to win some of those games.

The bullpen has been on a short leash all season, but finally the 'pen appears to be capable of holding leads, particularly on the road. It's worth noting that only Brian Fuentes and Marcos Carvajal have been in the bullpen all year. The Rockies probably set themselves back by trading Jay Witasick, although it should be noted that Omar Quintanilla, who was acquired in that trade, has now taken over as the Rockies' starting shortstop. And Luis Gonzalez has taken over as the everyday second baseman; he's an improvement over Aaron Miles.

The Rockies are better now than they were at the start of this season. And look at the schedule over the next two weeks. The Rockies get a 14-game homestand; a doubleheader with the Marlins on Monday is followed by three-game series against the Pirates, Nationals, Brewers, and Cubs. All of those are winnable. After that, save for two season-ending series on the road against the Braves and the Mets (and the Rockies, by the way, are 9-10 against the NL East this season), they'll be playing NL West opponents the rest of the way. The Rockies could avoid the 100-loss mark this season. That would be an accomplishment.

Pitching prospects review, part two

2005-08-06T12:23:00.000-06:00

Part two of the pitching prospects... looking at the double-A guys and some of the guys at A-ball.

Jon Asahina
Age: 24
Current level: Double-A
ETA: ?
Stats: 21 starts, 11-7, 3.86 ERA, 80/25 K/BB in 137.2 IP, .285 OBA
He's been solid this season, but his age and his rather low strikeout rate make it unlikely that he'll be a big-time contributor in the majors. He spent three years in the Marlins organization before coming over to the Rockies last season. He may be a middle-relief specialist.

Zach Parker
Age: 23
Current level: Double-A
ETA: 2007
Stats: 22 starts, 10-7, 3.93 ERA, 67/30 K/BB in 132.2 IP, .283 OBA
Parker's in his second year at Tulsa, and while his won-loss record and ERA are better than the first go-round, his strikeout numbers aren't improving, so he's not dominating. He's never been a big strikeout guy. I can't see him being much more than a lefty specialist out of the bullpen.

Ubaldo Jimenez
Age: 21
Current level: Double-A
ETA: 2006 (mid-season)
Stats: 14 starts at Modesto, 5-3, 3.98 ERA, 78/40 K/BB in 72.1 IP; 7 starts at Tulsa, 2-3, 5.05 ERA, 34/18 K/BB in 41 IP, .247 OBA
The Rockies' top pitching prospect (along with Juan Morillo), U-ball got called up to Tulsa a few weeks ago and has been up-and-down since then. After an excellent 2003, he appeared to be on the fast track to the majors, but an injury-plagued 2004 sidetracked him a bit. He's still having some control issues (witness the high walk totals), but he has tons of potential and should be at Coors Field by mid-2006.

Jim Miller
Age: 23
Current level: Double-A
ETA: 2006
Stats: 48 appearances at Modesto, 1-3, 3.78 ERA, 68/17 K/BB in 47.2 IP; 1 appearance at Tulsa, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1/0 K/BB in 1 IP
The Rockies' eighth-round pick out of Louisiana-Monroe in 2004 has made his way up the organization quickly. One look at his K rate will tell you why. In 2004 at Tri-City he struck out 65 in 37 innings. At worst, he'll be a middle reliever who can throw some serious heat. He could be the Rockies' closer of the future.

Ramon Ramirez
Age: 23
Current level: Double-A
ETA: 2006
Stats: 6 starts at Columbus, 1-3, 5.33 ERA, 26/9 K/BB in 27 IP; 15 starts at Trenton, 6-5, 3.84 ERA, 82/35 K/BB in 89 IP; 1 start at Tulsa, 1-0, 10.13 ERA, 6/1 K/BB in 5.1 IP
The stats actually give reason to be high on this guy, as he's got some good K rates and decent control, though at 5'11" scouts probably aren't so high on him. He also tends to be a bit homer prone, but at the least he may be able to help the Rockies as a middle reliever.

Edwardo Sierra
Age: 23
Current level: Double-A
ETA: ?
Stats: 33 appearances at Trenton, 3-1, 3.28 ERA, 50/38 K/BB in 57.2 IP; 3 appearances at Columbus, 0-0, 8.10 ERA, 2/3 K/BB in 3.1 IP
The other half of the deal for Shawn Chacon, Sierra was a guy originally signed by Oakland, then came over to the Yankees prior to 2004. The K rate here has been pretty good over the years, but he has pretty poor control and may not be much help to the Rockies down the road.

Juan Morillo
Age: 21
Current level: High A
ETA: Late 2006/2007
Stats: 7 starts at Asheville, 1-3, 4.54 ERA, 43/13 K/BB in 33.2 IP; 14 starts at Modesto, 6-4, 3.36 ERA, 73/40 K/BB in 83 IP, .240 OBA
The effects of McCormick Field on a pitcher can be seen with Juan's stats. He was more dominant at Asheville, striking out 11.5 batters per nine innings, while not having the wildness that seems to have plagued him at Modesto. Yet his ERA at Asheville was more than a run higher. Morillo is considered by many to be the Rockies' second-best pitching prospect (after U-ball) based on his potential, but the stats show a pitcher with some pretty major control problems. Still, though, he has some obviously dominant stuff as witnessed by his strikeout and hit rates (both excellent), showing that he can be untouchable at times. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to double-A, probably next season.

Steven Register
Age: 22
Current level: High A
ETA: 2008
Stats: 22 starts, 8-10, 4.50 ERA, 88/27 K/BB in 124 IP, .288 OBA
The Rockies' third-round pick out of Auburn in 2004, Steven doesn't appear to have dominant stuff, as his K rate and OBA are average at best. In contrast to Morillo, though, his control appears to be excellent, as he walks only 1.95 per nine innings. I could see him being a righty out of the bullpen in the future, though he'll take some time to develop. His stuff isn't dominant, so he won't be on the fast track to the majors.

Marc Kaiser
Age: 23
Current level: High A
ETA: 2008
Stats: 15 starts, 6-3, 4.20 ERA, 65/19 K/BB in 96.1 IP, .308 OBA
Another excellent control pitcher, Kaiser only has given up 1.77 walks per nine innings. Perhaps his best asset is his ability to keep the ball in the park; he's only given up four homers this season (this compared to 17 in 2004 at McCormick Field in Asheville.) He's another finesse righty whose skills are more suited for him making it to the majors over the long term.

More coming tomorrow, as we continue down through high-A (I'm still going to review Burch and probably Marsden, maybe a couple others) and low-A (there are a few guys to be excited about there.)

Minor league report: August 5

2005-08-05T23:50:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I'm actually doing one of these... hey, I'm doing everything else today.

Colorado Springs lost both games of a doubleheader against Nashville, 5-2 and 7-0. There wasn't much offense to speak of. Zach Day and Christian Parker were the starting pitchers, and neither was terribly impressive. Tom Wilson's RBI triple in the first game was the closest thing the Sky Sox had to an offensive pulse.

Tulsa beat Wichita, 10-1, as U-ball dominated for seven innings, giving up only three hits and striking out four. Tony Miller had three hits, including his fifteenth homer of the year, while Sean Barker and Chris Iannetta each had three RBI. Good outing for Jimenez, though the strikeout total is not what I'd expect from such a dominant performance.

Modesto lost to San Jose, 6-4, as Jason Burch blew another save opportunity. Steven Register was all right, though he only struck out one batter and walked four. Kyle Wilson had two RBI.

Joe Koshansky (32) and Matt Miller (27) both homered as Asheville beat West Virginia, 6-5. The Asheville bullpen almost wasted a good start by Franklin Morales, who struck out five and only gave up one run over five innings.

Tri-City lost to Eugene, 4-3, in ten innings. The biggest news was that Travis Becktel's nine-game hit streak ended as he went 0-for-5. Pedro Strop hit his third homer of the season. James Freeman struck out seven over five innings.

Finally, Casper beat Ogden, 8-6 at home. Cole Garner hit his tenth homer and walked twice, while our favorite guy Kyle Blumenthal had two RBI. Xavier Cedeno was solid for four innings, striking out four. Andrew Johnston kept his ERA under one with a scoreless ninth, picking up his eleventh save.

That's all for now. Pitching prospects, part two, up tomorrow afternoon. Rockies win tonight despite their bullpen. Matt Holliday apparently hit a broken-bat homer.

Rockies pitching prospects review, Part 1

2005-08-05T16:09:00.000-06:00

Wow, I'm on a roll today. Or just really bored. So we start a look at the Rockies' pitching prospects, from the major league down. Once again, I'm taking a look at some guys who are already in the major leagues. I don't know what the cutoff is. Jason Jennings has been in the majors for a while, and he's 27, so he doesn't count. I'll stick Cook, Francis, and Carvajal in here among big-leaguers, as well as the injured Chin-Hui Tsao. As I'm not making distinctions between left fielders, center fielders and right fielders, I'm not making distinctions between starters and relievers here, because who knows where these guys will end up in the Rockies' future plans?

Aaron Cook
Age: 26
Current level: MLB
Stats (2004): 16 starts, 6-4, 4.28 ERA, 40/39 K/BB in 96.2 IP, .294 OBA
Cook's K rate has never been that impressive, but he was effective last season before having blood clots in his lungs, which required him to miss an entire year. He's finally back, and though he's not completely effective yet, he should be the Rockies' #2 starter in '06 if all goes well. One thing that can be said for Cook: he doesn't walk people.

Jeff Francis
Age: 24
Current level: MLB
Stats: 22 starts, 10-7, 5.16 ERA, 99/51 K/BB in 127.1 IP, .299 OBA
Coors Field pitchers are always going to give up lots of hits and runs, so ignore the ERA and OBA and you have a pretty effective pitcher. His walk rate isn't where I would like it to be, but the K rate follows his impressive showing in the minors (10.09 K/9). And his walk rate in the minors was always very good, so that number could come down as well. He could really have a breakout season in '06 as the Rockies' (probable) #3 starter.

Marcos Carvajal
Age: 20
Current level: MLB
Stats: 31 appearances, 0 starts, 0-2, 3.92 ERA, 34/17 K/BB in 43.2 IP, .248 OBA
There were a lot of people who said that Marcos wasn't ready for the majors; one look at his stat line tells otherwise. A product of the Dodgers organization acquired in the Rule 5 draft this offseason, Marcos has had impressive K rates in the minors (9.02 K/9), though he has had some control problems. Those haven't entirely disappeared, though his walk rate is actually lower than it was last season in the Sally League. And that's a pretty big jump; he'd only pitched three innings above low-A ball before this season. He may need some more time in the minors next season, as the Rockies may try to convert him into a starter. Or he could be an effective late-innings guy. Either way, this guy has a bright future -- and until the callup of Felix Hernandez, he was the youngest player in the majors (except for the few weeks when Hayden Penn was up), as he won't be 21 until the 20th of August.

Chin-Hui Tsao
Age: 24
Current level: MLB (injured)
Stats: 10 appearances, 0 starts, 1-0, 6.55 ERA, 3 saves, 4/5 K/BB in 11 IP, .333 OBA
Injuries have really derailed Tsao's career. In five minor league seasons, he's made only 66 starts, so he hasn't become the dominant starter that Rockies brass expected (10.44 K/9 in the minors.) He was effective in relief down the stretch in '04, but got hurt again this season, and may never become the dominant pitcher (either as a starter or closer) that he's been expected to be.

Jason Young
Age: 25
Current level: Triple-A
ETA: Monday
Stats: 18 starts, 9-6, 5.38 ERA, 87/41 K/BB in 97 IP, .287 OBA
Jason's two cups of coffee in the majors haven't gone well, but he's about to get another chance, and I'm expecting him to be the Rockies' #5 starter in '06. A new arm slot has rejuvenated him a bit, though his K rate isn't far out of line with the rest of his career. The ERA and OBA are high, but that's a function of playing in Colorado Springs -- granted, his ERA is higher than it's been the past two years at triple-A, but the Sky Sox defense probably isn't what it was the past two years. He's going to start one game of Monday's doubleheader, when the Rockies will see if he's worth giving another shot in the bigs.

Justin Hampson
Age: 25
Current level: Triple-A
ETA: If he were a righty, never
Stats: 20 starts, 4-11, 6.19 ERA, 75/57 K/BB in 109 IP, .294 OBA
This lefty, I've heard some discuss him as a potential starter for the Rockies next season, but I'm not seeing it. The hit rate and ERA are similar to Young, but the K/BB rate is pretty dreadful (way too many walks.) I guess he could have some use to the Rockies as a lefty specialist or something.

Mike Esposito
Age: 23
Current level: Triple-A
ETA: Maybe 2006
Stats: 21 starts, 7-5, 5.46 ERA, 64/31 K/BB in 117 IP, .308 OBA
He's never been a big strikeout guy, and the K rate this season isn't that good, though his walk rate is lower than Hampson's, and he IS young for the league. I like Young better due to the K rate; in Esposito's case, it indicates he could struggle in the majors, but he could also be an effective finesse righty. Maybe a bullpen guy in the future.

Part two coming up sometime soon.

Series preview: Rockies vs. Diamondbacks

2005-08-05T14:13:00.000-06:00

After a rare road series win, the Rockies travel to Arizona tonight, where they'll begin a three-game series with the Diamondbacks.

Getting the call for the Rockies are Aaron Cook tonight, Jeff Francis on Saturday, and Jamey Wright on Sunday. Cook got hammered in his first start back from injury last Saturday, surrendering seven runs on eleven hits in an 8-7 loss to the Phillies. I don't really know what to expect out of him tonight, but he's going against Brandon Webb, who's bounced back from last season to post a 9-8 record and a 4.04 ERA (although, strangely, his ERA is up almost half a run from last season, when he was 7-16.) Webb's pretty hittable, giving up more than one hit an inning and a .280 opponents' average. He's also 2-6 in his last ten starts, and the Diamondbacks are 2-8 in those games.

Francis, who's come on strong lately (5-2 in his last eight starts), takes the mound on Saturday. In his last start, he threw six shutout innings, giving up only four hits and striking out eight. However, that was as day/home Jeff Francis; this is a night game on the road. The Diamondbacks counter with Mike Gosling, a lefthander who's made four starts this season, though has yet to pick up a decision in any of those starts. Anyway, he's got a 2.11 ERA as a starter this season, which is reason to worry, but his K/BB rate indicates that he may just be getting lucky.

Jamey Wright goes on Sunday as he's rumored to be headed to San Francisco. Why the Giants want him, I don't know, but it would give the Rockies a chance to put next year's starting rotation in place by moving Jason Young into the #5 spot for the rest of the season. Road Jamey Wright, though, has been pretty good for us this season, so we've got a chance. Claudio Vargas, the Diamondbacks' Sunday starter, has been surprisingly effective since being traded from Washington, with a 4.19 ERA and 50 K's in 58 innings.

Working in the Rockies' favor is the Diamondbacks' offense, which, um, isn't that good. Put simply, when Tony Clark is the most consistent hitter on your team, you know things are bad. Clark is batting .329 with 18 homers and 55 RBI, though, so the Rockies should watch for him. Or pitch around him, since there really aren't a lot of threats on the team. Chad Tracy's been solid, but the Diamondbacks are currently doing a juggling act with him, Clark, and Conor Jackson, who are basically all first basemen. Tracy's really a third baseman, but the Diamondbacks have Troy Glaus swallowing millions of dollars and striking out about once per game over there. He does have 22 homers, though. Luis Gonzalez and Shawn Green are all right, with 15 and 16 homers, respectively, though nowhere close to being worth what the Diamondbacks are paying them.

And then, there are the guys up the middle. The Diamondbacks' catchers, Koyie Hill and Chris Snyder, actually manage to make J.D. Closser look good by comparison. The D-backs have also given Royce Clayton 343 AB's this season, despite the fact that he was actually a worse hitter than Aaron Miles at Coors Field. Craig Counsell has been Craig Counsell, and he's gotten 397 AB. Alex Cintron was pretty good in 2003 but hasn't been the same since. And there's that ugly platoon of Quinton McCracken and Luis Terrero out in center.

I'm going to be bold and predict a three-game sweep for the Rockies. Then again, when I predict good things for the Rockies they never come to pass...

Outfield prospect review, part three

2005-08-05T14:00:00.000-06:00

What the heck, I've got nothing to do until the Rockies game, so how about finishing this off?

With short-season and rookie ball guys, there's really not a lot to go on other than what they're doing right now. With that in mind, here are the five best in the outfield, based on potential and performance.

Travis Becktel
Age: 22
Current level: Short-season A
Stats: .364/.465/.538, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 4 SB, 2 CS in 143 AB
What troubles me most about Becktel is that his stats at San Jose State weren't anywhere close to this. During his senior season, he hit .317 with 4 homers in 224 AB. There's some speed here, though, and perhaps he's just made some adjustments. But I need to see more.

Michael Paulk
Age: 21
Current level: Short-season A
Stats: .286/.383/.397, 2 HR, 20 RBI in 126 AB
There was more to be excited about with Paulk than with Becktel coming out of college: he hit .330 with 12 homers at Cal State Northridge in '05, though this was a dropoff from his sophomore season in which he batted .356 with 17 homers. Paulk's stats aren't great right now, though the Northwest League is a pitcher's league and Tri-City a pitcher's park.

Daniel Carte
Age: 21
Current level: Short-season A
Stats: .212/.290/.347, 3 HR, 9 RBI in 118 AB
Carte was probably the best of these three in college, hitting .344 with 19 homers at Winthrop. But the Big South isn't really a major conference, and he's having some trouble adjusting after being the Rockies' second-round pick this season. I don't like the stat line at all. But, like with Becktel and Paulk, I need to see more before I can really make a judgment about this guy. Just as it's not fair to judge Becktel after a hot start, it's not fair to judge Carte after a slow one.

Dexter Fowler
Age: 19
Current level: Rookie
Stats: .297/.366/.436, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 10 SB, 3 CS in 101 AB
Nice numbers from Dexter, our 14th-round pick in '04 who was lured away from a commitment to Miami and made his debut this season. Fowler is high on a lot of prospect lists based on his potential, and the stats justify that somewhat. Still, I'd like to see him at higher levels (this seems to be a common theme in this thread.)

Cole Garner
Age: 20
Current level: Rookie
Stats: .270/.309/.520, 9 HR, 32 RBI in 152 AB; 56 K (!), 5 BB
Nice power, but his plate discipline is horrendous. I can really see that hurting him at higher levels.

Series preview with the D-backs up in a bit (yeah, I'm actually doing one of those.)

Outfield prospect review, part 2

2005-08-05T13:05:00.000-06:00

You can see a preview of our postseason top 30 (or maybe even top 40; not sure what I'm going to do yet) over on Purple Row. There will probably be some shifting between now and the end of the season. I'm particularly watching recently-signed Kyle Hancock on the mound. On to the outfield prospect review, part two, for the double-A and A-ball guys.

Tony Miller
Age: 24
Current level: Double-A
ETA: 2006?
Stats: .257/.382/.432, 14 HR, 46 RBI in 373 AB; 97 K, 70 BB, 21 SB, 10 CS
In the minors, Tony has shown both power and speed, with 56 homers and 130 stolen bases, as well as the propensity to strike out a lot -- about one per every 4.09 ABs. There's a lot to like about Tony, but also quite a bit to dislike. He's only 5'9", 180, which doesn't hold well for his ability to hit for power at higher levels (though Coors will help.) He's also repeating AA this season, and his average has dropped from .275 last season. I'm not sure what to expect from Tony at the major league level, if he makes it, but he's an interesting prospect.

Sean Barker
Age: 25
Current level: Double-A
ETA: Unknown
Stats: .263/.319/.453, 12 HR, 62 RBI in 369 AB; 99 K, 27 BB, 12 SB, 6 CS
Basically Miller with less speed and more power potential, but at 25 time's running out. I don't see him showing up on many prospect lists.

Jud Thigpen
Age: 24
Current level: Double-A
ETA: Maybe 2006
Stats: .304/.379/.450, 4 HR, 27 RBI in 171 AB at Modesto; .282/.338/.473, 5 HR, 18 RBI in 131 AB at Tulsa; .317/.349/.488, 0 HR, 2 RBI in 41 AB at Colorado Springs
Not sure what to make of this guy, an undrafted free agent out of Delta State in Mississippi. He showed some nice power at Tri-City last season, and in three levels this season he's hit nine homers. Made the jump from Modesto to Colorado Springs because Jeff Salazar was hurt, then dropped down to Tulsa in favor of Ryan Spilborghs. Thigpen's probably a backup outfielder, but he could easily surprise us. I really like his numbers.

Jordan Czarniecki
Age: 24
Current level: Double-A
ETA: ?
Stats: .318/.426/.524, 6 HR, 23 RBI in 170 AB at Modesto; .239/.301/.358, 2 HR, 6 RBI in 67 AB at Tulsa
Jordan seems to be flaming out at Double-A.

Seth Smith
Age: 22
Current level: High-A
ETA: 2008
Stats: .305/.351/.472, 7 HR, 57 RBI in 413 AB
The homers aren't there (yet), but Seth does have some pretty nice power potential (38 doubles) and the ability to hit for average. Doesn't strike out a whole lot, about once per 4.85 AB, but doesn't walk all that much either. I like this guy, and he could eventually supplant Matt Holliday in left, maybe sooner than 2008.

Joe Gaetti
Age: 23
Current level: High-A
ETA: 2008
Stats: .327/.409/.527, 16 HR, 68 RBI in 300 AB
Gary's son hits for good power and good average, but his strikeouts are troubling (90 in 300 AB's.) There's some speed there, too, but I'm not entirely sure what to expect.

Matt Miller
Age: 22
Current level: Low-A
ETA: ?
Stats: .338/.377/.585, 26 HR, 89 RBI in 429 AB
He hit .269 with 8 homers in 167 AB's at Tri-City last season, so I'm not sure if this is just a function of the park or if Matt is really this good. He's killing the ball right now and though he's probably too advanced for the Sally League, it's the Rockies' fault (not his) that he's still playing there. I'd like to see more of him at higher levels before I get too high on him.

There's also Justin Nelson at Asheville, who hasn't shown me much other than homers, and he IS a lefty hitting at McCormick Field on that one.

Part three on the short season prospects, probably Sunday, followed by the pitchers (that'll be a long one.) Expect to hear about Becktel, Paulk, and Carte at Tri-City, and Fowler and Garner at Casper.

Cardinals game review (and why the Rockies aren't the Cardinals)

2005-08-02T20:51:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I'm a Rockies fan. The Cardinals are team #2, primarily due to location and the fact that, well, just about everybody around here is a Cardinals fan (except for the Cubs fans, and that's just plain sad.) I went to a Cardinals game last night and noticed quite a few differences.

The biggest difference between the Rockies and the Cardinals is the fan base. Okay, St. Louis isn't a large market; enough of the "large-market" bull. St. Louis, population-wise, is comparable to Milwaukee or Pittsburgh, not New York or Boston. The St. Louis metro area is smaller than Denver.

What the Cardinals have, though, is a large and dedicated fan base. The game last night was very close to a sellout (over 43,000 in attendance.) And this is with ridiculous ticket prices, which I've commented on before. The cheapest tickets in the ballpark are $12, and there are very few of those -- they were sold out on Saturday for Monday's game. Bleacher seats are $16. Upper deck seats sell for $22; loge seats in the infield (where I was seated) go for $36 (hey, I felt like splurging.) Yet, people still come out to the ballgames.

What's more, they're virtually all Cardinals fans, unlike the people in attendance at Rockies games. Now this changes when the Cubs are in town (since St. Louis is a short drive from Chicago) but on a night when the Cards were playing the Marlins, there were maybe a handful of people in attendance who were visibly supporting the visitors. This is a far cry from the game I attended at Coors Field last summer, when the Braves got more cheers than the Rockies (except, of course, when Mike Hampton came to the plate.) Management gets it, too -- the Cardinals team store carried pennants of other NL teams, but everything else in there was Cardinals gear. The Rockies, on the other hand, have guys outside the stadium carrying around gear for the team that the Rockies are playing that day.

Now, St. Louis is perhaps the best baseball town in America, so this is probably an unfair comparison for the Rockies. But the differences are vast. The loyal fan base that comes out in near-sellout numbers for the Cardinals gives management a nice amount of money to spend. What's more, St. Louis fans are convinced that their management actually cares about winning, unlike Rockies fans, who are convinced that management is more concerned with keeping payroll down and turning a profit than putting a winning team on the field (and they're probably correct.) Heck, if fans in Denver thought that the Rockies were trying to put a winning team out there, they'd probably support the team. Denver fans support the other three teams in the city.

A big disadvantage for the Rockies, by the way, is the fact that Denver has had huge growth in the past few decades, as opposed to St. Louis, which has grown slowly. Why is this a disadvantage? Well, put simply, people who live in St. Louis or the surrounding area (and the Cardinals have a large fan base in southern Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and west Tennessee) are likely to have grown up somewhere in the lower Midwest, and have probably been lifelong fans of the team. People who live in Denver are likely to have grown up somewhere else and grew up with loyalties to another team.

However, it's not to say that the Rockies can't overcome this disadvantage. And it's not to say that the Rockies can't cultivate a fan base. The Rockies, like the Cardinals, are in a situation where they're the closest major league team for a large portion of the country (Wyoming, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, parts of the Great Plains -- granted, there aren't many people in these places.) The Rockies have the right idea by having a radio network that covers several states, but as far as I know, the Rockies don't have fans who regularly drive hundreds of miles to see their team (the Cardinals do -- I was not the only one who had done it for last night's game.)

But this really starts with management. Cardinals management is committed to winning, and their fans know it. This is why the Cardinals get so much support, and so much revenue. In St. Louis, going to a Cardinals game is a cool thing to do. In Denver, going to a Rockies game isn't a cool thing to do. Rockies management, while they may be committed to winning, seems to be more committed to cutting payroll, playing for the future, and generally alienating their fan base by turning out losing teams year after year while blaming forces beyond their control (altitude, market, etc.) Considering that the Rockies still draw around 26,000 fans per game even with the worst record in baseball, you'd think that they would be making some money. Where's that money going? It ought to go to putting a winning team out there. If fans in Denver will come out in those numbers for a losing team, the Rockies would probably draw just as well as the Cardinals do if Rockies fans felt like their management was committed to winning.

That's all for my rant. Hey, I'm not buying the "small market" bull, and neither should any fan of the Rockies. Don't buy the "altitude" bull, either.

Rockies outfield prospect review, part one

2005-08-02T16:25:00.000-06:00

This will be a three- or four-parter, considering the number of guys we have out there (especially major league guys; Holliday, Hawpe, Sullivan, and Piedra will be reviewed) and the fact that I'm not going to divide them into center, left, and right field, particularly for guys in the low minors. I will note who apparently has the range to cover center field at Coors.

Brad Hawpe
Age: 26
Current level: MLB (currently injured)
Stats: .295/.368/.464, 8 HR, 39 RBI in 224 AB
The Brad is a special player to me, since I was at the ballpark for his major league debut (May 1, 2004.) His stats look like those of a guy we'd like to keep around; over 600 AB's in a season he'd be a 20-homer guy right now, and there's room for improvement. The most puzzling thing about Hawpe is the fact that Clint Hurdle tends to sit him against lefthanded pitching. Not only is this going to stunt his growth in all likelihood (he'll only get better against lefties by actually playing against them), but his stats against lefties aren't even that bad. In 23 AB's this season he's batting .261, with 1 homer and 5 RBI. Not bad. The other puzzle is his home/road split; he's batting .282 at Coors and .310 on the road. That one's just strange, but it just proves that he really is a good hitter and not just a product of his home ballpark. His defense has been better than advertised, too.

Matt Holliday
Age: 25
Current level: MLB
Stats: .309/.362/.492, 8 HR, 33 RBI in 246 AB
Holliday, on the other hand, is a product of his home ballpark. Matt's spent significant time on the DL this season, which accounts for his low number of AB's. While I'm not necessarily high on him, his age and his stats both indicate that he could have a couple of 30-homer seasons. The troubling thing, of course, is his home/road split -- .373 at Coors, .232 on the road. Holliday was never considered a premium prospect, though, and his season last year at Coors sort of came out of the blue. I'm not too high on Matt, but at this point he's our best option in left unless Larry Bigbie really starts to show something. Matt, by the way, hits lefties and righties about equally well, so there's no reason for a platoon.

Cory Sullivan
Age: 25
Current level: MLB
Stats: .282/.324/.350, 2 HR, 16 RBI in 206 AB
It's kind of sad that Cory isn't far behind Holliday or Hawpe in AB's this season, though that certainly has to do with the fact that the other two have been injured/sat against lefties (then again, Cory rarely plays against lefties, either.) He's obviously getting the first crack at the job in center field with Wilson gone, and while he's looked decent there are holes. No power, of course, and while he's no Aaron Miles, 12 walks in a third of a season (yes, I know it's the end of July; his AB's are about a third of a season though) is not good for a leadoff man.

Jorge Piedra
Age: 26
Current level: MLB
Stats: .306/.353/.452, 1 HR, 5 RBI in 62 AB
Unfortunately, minorleaguebaseball.com removes a player's stats once he's promoted to the majors from what I can tell, so I can't give you his stats at triple-A. Jorge basically seems to be an outfield 'tweener: not enough range to cover center, not enough power to play a corner. That translates to a nice career as a fourth or fifth OF.

Ryan Spilborghs
Age: 25
Current level: Triple-A
Stats: .341/.435/.525, 6 HR, 54 RBI in 255 AB's at Tulsa; .314/.368/.514, 2 HR, 16 RBI in 105 AB at the Springs; .500/.500/.500 in 4 AB at Coors
The major league stats are meaningless, but there's a little potential here. He's been hitting well this season; the caveat is that he was a 25-year-old at double-A, is playing at a hitter's park in triple-A, and hasn't hit higher than .281 for a season in his minor league career before this season. Heck, he only hit .338 his final year at UC Santa Barbara. He hasn't shown a lot of power, and so it's hard for me to think of him as much more than a backup at the major league level.

Jeff Salazar
Age: 24
Current level: Triple-A
Stats: .278/.381/.410, 6 HR, 35 RBI in 266 AB at Tulsa; .278/.371/.407, 1 HR, 11 RBI in 108 AB at Colorado Springs
ETA: 2006
A lot of people consider Jeff the Rockies' center fielder of the future, though his stats look like Cory Sullivan with a little more power and a little bit more propensity to draw walks. Of course, power and the ability to draw walks are the difference between Cory being a defensive sub and Cory being a good everyday center fielder, so there's something to that. I still like Cory, but I'm starting to expect Jeff to be the Rockies' starter on opening day in center. Heck, he could take the job in September.

Choo Freeman
Age: 25
Current level: Triple-A
Stats: .288/.346/.444, 9 HR, 52 RBI in 295 AB
... of course, Choo was widely expected for several years to be the Rockies' center fielder of the future. That hasn't happened, and probably won't. At age 25, his star as a prospect has fallen quite a bit, and while he's having a pretty good season at triple-A, the Rockies have clearly soured on him as both Sullivan and Salazar are ahead of him in competition for the starting job with the big league club. And he won't hit nearly enough to be a corner outfielder. What's more, his speed has pretty much gone out the window; he's 4-for-6 on stolen base attempts this season. And his potential to cover center field at Coors adequately is iffy.

J.J. Davis
Age: 26
Current level: Triple-A
Stats: .282/.359/.546, 12 HR, 31 RBI in 174 AB at New Orleans; .235/.300/.392, 2 HR, 10 RBI in 51 AB at Colorado Springs; .231/.286/.231, o HR, 2 RBI in 26 AB at Washington
J.J. seems to be the definition of quad-A outfielder. For three years running he's been killing pitchers at triple-A, but hasn't done anything at the big-league level. Part of that can be blamed for not getting an opportunity -- but a lot of it can be placed on J.J.'s awful plate discipline. He's struck out 70 times in 65 games at triple-A this season. That's the difference between him being a solid major league slugger and a quad-A guy.

RD2006: Trade season review

2005-08-02T13:19:00.000-06:00

The trade deadline has come and passed, and with it, Preston Wilson, Shawn Chacon, Joe Kennedy, Jay Witasick, and Eric Byrnes.

Rox Girl over on Purple Row pointed out that I haven't posted a review of the entire trade season, and that's true. My general opinions on our trades haven't changed with the time needed to let them sink in. I might have a better opinion on the Byrnes-for-Bigbie deal (granted, I already like Bigbie) if we'd been able to ship him to Boston for Shoppach and Stern. But that didn't happen.

The big problem I have with this trade season is that we didn't get a lot of starting pitching help. Zach Day is about as good as it gets. Ramon Ramirez and Eduardo Sierra project as middle relievers at best, organizational soldiers at worst. What we did get are a couple of outfielders (already have plenty of those) and a shortstop (have plenty of those, too.) Quintanilla is at least defensible since he's already in the majors as opposed to Tulo and Nelson, who are a couple of years away. Davis and Bigbie crowd the already crowded Rockies outfield even further, and neither one of them can cover center field adequately at Coors.

The Rockies obviously get worse in the present. We lose our reliable eighth-inning guy, and while Kennedy and Chacon weren't great, the replacements for them are not an improvement. Cory Sullivan is a big dropoff from P-Dub on offense (okay, Sullivan is a decent leadoff man.)

For the future, it's unclear how the Rockies made out. Wilson's salary is gone, but that would have come off the books after the season regardless. Now there's no chance of Chacon getting a big salary increase in arbitration, but it's not like he was pitching great. Kennedy, who could have (theoretically) bounced back in 2006, is probably replaceable. Witasick would have helped anchor the late innings if he'd been re-signed for '06, which was apparently the Rockies' plan.

The current RD2006 projections (Opening Day):

Lineup
Sullivan cf
Barmes ss
Helton 1b
Holliday lf
Hawpe rf
Atkins 3b
Quintanilla 2b
? c

Bench
Some backup catcher
Shealy
Miles
Gonzalez
Bigbie
Davis

There's the obvious hole at catcher; I'm tempted to stick Chris Iannetta in there even though I know he's not ready yet, though the Rockies could conceivably sign a free agent in the offseason (Ramon Hernandez?) Holliday gets the nod over Bigbie because I doubt the Rockies would want three lefty-hitting everyday outfielders. I still like Sullivan over Salazar, though that could change. Still, I like our lineup heading into 2006 better than I liked it in 2005.

Starting rotation
Jennings
Cook
Francis
Day
Young

Bad. When Jason Jennings is your number one starter (and he will be; Francis is still young and Cook is still recovering, and the Rockies have learned not to sign big-name free agent pitchers... or at least we hope) you know you're in trouble. The top three are solid though nothing spectacular, especially if Jason Jennings is in his mid-2005 form, Cook is in his pre-injury form, and the Rockies take my suggestion to have all of Francis's home starts be in day games. Day and Young could be pretty good, but could also go 6-15 with ERA's somewhere around 8.

Bullpen
Fuentes (closer)
Tsao
Acevedo
Dohmann
?

After those four, I don't know. I get the suspicion that the Rockies will keep Fuentes as the closer in '06 due to his effectiveness in that role and Tsao's injury history. Acevedo and Dohmann will be coming out of the bullpen somewhere. The last two or three spots will be decided in spring training. I didn't include Marcos Carvajal since the Rockies are reportedly going to send him to Tulsa or Colorado Springs to work on becoming a starter.

So there you have it, your 2006 Colorado Rockies. At this point it doesn't look really good, but then again, the division sucks.

Trade deadline update

2005-07-31T16:04:00.000-06:00

The trade deadline has come and passed without the Rockies making another move. Larry Bigbie is still a Rockie, thanks to a spectacular backout by the Red Sox (whom Dan O'Dowd promises not to deal with again.)

Still, this weekend did see some significant roster changes. The Rockies' roster today looks nothing like it did a month ago. Brad Hawpe, Todd Helton, and Jason Jennings are all on the disabled list now. Matt Holliday, Aaron Cook, and Jose Acevedo returned from the DL. Shawn Chacon came off the DL, made a couple of starts, and was traded. So, too, were Preston Wilson, Joe Kennedy, and Jay Witasick. Desi Relaford was designated for assignment. Eric Byrnes came over in the Kennedy/Witasick trade, then was dealt to Baltimore two weeks later for Bigbie. Anderson Machado spent all of ten days on the Rockies roster; the Rockies designated him after claiming him off waivers from Cincinnati, as apparently they didn't have a use for him even as a utility infielder. Ryan Spilborghs came up when Hawpe was hurt and went back down when Holliday returned.

The new Rockies are just as numerous. There's Zach Day, acquired in the Preston Wilson trade, first used as a reliever, then sent to Triple-A, now expected to replace Shawn Chacon in the rotation when he's ready. The Rockies also signed reliever Mike DeJean. David Cortes and Eddy Garabito were both sent down, then returned to the major leagues within the month. Aquilino Lopez and Randy Williams were the most recent bullpen callups.

Now, the Rockies also have Omar Quintanilla, just called up when Desi was DFA'ed, who came over from Oakland in the Kennedy trade. Ryan Shealy was called up when Helton got hurt, and is currently playing first every day. Jorge Piedra is the Rockies' fifth outfielder with Hawpe on the DL.

Dustan Mohr and Aaron Miles still grace the Rockies' roster. However, with Q and Bigbie around, I'm expecting their roles to diminish. Clint Hurdle is realizing now what every Rockies blogger and fan has realized for the past two years: Aaron Miles sucks. Miles batted seventh on Friday and Saturday, then was out of the lineup on Sunday as Q made his debut (and Luis Gonzalez was shifted over to second.) Hopefully, Gonzalez, Garabito, and Q will continue to take playing time away from Miles. It's a far cry from when Desi and Machado were the backup infielders and Miles really was the best option.

Mohr will be around at least as long as Hawpe is hurt. And he'll probably stick around once Hawpe is back, since that would leave Holliday as the only righty-hitting outfielder (unless the Rockies call up Spilborghs to replace him.)

No updates tomorrow; I'm going to St. Louis to end my MLB withdrawal (haven't been to a game this season.) Plus it's the last season of the current Busch Stadium. Not that Busch comes anywhere close to Coors Field. Coming on Tuesday: outfield prospect review, part one (finally!) and an update on RD2006, once my head is clear on who's actually playing for the Rockies now.

ANOTHER trade?!?!

2005-07-29T23:23:00.000-06:00

Tonight, the Rockies traded Eric Byrnes to the Orioles for Larry Bigbie. Has Dan O'Dowd lost his mind?

Well, probably not, though I am wondering if we're just trading everybody. This is actually a good trade. On the surface, it's basically trading a fourth outfielder for a fourth outfielder. Bigbie, however, has a fourth OF's salary (unlike Byrnes.) In addition, Bigbie hits lefthanded and has 30-homer potential, particularly at Coors Field. He hit 15 in 2004 while batting .280, and that was in a few AB's shy of 500. Bigbie is probably a better left fielder than Matt Holliday, although he's two years older, and having both corner outfielders requiring a platoon (Bigbie's stats against lefties are what Clint Hurdle thinks Brad Hawpe will do against lefties; he's been better in 2005, but the sample size is small) is a bad idea.

Bigbie could have a breakout season in '06 for the Rockies, something like .300-30-100. Or he could be dealt, and in that case he'll draw better prospects than Byrnes would have. Good trade on the Rockies' half.

And we may not be done yet. The trade deadline is 39 hours away, and Dustan Mohr is still wearing a Rockies uniform.

What were they thinking?

2005-07-29T13:37:00.000-06:00

I know I'm supposed to be doing minor league reports and prospect reviews right now, but I'm lazy and haven't been getting around to doing either. Besides, right now there's a more pressing matter.

The question posed in the title of this post is the question on the mind of every Rockies fan this morning. The Rockies traded Chacon to the Yankees for a couple of prospects, Ramon Ramirez and Eduardo Sierra. I've never heard of them, either. Ramirez ranks #19 on John Sickels' ranking of the Yankees' prospects (and the Yankees' farm system isn't that deep.) Sierra doesn't even make the list. Neither would come close to our top 20.

Evidently, the Rockies have given up on this season (okay, they gave up on this season in mid-April) and are trying to get rid of whatever parts they can get something for. Well, except for Brian Fuentes. But in the past two weeks, the Rockies have traded P-Dub, the Patriarch, Witasick, and now Chacon, and in return have gotten a decent starting pitcher, a triple-A shortstop, a fourth outfielder, a quad-A outfielder, and two mediocre pitching prospects.

In the case of Chacon, he wasn't pitching that well and was being paid more than Wright, who isn't pitching well either but at least wasn't costing the Rockies that much. I don't like the trade, though. From the Rockies' standpoint, they needed to move somebody -- either to the bullpen or to another team -- with Cook returning and Zach Day and Jason Young ready at triple-A, although with Jason Jennings now finished for the season, they may have actually needed another insurance option. But what happens now?

In the short-term, Jose Acevedo takes Chacon's spot in the rotation, or at least he's starting today. Day is considered to be the most likely to be the replacement for the rest of the season. He's not a better pitcher than Chacon, and he's roughly the same age. Same goes for Jason Young (although I think Young is a year younger than Chacon.)

In the long-term, the Rockies get more payroll flexibility for next season; with Chacon eligible for arbitration, the Rockies probably didn't want to risk an increase in his $2.4 million salary. But with Wilson, Johnson, Hampton, Neagle, etc. already off the payroll for 2006, why exactly do the Rockies need to let Chacon go?

Now, this is what the Rockies' starting rotation will probably look like on Opening Day 2006:

Jennings
Cook
Francis
Day
Young

Not a rotation that strikes fear into the hearts of opponents. Bad trade, though we should probably wait a while to make that judgment for certain.

Quick update

2005-07-27T13:58:00.000-06:00

No MLR's for the past few days... if you need to know how our minor leaguers are doing, Purple Row usually has 'em. Work's been bogging me down lately, but we'll start back tonight.

Also coming tomorrow, we'll begin to look at the Rockies' outfield prospects (there are a bunch of 'em -- this will probably be a three-parter.) After that, the pitchers, and at the end of the season I'll have rankings of all our prospects.

If you haven't noticed, the Rockies are only 13.5 games out of first place in the West. Now, that has as much to do with the teams in front of them (I'm looking at you, San Diego, losers of eight in a row) but it's also showing the kind of hope we should have for the future. If the Rockies are this bad, and yet they're only thirteen games out of first place, the future could be bright. What's more, the Rockies, with all their young players (and even more on the way) will more than likely get better, while the Padres, with their aging hitters (Nevin, Giles, Klesko, Loretta, etc.) only have a small window, the Diamondbacks' albatross contracts will keep them from getting much better, and the Giants are even older than the Padres. The Dodgers do have a lot of talent on the way from their farm system, but who knows when those players will be ready?

Even a non-Rockies optimist could see the Rockies as contenders as early as 2007 -- or 2006, if we're really lucky. Heck, if everybody else in the division keeps losing and the Rockies get on a hot streak, we could even be a threat in 2005! (Okay, I'm dreaming. But whatever.)

Sad news of the week: I actually signed up for one of those team credit cards. (Yes, it's a Rockies card.) Sad news of the week, part 2: My hair is now bleach blond.

Rockies shortstop prospects review

2005-07-22T14:41:00.000-06:00

The Rockies' farm system is loaded at shortstop. Each one of the guys manning short above short-season ball looks like he's going to be a major leaguer. This could present a problem, except that, in my opinion, shortstops are generally easier to move than any other position player. Being loaded at shortstop isn't a bad thing. A lot of great players came up as shortstops and then were moved elsewhere once they reached the majors (or before.) Since shortstop is such a key defensive position, oftentimes clubs will move a shortstop who can hit but who isn't a great fielder away from the position. So keep in mind that while all four of these guys could reach the majors, they probably won't all be shortstops by the time they get there.

Omar Quintanilla
Age: 23
Current level: Triple-A
ETA: 2006
Stats: .389/.450/.444, 0 HR, 1 RBI in 18 AB at Colorado Springs; .293/.347/.395, 4 HR, 25 RBI in 294 AB at AA Midland
We got a useful prospect here from the Joe Kennedy trade, so that's something good. Omar looks like a guy who could hit for a very good average with decent power in the major leagues. Most likely, I could see him as the Rockies' second baseman next season... that is, if the Rockies' front office comes to the conclusion that Aaron Miles sucks at that point.

Matt Macri
Age: 23
Current level: Double-A
ETA: 2007
Stats: .283/.381/.443, 7 HR, 34 RBI in 244 AB at Modesto
Macri's been hurt basically since being called up to Tulsa to make room for Tulowitzki. And he's not a shortstop. Originally, he was moved there because of Ian Stewart's presence on the Modesto roster, but I'd expect him to be back at third, or in the outfield, if and when he makes it to the bigs. He can hit homers, but his K rate is a bit unnerving.

Troy Tulowitzki
Age: 20
Current level: High-A
ETA: 2007
Stats: .262/.340/.500, 2 HR, 7 RBI in 42 AB at Modesto
Tulo hasn't been bad, so there's no reason to worry about him just yet. He's still adjusting to the minor leagues, and high-A ball is a pretty big jump from the Big West. I'd expect him to start hitting the ball really well either this year or next. He may be the best of our prospects available at short.

Chris Nelson
Age: 19
Current level: Low-A
ETA: 2008
Stats: .236/.294/.342, 2 HR, 22 RBI in 161 AB at Asheville
The stats don't really support the hype, but Chris has battled injury problems all season. If he's not the Rockies' shortstop of the future, then he at least fits somewhere in their long-term plans. I really wouldn't be surprised if he isn't ready for the bigs until 2009 or 2010, particularly if injuries continue to set him back. I also wouldn't be surprised to see him repeat low-A next season, but then he could get hot down the stretch, too.

MLR: July 21

2005-07-22T11:53:00.000-06:00

I must have missed something, as suddenly the Sky Sox are winning games. It was 7-4 last night, with Jason Young getting the W to improve his record to 9-5 (as he continues to make a case that he should be in the Rockies rotation in 2006.) Ryan Shealy and Jeff Pickler had two doubles each; Young even helped himself out with an RBI single. Although Young's ERA is bad (a function of playing at altitude more than anything else), his peripherals are those of a pretty good pitcher.

Tulsa beat Arkansas, 5-2, despite getting only five hits (three Travelers errors certainly helped.) Arkansas starter Willie Collazo surrendered four runs, all unearned. Sandy Nin got the win for the Drillers.

Stockton beat Modesto in a slugfest, 8-7. Michael Davies went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI. Five other Nuts -- Stewart, Smith, Colonel, Gaetti, and Herrera -- each drove in runs, but it wasn't enough to get a win.

Asheville lost a real slugfest, 15-9, to Rome. Jake Postlewait got shelled, giving up seven earned runs in an inning of work. On the other hand, Matt Miller hit two homers and improved his average to .347, while Joe Koshansky added his 23rd homer.

Tri-City lost 14-6 at Spokane. James Sweeney hit his second homer of the season.

Casper wasted a pretty good start by Alan Johnson in a 5-1 loss. Johnson, who's been solid this season, struck out five over six innings while giving up just one run, but the offense couldn't score and the bullpen ended up blowing it.

MLR: July 20

2005-07-21T10:30:00.000-06:00

Crack open the champagne! The Rockies win a series on the road for the first time this season, and it's against the NL East-leading Nationals at that.

It's kind of funny that I keep reporting on the Rockies in the minor league report, considering that the rest of the country pretty much considers the 2005 Rockies a triple-A ballclub. The real triple-A club won 5-4 over Las Vegas as Aaron Cook inched closer to a comeback with a solid six innings, striking out five, though he did give up three runs on nine hits.

Tulsa lost to Arkansas, 5-3. Emmanuel Ulloa struck out eight in six innings but took the loss.

Modesto beat Stockton, 8-5, as the Nuts' offense pounded out fifteen hits, including two homers off the bat of Chris Iannetta (his tenth and eleventh of the season.) Seth Smith, Joe Gaetti, and Christian Colonel each had three hits. That was enough to back Juan Morillo, who surrendered only one run over six innings and struck out eight, although he did issue six walks.

Joe Koshansky hit his 22nd homer of the season in Asheville's 3-2 win over Charleston. Franklin Morales provided yet another solid outing from a Rockies pitcher, striking out six over six innings, though he got a no decision.

Tri-City lost to Vancouver, 3-2. The offense didn't really do much.

Finally, our guy Kyle Blumenthal hit his second homer as Casper won, 9-6. Chaz Roe got rocked a bit but fortunately the offense was good enough that it didn't matter much. Corey Wimberly nabbed his fifteenth stolen base of the season (in about a month of action!)

I'm back!

2005-07-20T06:16:00.000-06:00

I'm finally back from Vegas after NO updates to the blog, due to the Riviera's addle-brained policy of making you pay $10.95 a night for wireless Internet access (for which my computer is not equipped) and actually making dialup impossible. The Rockies, of course, had to go out and make two trades (and several other roster moves) while I was gone.

First, there was the Preston Wilson trade, which had been discussed since April but actually happened last week, with Wilson going to the Nationals in exchange for Zach Day and J.J. Davis. Day is coming out of the bullpen right now, but could be in the Rockies' rotation in 2006 with Kim unlikely to be back. Davis is a decent corner OF prospect who's a little too old to project as much at the major league level, but there are thoughts that he could be as good as Wilson.

Then the Rockies traded Joe Kennedy and Jay Witasick to the A's for Eric Byrnes and Omar Quintanilla. Um, what? The Rockies traded a 26-year-old lefthander with some upside and their second-best bullpen guy this season for a fourth OF and a future utilityman. I don't get it. This doesn't really help the team, either now or in the future.

The Brad goes on the DL and the Rockies called up Ryan Spilborghs for a few days to replace him, although Spilborghs went back down when Matt Holliday returned. Currently, the Rockies have (count 'em) four guys who are probably no better than fourth or fifth OF's in their big league outfield -- maybe five, depending on your views on Holliday. Sullivan, Piedra, Byrnes, and Mohr, as much as we'd like to think otherwise, probably are no better than backups even when in their prime. But I could be wrong.

Anyways, RD2008/2006 projections go out the window now. Witasick figured to be a key part of the Rockies' bullpen in 2006. Instead, he's a part of the A's bullpen for their current playoff push. More updates later, but it's back to work today.

Wilson to the Nationals? Plus minor league report

2005-07-08T16:54:00.000-06:00

The Rockies dig themselves in a 5-0 hole and then come back to beat the Dodgers, but that pales in comparison to the news that came about today, that Preston Wilson was reportedly traded to the Nationals for Zach Day and J.J. Davis. Now the man that reported it, Ken Rosenthal, is the same person who reported that Tim Hudson had been sent to the Dodgers this offseason, and Peter Gammons is reporting that the deal fell through. I'm not terribly excited about the trade, though it would give us another starting pitcher in case we trade one of our current ones.

Colorado Springs beat Fresno last night, 4-3, behind a solid outing by Jason Young (although he did walk five batters...) and, oddly enough, three RBI by Dan Conway. Young's rather high walk rate is the only thing that troubles me this season; his strikeout rate is good, and while his ERA isn't great, he is playing in Colorado Springs, and that's not exactly a major league defense behind him.

Tulsa's hitters whiffed nine times in seven innings against Springfield Cardinals pitcher Chris Lambert in a 4-2 loss. Seth Barker provided the only hint of offense with his tenth homer of the year.

Modesto lost to Visalia, 4-2. Uh, yeah... the Nuts' offense was absent as well.

Asheville beat Augusta, 4-2 (there seems to be a pattern here) as Samuel Deduno had a strong outing, going six innings, striking out seven and giving up only one run on four hits. He did walk four though. Dustin Hahn hit his fifth homer of the year.

Tri-City beat Salem-Keizer, 4-1, which is to be expected since Sugar Shane Lindsay was pitching for the Dust Devils. Lindsay struck out nine batters in six innings, while walking only two and giving up four hits. For those of you scoring at home, that's 41 strikeouts in 23 innings of work this season. Phillip Cuadrado drove in three runs with a pair of doubles.

The Casper Rockies' offense was absent as well in a 5-1 loss. Xavier Cedeno took the loss.

Minor League Report: July 6

2005-07-07T11:07:00.000-06:00

Time for the daily minor league report. By the way, there probably won't be any of these for a while starting the 11th. I'm going to Vegas. And I'm driving... whoop-dee-doo. I'm a control freak, LOL.

Colorado Springs won, 17-7, thanks in large part to a ten-run fifth inning (which countered Sacramento's seven-run fourth.) Wilton Chavez got rocked, but Zach McClellan pitched three scoreless innings for the win. Jeff Pickler had four hits, Ryan Shealy and Tim Olson had three each. Tomas Delarosa hit his first homer of the season.

Tulsa lost to Springfield, 9-2, as Zack Parker got rocked and the offense, aside from Corey Slavik (who hit a two-run homer, his eighth) seemed to forget that there was a ballgame last night. In the "It's about time" department, Jordan Czarniecki made a pinch-hit appearance in his double-A debut, striking out. Then again, with Barker, Miller, and Thigpen I have no idea where Jordan fits in the Drillers outfield. Maybe they'll DH him, I don't know.

Modesto beat Visalia, 6-1, behind six solid innings from Juan Morillo, who allowed five hits and struck out two. Joe Gaetti went 3-for-4 with his fourteenth homer of the year.

Asheville won 7-6 as Matt Miller hit his 16th homer and Chris Nelson had a 2-for-4 day at the plate, plus a stolen base.

Tri-City lost 6-3 last night. Ummm... it really says something when five of your starting position players are batting below the Mendoza line. I know it's early, but still...

Casper lost to Orem, 6-0. Our guy even went 0-for-3 with a passed ball. Bad night.

In other news, Rox Girl over at Purple Row has a review of the youngest prospects in our organization (scroll down.) It's interesting to think about. Guys who are among the youngest guys on the team in the minors are usually guys to watch for as they're generally ahead of the learning curve. That's not to say a 25-year-old at double-A can't ever have an impact on a major league team, but a 20-year-old at the same level is likely to have more potential. Or he's being rushed. Either way...

Minor League Report: July 5

2005-07-06T13:48:00.000-06:00

The Rockies get a nice win last night as Franchise pitched another good one. Shawn Chacon makes his return to the big-league club tonight. Considering how he's pitched at the Springs, that may not be a good thing, but we'll see if he's really ready to come back.

On to the minor league action... I probably don't really need to tell you that Colorado Springs lost, 3-1, to Sacramento. Jose Acevedo made a rehab start and gave up a run in two innings, taking the loss. Justin Hampson did strike out seven in six innings, though. Jeff Salazar also made his debut for the Sky Sox, going 1-for-3. Ryan Shealy provided the only run with his fourteenth homer of the year. It's about time for the Rockies to decide what they're going to do with Shealy. Could he be traded before the deadline?

Tulsa got another great pitching effort, this one from Sandy Nin, who went the distance, giving up two hits and striking out four. The Drillers got a homer from Alvin Colina, his eighth of the year, and an RBI double from Jud Thigpen, who's still hitting over .300.

Modesto won, 7-4, as Aaron Cook made another rehab start and Jordan Czarniecki hit his sixth homer of the year. Czarniecki also had a double and two walks, raising his average to .318. Chris Iannetta also went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI. Cook went five innings and struck out five, while giving up only one run to get the win. Jim Miller got his 20th save.

Tri-City got a 7-4 win over Salem-Keizer behind a grand slam by Phillip Cuadrado, his second homer of the season. Buzz Vargas got the win, striking out four over five innings.

And in the Pioneer League, the baby Rockies got a 5-3 win over Orem thanks in large part to a two-run homer in the tenth inning by our guy Kyle Blumenthal, though his struggles behind the plate had him playing first base. Corey Wimberly had three hits, raising his average to .444. Alan Johnson went five innings and struck out six, though he ended up with a no decision.

That's all. All eyes will be on Shawn Chacon tonight, making his return. I have no idea who the Rockies will send down; the Rockies website still lists Chacon as being on the DL.

Minor League Report: July 4

2005-07-05T11:20:00.000-06:00

Disappointing loss for the Rockies last night. We could have won that one... in fact, I think we should have won it. So what about the minor leaguers?

Colorado Springs lost their Fourth of July home game to Sacramento, 14-6. Christian Parker, who was pretty dominant at Tulsa, got rocked, giving up five earned runs in 5.2 innings. Tom Wilson homered for the second game in a row, and Elvis Pena went 4-for-5 with two doubles.

In Tulsa, the Drillers only managed five hits, but beat Arkansas 3-0. It helped that three of those five hits were home runs off the bats of Jud Thigpen, Tony Miller, and Seth Barker. It also helped that Emmanuel Ulloa shut down the Travelers for six innings, giving up two hits and one walk while striking out nine. On the season, Ulloa's got 38 strikeouts in 41.2 innings.

Modesto won a slugfest with Visalia, 12-11. Chris Iannetta went 3-for-5 and was a double shy of the cycle; Jordan Czarniecki and Ian Stewart also homered. Stewart's average is now up to .256 -- and he doesn't seem to be whiffing nearly as much as he did earlier this season.

Asheville lost to Augusta, 9-7, despite homers by Matt Miller, Joe Koshansky, and Kyle Wilson. Miller and Wilson both had three-hit nights.

Tri-City lost to Salem-Keizer, 10-6, as James Freeman managed to walk six batters in three innings and the Dust Devils made four errors. Michael Paulk and Daniel Carte both hit their first homers, though.

Casper lost to Ogden, 12-3. Luke Sargent homered for the Rockies.

Rockies third base prospects review

2005-07-04T16:08:00.000-06:00

Continuing around the diamond, we come to third base, perhaps the deepest position in the Rockies' farm system (maybe shortstop is deeper.) Anyway, the current talk centers around what to do with Garrett Atkins once Ian Stewart is ready, probably a year or two down the road. However, that doesn't even take into account the other depth the Rockies have at the hot corner. There's Jeff Baker, who filled in for Atkins at the beginning of this season when he was hurt. There are also Corey Slavik and Dustin Hahn. Also, Matt Macri was there before this season, but he was moved to short because of Stewart's presence at third in Modesto.

So here's the rundown.

Garrett Atkins
Age: 25
Current level: Majors
Stats: .309/.368/.471, 7 HR, 36 RBI in 204 AB; 29 K, 18 BB

Garrett's the first guy to get a crack at the starting job, and he's done a good job, showing himself to be a pretty good major league hitter. This isn't out of line with his minor league career; in the minors, he hit .317/.400/.475. He was mostly a doubles hitter in the minors and started to show a little more home run power in the high minors, but didn't project as a significant power source. Project his current numbers over a full season, though, and you have a 20-homer guy. Not bad, and he's more likely than not to improve on that as he gets older and develops a power stroke. His defense hasn't been great at third, but it's been adequate, and it's been better than advertised. At the very least, Garrett's a good filler until Stewart is ready; at best, he could hold down the hot corner for the next few years. Or he could move to first when Stewart is ready in the case that Helton is traded. Anyway, that's a decision that's at least a couple of years off. His home/road splits are a bit troubling, though; he's hitting .412 at home but .215 on the road.

Jeff Baker
Age: 24
Current level: Triple-A
ETA: 2006 (he got a cup of coffee earlier this season though)
Stats: .292/.375/.461, 2 HR, 12 RBI in 89 AB; .211/.302/.395, 1 HR, 4 RBI in 38 MLB AB

Baker's time in the major leagues earlier this season showed that he was probably a year away from being ready, and injuries have set him back a bit. His minor league numbers are better than Atkins's, and a good second half will press the Rockies to make a decision this offseason. Baker is a .300 hitter for his career in the minors and showed good power both at Clemson and in the low minors. Over the offseason, Baker is a prime candidate to be moved, either to another position (second or left, perhaps) or to another team for pitching. Atkins is hitting too well at present for Baker to push him aside, but Baker may have more upside. Anyway, that's a decision for this offseason, and a poor second half by either man would make the decision a bit easier for the Rockies brass.

Ian Stewart
Age: 20
Current level: High-A
ETA: 2008 (being conservative here)
Stats: .251/.339/.427, 6 HR, 36 RBI in 211 AB; 54 K, 28 BB

This is really troubling for our #1 prospect, though in his defense he had to deal with injuries to start the season and he's very young for the Cal League, so there's not a lot of reason to be worried yet. It does set his ETA back a bit; there was talk that he might be called up this September and could be ready by Opening Day 2006. Instead, he's still a prime prospect but is probably closer to two or even three years away. He destroyed the Sally League last season, hitting .319 with 30 homers and 101 RBI. But he seems to have taken a step back this season, as his hitting numbers are down and he's made 15 errors. I'd still say he's one of the best prospects in all of baseball, but there's reason to be worried. If his defense doesn't come around, he could be moved, maybe to a corner outfield spot.

Others
Corey Slavik and Dustin Hahn sort of get lost in the shuffle at third for the Rockies. Slavik's numbers really aren't that impressive at double-A, and he's the same age as Atkins, a year older than Baker and five years older than Stewart. Hahn hits for a good average but not a lot of power, even at Asheville, and is two and a half years older than Stewart. And I'm still waiting to see more of Phillip Cuadrado.

Series preview: Rockies vs. Dodgers

2005-07-04T13:33:00.000-06:00

The Rockies surprised just about everybody by splitting a four-game series on the road against the Cardinals, and they'll look to take that momentum into a four-game home series against the Dodgers. I'm predicting a four-game sweep... for the Rockies.

Why? Just take a look at the Dodgers' injured list. Eric Gagne is out for the season. Milton Bradley is out. Jose Valentin is out. Wilson Alvarez is out. J.D. Drew just broke his wrist and while he's not on the DL, he probably won't play or won't be 100 percent if he does play. Odalis Perez, who's been out since May 15, will make his return in this series.

In the infield, Jeff Kent and Cesar Izturis are all-stars, but they're joined there by Mr. Inconsistent, Hee Seop Choi, and Mike Edwards (who?) With Drew out, the Dodgers will send an outfield to Coors Field consisting of some combination of Jayson Werth, Jason Repko, Cody Ross, and Jason Grabowski. None of those are center fielders. I predict a lot of Coors Field singles, doubles, and triples for the Rockies in this series.

Starting pitching hasn't been a strength for the Dodgers this season. In this series, they'll send Jeff Weaver, the returning Perez, Brad Penny, and Derek Lowe to the mound. It looks like a good rotation on paper, but the stats tell a different story. Weaver may be the most overrated pitcher in baseball, as he consistently underperforms each season. Brad Penny has been solid this season, but he's not winning ballgames -- that says more about the run support he's been getting than anything (see offense, above.) The same thing can be said for Lowe, but he's been very hittable this season -- opponents are batting .284 against him, and he's 0-4 in his last five starts. And Yhency Brazoban hasn't exactly been nailing things down in the bullpen.

What's more, it seems like the Rockies are finally learning how to win. Their 28-52 record at roughly the halfway point in the season indicates that while they're still bad, they're not going to make a run for the Mets' record, and might even avoid losing 100 games (who would have thought that a month ago?) The Rockies' 12-15 record in June was actually the best in the NL West. They even won a pair on the road this weekend. Todd Helton has remembered how to hit again, though his 11-game hitting streak came to an end yesterday. Garrett Atkins has been good. Preston Wilson is boosting his trade value every day.

Tonight the mighty Kim goes against Weaver. Decision time is coming for the Rockies, as both Shawn Chacon and Aaron Cook are close to being back, and somebody will either have to be traded or moved to the bullpen. Even though he's been solid as a starter and was atrocious as a reliever, I'm thinking Kim will be the one to move to the bullpen, since he and Wright fit least into the Rockies' future plans among the current starters. He could also be traded. Anyway, Weaver's been a bit homer-prone this season, and that's not good for a pitcher who's about to play in Colorado.

Francis, Kennedy, and Wright will be our other starters. Francis and Wright are coming off excellent starts. Kennedy, not so much, but he did have a good one against the Royals last Sunday and the Dodgers offense really isn't that much better.

Minor league report: July 3

2005-07-04T13:09:00.000-06:00

Happy Fourth of July to everybody. Well, all the American readers anyway. Rockies played a heck of a series this weekend in St. Louis and came away with a series split -- amazingly, that's only the second one of those on the road we've had this season. No road series wins, though, but that should change -- and it could have changed if Aaron Miles hadn't booted that ball in the fifth yesterday. Anyways, the Rockies are back at home against the Dodgers for the next four, series preview coming up in a bit. First, though, a report from the farm.

Colorado Springs beat Tacoma, 11-9, in 12 innings, behind homers from Ryan Shealy (13th), Tom Wilson, and Ryan Spilborghs (first). The two Ryans are batting .322 and .324, respectively. As you could probably guess, the pitching wasn't spectacular; Mike Esposito went five and a third and gave up six earned runs; Scott Randall got the win in relief, but he walked three batters.

Tulsa won in U-ball's double-A debut, 8-4 over Arkansas. U-ball wasn't great, striking out four and walking four over five innings, while giving up four hits and three earned runs. Luckily for him, the Drillers put five runs across in the first inning to give him the win. Jeff Salazar had three hits.

Modesto beat San Jose, 4-1, with three runs in the ninth inning to give Jason Burch his seventh win of the season. Burch came on in relief of Marc Kaiser, who posted seven strong innings giving up one run and striking out six. He was helped by four double plays turned by the Nuts' defense. Joe Gaetti hit two doubles and drove in one run. Jim Miller picked up his 19th save.

Asheville got slaughtered by Greenville, 14-1. Um, yeah. Justin Nelson hit a homer.

Tri-City beat Boise, 8-6, as Zach Simons picked up his first win and Brian Kirby and Michael Milliron homered. For Kirby, it was his fourth homer, though he's batting .235 and may not really have a position.

Casper shut out Ogden, 6-0. Cole Garner hit his third homer and drove in three runs; Dexter Fowler also hit his first homer. Aneury Rodriguez got the win for the Rockies with five shutout innings.

Rockies second base prospects review

2005-07-02T13:57:00.000-06:00

Before I begin this section: Aaron Miles is not a prospect. Most in the Rockies blogosphere are in agreement that Miles is a quad-A guy who for some reason is not only starting at second for the Rockies, but batting leadoff (he's not right now, but knowing the Clint he'll be back there within a week or two.)

This is partly because Jayson Nix hasn't developed as expected (see below.) I'm no insider, but I think O'Dowd and company were assuming Miles would be a holdover until whenever Nix was ready, which was expected to be mid-2005, 2006 at the latest. Instead, Nix is still at double-A.

This is also in part because of the continued screwing of Luis Gonzalez (who I will include here; he can really play a number of positions but second seems to make the most sense for the Rockies.) Even when Miles and Barmes were hurt, Gonzalez for some reason wasn't playing every day. Granted, Eddy Garabito was hitting well, but why is Gonzalez being used as a super-utility guy when he's better than some of the every day players he replaces?

I will place Aaron Miles's stats here for the sake of comparison.

MLB stats (2005): .286/.297/.377, 1 HR, 15 RBI in 154 AB; .361 BA at home, .197 on road
MLB stats (2004): .293/.329/.368, 6 HR, 47 RBI in 522 AB; .308 at home, .277 on road

.297 OBP for a leadoff man is just awful. It was slightly better last season, but when you can count on one hand the number of times your leadoff man has walked on the season, you're really in trouble. His BA isn't bad, but as you can tell, it's mostly a mirage created by his home field. He goes from at least remotely useful at home to completely useless on the road. Why is this guy playing every day?

What's more, at 28, 2004 may actually have been Miles's peak. Making this even more mind-boggling are these numbers:

Luis Gonzalez MLB stats (2005): .272/.319/.401, 3 HR, 14 RBI in 147 AB; .243 at home, .301 on road
MLB stats (2004): .292/.330/.469, 12 HR, 40 RBI in 322 AB; .373, 4 HR at home, .245, 8 HR on road
Age: 26

12 homers in roughly half a season equates to about 20-25 homers if Luis played every day. Considering he didn't hit for much power in the minors, it's easy to write off his power as a product of playing at Coors Field -- except that two-thirds of his homers last season were hit on the road. And his defense isn't an issue -- in 276 total chances last season he made exactly two errors, and he's made one error this season (at short.) Luis isn't much better than Aaron at drawing walks, though. Still, he deserves better than to get most of his ABs as a utilityman when the guy on second is actually worse than him. And Luis is two and a half years younger, too, so he's more likely to improve on what he's doing right now.

Jayson Nix
Age: 22
Current level: Double-A
ETA: Who knows?
Stats: .220/.270/.337, 5 HR, 28 RBI in 273 AB, 13 errors (yikes!)

Nix's lack of development is probably the prime reason that Aaron Miles is currently playing second base for the Rockies. In 2003, he hit .281 with 21 HR and 86 RBI in Visalia, prompting everyone to label him the Rockies' second baseman of the future. Then he hit a roadblock when he reached Tulsa, hitting .213 last season. The power was still there, as he hit 14 homers (given park/league context, that's not a dropoff), but his average dropped off enormously, and he still isn't hitting much this season. My best guess is that poor plate discipline is undermining Jayson; while he hit .281 in Visalia in '03, he struck out 131 times in 137 games. At that low of a level, that probably should have thrown up a red flag, or at least a caution flag. While he still has some power, it really isn't enough to justify carrying a guy with a .220 average. His plate discipline actually seems to be getting better, as he's only struck out 48 times in 72 games this season. Still, he appears to have a lot of work to do to get to the majors.

Jonathan Herrera
Age: 20
Current level: High-A
ETA: 2009, maybe?
Stats: .310/.333/.384, 0 HR, 5 RBI in 87 AB at Asheville; .250/.294/.313, 0 HR, 3 RBI in 64 AB at Modesto

Apparently he's good enough that the Rockies have decided to push aside Randy Blood (who really wasn't much of a prospect) to play him at high-A. His age makes him somewhat intriguing, and he's actually shown a little power in the past. Still, how much power do you expect a 5'9", 155-pound middle infielder to hit for in the big leagues?

Jason Van Kooten
Age: 20
Current level: Short-season A
ETA: It's a while off
Stats: .297/.350/.486, 1 HR, 3 RBI in 37 AB

Those stats are really meaningless (after all, it's only 37 AB) but I like the guy based on what he did last season. He had a bit of trouble adjusting to the Northwest League last season, though he did well at Casper after being a draft-and-follow out of Seward County CC. He's a wait-and-see kind of guy, though, but he should earn a promotion to Asheville if he continues to hit well.

Corey Wimberly
Age: 21
Current level: Rookie ball
ETA: Wait and see
Stats: .375/.432/.475, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 6 SB/1 CS in 40 AB

The key here is age; Corey is old for the Pioneer League and is older than both Van Kooten and Herrera (and not much younger than Nix.) He probably won't develop much power at 5'8", 180, but power isn't his game anyway. You can easily see him as a good leadoff man in the future with his speed and ability to hit for contact, but he needs to show both in higher levels first.

Minor League Report: July 1

2005-07-02T13:39:00.000-06:00

Been a couple of days on these... anyways, everybody's back in action now, so it should be interesting.

Colorado Springs lost (as usual), 9-0. The Sky Sox only managed four hits, while Shawn Chacon got rocked (and he thought he was ready to come straight back to the Rockies.) Chacon gave up four earned runs, though he did strike out five in five innings.

The offense was even worse for Tulsa, which managed just one hit in a 4-0 loss to Arkansas at home. Somebody named Joe Saunders shut down the Drillers for nine innings. Zack Parker took the loss, but it really had nothing to do with how he pitched; three of the four runs he surrendered were unearned, and it's really hard to win when your offense gets one hit for you. However, he gave up seven hits and struck out only two in eight innings, so I wouldn't say he dominated.

Good news for Modesto as Tulo connected for his first homer, a two-run shot in the fifth inning, that provided all the offense the Nuts would need as they beat San Jose 4-1. Tulo also added a double in support of Juan Morillo, who went seven innings and gave up one unearned run. He only struck out two, but his K rate for the season is still good. His walk rate, on the other hand... not so much. Jim Miller picked up his eighteenth save in the win.

Asheville won 6-2 behind homers from Neil Wilson and Dustin Hahn and a solid outing by Ryan Mattheus, who struck out five in seven innings to get the win, improving to 3-3. Chris Nelson went 2-for-4 as his average slowly continues to rise (he's up to .232 now.)

Tri-City lost at home to Boise, 5-2. David Patton struck out five in five innings but also gave up four runs, all earned, and took the loss. Jason Van Kooten homered for the Dust Devils.

Casper lost to Orem, 10-5. Not a lot to report.

I'm thinking I'll do a look at our second base prospects today since I unexpectedly got off work early. Probably better today than tomorrow -- the Rockies game is on TV here (though I'll have to listen to the Cardinals broadcasters call it...)

Tap the Rox Tonight: Game 78 -- Kennedy vs. Carpenter

2005-07-01T14:43:00.000-06:00

So much for the four-game sweep. Hey, I'm not complaining.

What the hell happened last night, anyway? Franchise wins a start at night, on the road, against the best offense in baseball. And he didn't just win, he shut them down. Meanwhile the offense showed up, too, meaning that Francis didn't have to win something like 2-1. The offense pounded out 13 hits and scored seven runs. However, most of those hits came off Suppan, so with Carpenter on the mound tonight they probably won't come. And I doubt the Cards' offense will be MIA two nights in a row.

Carpenter has just been excellent this season, particularly recently. He's 3-0 in his last three starts, going the distance in two of them and going eight innings in the third. He's struck out 29 and walked only three, and given up a measly nine hits in 26 innings. And one run. An "off night" for him this season seems to be going six or seven innings, giving up three runs, and at least giving the Cardinals a good shot to win assuming the offense shows up. The Cards are 12-4 when they give the ball to Carpenter. He strikes out about one batter per inning, and his WHIP is an incredible 1.12. Opponents are hitting just .235 against him.

I probably overestimated Suppan when I predicted a sweep; opponents are hitting close to .300 against him and he's only 7-7. In reality, Suppan is roughly what most of the Rockies' starting pitchers would be if they pitched at Busch. Kennedy was fine in his last outing, but I think facing the Royals helped him out quite a bit.

I'm going to continue predicting Rockies losses, because apparently they go out and lay an egg whenever I predict a win, but my prediction that they'd get swept seems to have fired them up. And since it's against the Cardinals, the game will be on the radio for me to listen to while I'm driving around tonight.

Series Preview: Rockies at Cardinals

2005-06-30T12:10:00.000-06:00

You want scary? The 2005 Cardinals are probably better than the 2004 Cardinals.

Look at it this way:

Starting rotation
2004: Chris Carpenter, Woody Williams, imposter Matt Morris, Jeff Suppan, Jason Marquis, (Danny Haren)
2005: Mark Mulder, Chris Carpenter, the real Matt Morris, Jeff Suppan, Jason Marquis

Mulder is better than Williams or Haren any way you slice it. The Cardinals also benefit from a return to form by Morris, who played hurt in 2004 and still won 15 games despite being mediocre at best, but has been dominant in 2005 (note: the Rockies pitching staff would probably all win 15 games if they had the Cardinals offense behind them.) Those two, plus Carpenter, who's been lights out in 2005, give the Cardinals virtually three #1 starters. Then you have Suppan and Marquis, who would be a #2 and #3 starter, respectively, for most teams but are the fourth and fifth starters for the Cardinals (and either one would be the #1 starter if they played for the Rockies.)

Bullpen
2004: Jason Isringhausen, Ray King, Julian Tavarez, Steve Kline, Kiko Calero, Cal Eldred
2005: Izzy, King, Tavarez, Eldred, Brad Thompson, Carmen Cali, Al Reyes

This is the one area in which the Cardinals actually are worse than in 2004. Izzy was great in '04 and is great again in '05; that hasn't changed. The bullpen took a hit with the losses of Calero as part of the Mulder trade and Kline to free agency. Now the second lefty in the 'pen is Carmen Cali, who was recently called up from Triple-A. King's ERA has dropped from 2.61 to 2.45, but strangely his OBA has gone from .197 in '04 to .262 in '05. Batters are hitting .333 against him with RISP; the ERA may be misleading as he's probably allowing quite a few inherited runners to score. Eldred has spent most of '05 on the DL. Tavarez has been solid, but like King his OBA has jumped a bit. Sadly, after Isringhausen the most consistent guys in the 'pen may be 35-year-old junkballer Al Reyes (2.15 ERA, .173 OBA) and 23-year-old finesse righty Brad Thompson (2.05 ERA, .169 OBA.) Still, as their stats attest they've actually been really damn good this season, and the bullpen is solid for the Cards. What's more, it's usually pretty well-rested as each of the Cardinals' starters averages better than six innings per start.

Infield
2004: Mike Matheny, Albert Pujols, Tony Womack, Edgar Renteria, Scott Rolen
2005: Yadier Molina, Pujols, Mark Grudzielanek, David Eckstein, Rolen

An improvement. Pujols is Pujols, and Rolen struggled at the start, then went on the DL, but he should be fine. Molina basically gives the Cardinals what Matheny did behind the plate, plus he can hit a bit (which Matheny can't.) Grudzielanek is better even than Womack's incredible 2004, and he's much, much better than Womack is this season. Eckstein isn't an improvement over Renteria, but he's a great leadoff man (think Aaron Miles if he drew walks and hit at places other than Coors Field) and he's at least a passable defensive shortstop.

Outfield
2004: Reggie Sanders, Jim Edmonds, flavor of the day in left (before the Walker trade)
2005: Sanders, Edmonds, Walker

I went to a three-game series at Busch last July and the Cardinals used three different left fielders in the series (John Mabry, Marlon Anderson, So Taguchi.) Walker, even in 2005, is better than any of those guys, and he has the added benefit of putting Sanders in left since Sanders really doesn't have a strong enough throwing arm for right. Edmonds is great as usual, Sanders is having an incredible season at age 37 (.286, 17 HR, 40 RBI, 13 SB), and Walker, though he's been hurt, has been decent. Improvement.

Bench
2004: Yadier Molina, John Mabry, Marlon Anderson, So Taguchi, Hector Luna, Ray Lankford
2005: Einar Diaz, Mabry, Taguchi, Luna, Abraham Nunez

Pretty much a wash. Any of the players on the Cardinals' bench would probably start for the Rockies, though. Think about it: Diaz has proven himself to be an adequate major-league catcher, which JD Closser has not. Mabry plays the same position as Helton, but he can also play a number of other positions, and the Rockies would find a spot for his bat. With Holliday hurt, Taguchi would start in left (look at his stats this season before you slam me: .270, 4 HR, 20 RBI in limited action.) Nunez would hit at least as well as Aaron Miles if he played at Coors, and would be an improvement defensively (heck, he's hitting .314 without the benefit of Coors.) Luna is basically the Cardinals' version of Luis Gonzalez: a supersub who can play anywhere on the field. The difference is that the Cardinals are actually justified in using Luna as a utilityman because he's not better than any of the guys he replaces.

When the other team's #5 starter is better than your #1 starter (who the hell is our #1 starter, anyway?) and the other team's bench players would start for your team, you know you're in trouble. My optimistic side is telling me that the Rockies could take one game, but my realistic side is telling me that it's probably going to be a sweep. Just look at the pitching matchups.

Thursday: Franchise vs. Suppan (it's a night game, and it's on the road; that's all you need to know)
Friday: Kennedy vs. Carpenter (Kennedy pitched well in his last start, but these are the Cardinals, not the Royals)
Saturday: Wright vs. Marquis (okay... we have a chance here)
Sunday: Jennings vs. Mulder (Mulder has strangely been inconsistent; if his twin brother Mike shows up and "Jeremy" shows up for the Rockies, this could be good)

Rockies first base prospects review

2005-06-30T11:54:00.000-06:00

Or, guys who are perpetually blocked by Todd Helton.

Considering Helton is signed through 2011, a first base prospect for the Rockies would have to be really good and pretty young to be considered the Rockies' first baseman of the future. The Rockies have recognized this, as there are really only two legit prospects at first in the system. Other first basemen the Rockies have drafted (Garrett Atkins, Brad Hawpe) have been moved to other positions, with success in both cases. This is the opposite of the usual pattern, as all-hit, no-field prospects in other systems are often moved to first because of their hitting ability.

So we move to the two prospects in the system who are still at first.

Ryan Shealy
Age: 25
Current level: Triple-A
ETA: Uhh... well, he got a cup of coffee a week ago.
Stats: .326/.373/.577, 12 HR, 43 RBI, 15 BB, 43 K in 227 AB
MLB stats: .300/.391/.500, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K in 20 AB
Shealy's best value to the Rockies is probably as trade bait, since they really don't have much use for him. It's a shame, too, since he can clearly hit the ball. Only problem for him is that, at 6'5" and 240, he really can't play anywhere else in the field, and the Rockies have no DH. The obvious move would be to send him to an AL team who could DH him, or an NL team in need of a first baseman, in exchange for more prospects. He's killed the ball everywhere he's been; in three years in the minors he has 74 homers.

Joe Koshansky
Age: 23
Current level: Low-A
ETA: 2009
Stats: .311/.388/.599, 18 HR, 62 RBI, 30 BB, 72 K in 267 AB
Time to get off my high on Koshansky and give a realistic picture. The guy's power numbers are nice, but Asheville is rated as the best hitter's park in all the minors by Baseball Prospectus, so that's certainly helping his numbers a bit. He killed the ball at Tri-City last season, too, but also struck out 84 times in 66 games. His K rate is down a bit this season but it's still not where I would like it, particularly at such a low level. And he's probably too advanced for the Sally League. This is a case where I'd really like to see the guy moved up a level to see if he's for real, or if this is just a mirage. On the good side, he has a good body for a big-league slugger (6'4", 225) and if he can get his K rate down he could be a useful player. Still, he'll be 29 when Helton's contract expires.

Others: Most of the guys playing first for the Rockies' minor-league teams are either non-prospects or guys who normally play other positions but are playing first out of necessity. Christian Colonel falls into that category, and while he's hitting .346 at Modesto right now, he hit .245 at Tri-City in 2003 and .249 at Asheville last season, so this may just be a fluke. Christopher Cook at Casper might be a nice prospect, but I'd like to see him above the Pioneer League first (yeah, that's a bit hypocritical since I reviewed Kyle Blumenthal, but Blumenthal is our favorite guy.)

Minor League Report: June 29

2005-06-30T11:46:00.000-06:00

Short report, as Colorado Springs, Modesto, and Asheville were off.

Tulsa beat Frisco, 5-1, behind a strong outing by Sandy Nin, who went the distance, striking out four and giving up one unearned run on six hits. Seth Barker hit his eighth homer and drove in four. Jud Thigpen is batting .412.

Tri-City lost to Vancouver, 3-1. Travis Becktel went 3-for-3, but unfortunately the Dust Devils only got one other hit.

Casper lost, 6-5, as Corey Wimberly hit his first homer.

Coming up: Review of the Rockies' first base prospects, and a series preview with the Cardinals.

Minor League Report: June 28

2005-06-29T10:28:00.000-06:00

Geez... I wrote the whole thing up and clicked "publish" and the server decided to crap out on me.

Choo Freeman hit for the cycle, our guy Kyle Blumenthal went 3-for-5, Ryan Shealy homered... what else do you want?

Okay, so I'm mostly just peeved that that happened, but whatever.

Longer minor league report tomorrow, as well as a series preview with St. Louis and perhaps a review of our first-base prospects (since there's a chance that I'll be taking my day off on Sunday and driving the four hours to St. Louis.)

Minor League Report: June 27

2005-06-28T11:26:00.000-06:00

This one's a bit short as Modesto and Asheville are off for All-Star breaks. Tough loss for the Rockies last night.

Colorado Springs ended a nine-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over Fresno. Mike Esposito got the W, although he wasn't terribly impressive, giving up ten hits over seven innings while striking out just one. Scott Dohmann pitched a perfect eighth in relief, with two strikeouts. As for the offense, Ryan Spilborghs came through with a pair of doubles and an RBI, and Jeff Baker went 2-for-2 and drove in a run himself.

Tulsa saw Thomas Diamond, Baseball America's #1 hottest prospect last week, making his first start at Double-A, as he struck out six and walked four in four innings. The Drillers ended up losing, 8-6, in extra innings. Jud Thigpen hit his first homer at AA as part of a 4-for-6 night, and Seth Barker homered as well (his seventh.)

Up in Canada, Tri-City beat the Vancouver Canadians (how original) 5-2. James Sweeney homered and Jason Van Kooten went 4-for-5. The real story, though, was Shane Lindsay, who had another great outing, scattering three hits over six innings while striking out ten. He ended up with a no decision for his efforts, however.

Casper lost 6-5 at Ogden. Cole Garner went 2-for-5 with 2 RBI; Xavier Cedeno was decent with 3's across the board in four innings.

Rockies catching prospects review

2005-06-27T12:05:00.000-06:00

Yeah, three posts on this blog in one day is unusual, but hey, it's my day off, and I don't really have much better to do. In various posts I'm going to go around the diamond and look at some of our various prospects.

A couple of things to consider when looking at our prospects... first of all, Asheville is the best hitter's park in all of the minor leagues, ranking right up there with Coors Field for effect on hitters. Baseball Prospectus considers Modesto and Tulsa pitcher's parks, Colorado Springs a hitter's park (though less so than Coors or McCormick), Tri-City a pitcher's park and Casper a slight hitter's park. That helps when evaluating some of our players' stats, and also helps explain why our hitters always see their stats suffer when they make the jump from low-A to high-A (though the Sally League is generally a pitchers' league and the Cal League is a hitters' league, but, whatever.)

I'll review some of our prospects, but won't look at non-prospects (i.e., organizational soldiers, or guys who are way too advanced for their respective league.) Some of the guys currently at the majors -- the "Gen-R" guys -- will be reviewed.

JD Closser
Age: 25
Current level: MLB (barely)
Stats: .203/.317/.309, 2 HR, 12 RBI in 123 AB
Uhh... yeah. He was supposed to be the guy this season, which is why the Rockies dumped Charles Johnson before the season started. That hasn't exactly happened, as you can tell from his stats and the fact that 30-year-old journeyman Danny Ardoin is playing ahead of him. But in roughly the same number of ABs last season, he hit .319. My guess is that JD is somewhere between the two, about a .260-.270 hitter, and his minor league numbers suggest that he'll have decent home run power (about 10-15 a year.) He doesn't really have enough ABs this season to be genuinely concerned about him, but I wouldn't be surprised if he went down to AAA once Greene comes off the DL. Besides that, he's drawing walks (21 this season, as opposed to 6 last season) and he seems to be hitting a bit better of late. He may not be the long-term solution that the Rockies thought he was last season, but he at least may need to hold down the fort for a while, considering the Rockies have no catching prospects in the high minors.

Chris Iannetta
Age: 22
Current level: High-A
ETA: 2008
Stats: .278/.396/.460, 6 HR, 40 RBI in 198 AB
Iannetta could be ready before 2008; I'm being a bit conservative here because while he's hitting pretty well he's not exactly killing the ball at high-A. Baseball America considers Chris the best defensive catcher in the Rockies' system (better than Closser), and while his stats aren't overwhelming, like Closser he could end up being a .260-.270 hitter in the bigs with decent home run power. His numbers were even better last season at Asheville (once again, that's a hitter's park.) I'd like to see him above A-ball before I really get excited though. Plenty of guys tear up A-ball only to see their dreams die at AA.

Kyle Blumenthal
Age: 22
Current level: Rookie
ETA: Who knows?
Stats: .410/.511/.557, 4 HR, 53 RBI in 183 AB (senior season at Cal Poly)
I've posted Kyle's college stats since his stats in six games at Casper are pretty meaningless. He's probably too old for rookie ball and I'd like to see him at least at low-A before I even begin to consider his potential, but I'm intrigued by the guy. Or I think he has a cool name. Anyways, he looks like he can hit (and he's a lefty) and handle a pitching staff (Cal Poly's staff ERA this season was 4.21, and the Big West is known as a hitter's league), so he could be pretty good, particularly for a 16th-round draft pick. Hey, I'm searching for guys besides Closser and Iannetta here...

Kyle Blumenthal, by the way, is now Tap the Rox's official favorite Rockies minor leaguer, replacing Joe Koshansky. Why? I have no idea. He's hitting .364 at Casper, though.

Others:
There's Dan Conway, a 25-year-old at triple-A who can't hit a lick. Alvin Colina, the 23-year-old double-A catcher, is a pretty good hitter, but the fact that Conway was playing catcher ahead of him before his promotion tells me he probably isn't a great defensive catcher (the Drillers were playing him at first to get his bat in the lineup though.) There are three catchers at low-A: the Wilsons (Kyle and Neil) and Nelson Robledo, of whom Kyle Wilson's .264 average is the best, but for some reason he only has 87 ABs this season (he's hit four homers, too.) Wilson did about the same thing in rookie ball last season, too.

So there you have it. Three real prospects at catcher, two if you don't count Blumenthal, who hasn't shown us much yet (.364 in 22 ABs at rookie ball doesn't count.) Next time I do this I'll look at our first basemen, or, a bunch of guys who have no hope at becoming big-league regulars for the Rockies unless they move somewhere else in the field.

Series Preview: Rockies vs. Astros

2005-06-27T11:59:00.000-06:00

Complaint of the day: I'm considering going to St. Louis for a game this weekend, but to my dismay, the equivalent of the $7 seats at Coors go for 22 bucks at Busch. Of course, considering the Cardinals could charge $10 more for those seats and still come close to a sellout just about every game, it's good business for them, but for a college student struggling for cash, it's ridiculous.

Complaint #2: I'll be in Denver sometime around July 18. Why in the world do the Rockies have to be out of town then?

Okay, considering we just played the Astros last week and not a lot has changed since then, I don't have a lot to write. They're pretty much the same Astros. Well, not really. The Astros have about the same home/road splits as the Rockies do. At home, the Astros are 24-13 this season; on the road, they're 9-27.

I'm not going to predict another sweep for the Rockies, though. The Astros send Clemens and Oswalt to the mound for games two and three of the series, so I'll be happy with two wins here and ecstatic with a sweep. In fact, two of the pitching matchups are identical to what we saw last week. Tonight, Jamey Wright (who's 0-11 lifetime against the Astros) goes against Wandy Rodriguez, and tomorrow Jennings takes the mound against Clements. On Wednesday, it'll be Kim against Oswalt.

Wright is our one starting pitcher who's better on the road than at home, though he does have the lowest ERA in our rotation. If the defense plays for him (he gave up three unearned runs in his last start) he should be fine, particularly since Wandy Rodriguez is, um, still adjusting to the big leagues.

At home, I still think we have a decent shot at taking two of three, though one of those wins would likely have to come against Clemens or Oswalt.

Minor League Report: June 26

2005-06-27T09:51:00.000-06:00

Wow, the Rockies swept the Royals this weekend. Let's hope for six in a row with the Astros coming to town.

Colorado Springs lost its ninth straight game, 15-2, to Fresno. Shawn Chacon, in his second rehab start, allowed six runs over five innings to take the loss. He did strike out four and walked none, though. Tim Olson hit a two-run homer, his eleventh of the season.

Tulsa was off yesterday; they resume action tonight at Frisco. And Modesto is off a few days for the Cal League All-Star Game.

Asheville lost to Hickory, 11-3, at home, as Samuel Deduno lasted only three innings and gave up four earned runs, though he did strike out four. By the way, I was reading Baseball Prospectus this weekend and they rank McCormick Field in Asheville as the number one hitter's park in all the minors. Its effect on hitters is about the same as Coors Field. So, we shouldn't be too troubled if our pitchers don't put up great stats there. But it does cheapen our hitters' stats a bit though.

Tri-City went north of the border and lost to Vancouver, 2-1. The Dust Devils managed only three hits on the game.

And finally, Casper lost at Idaho Falls, 14-1. Cole Garner provided the Rockies' only run with a solo homer.

RD2006: What's next?

2005-06-26T12:00:00.000-06:00

A lot of people are pointing to 2008 as the year that the Rockies could be contenders. But what will happen next season?

The Gen-R experiment doesn't appear to be going well on the surface, but I think the Rockies will be better next year even if they only make minor changes in the offseason. The rookies will be a year older, they'll have a year of major league experience under their belts, and we'll have an idea which guys are ready and which guys aren't. Here's a rundown of what the Rockies could look like next season.

Starting lineup

C: This is a question mark. The Rockies' current options are JD Closser, Danny Ardoin, and Todd Greene. Greene seems to have accepted his role as a backup catcher, and in his case being a year older is not a good thing. Ardoin, while he's hitting well right now and is by all accounts a good defensive catcher, is not a long-term solution at the position. Chris Iannetta, while he's probably the best catching prospect the Rockies have, is not going to be ready.

That leaves Closser, who was supposed to be the guy this year but has struggled at the plate. My guess is that his real value is somewhere between the .319 he hit after being called up last season and the .203 he's hitting this season, with decent home run power. He could be sent down to AAA once Greene comes off the DL, but my guess is that he'll be the opening day starter in 2006. The Rockies are unlikely to sign a free agent here, as there really aren't any catchers out there who would be a significant improvement over any of the guys we already have and wouldn't cost that much. Pencil in Closser, but realize that it could well be someone else if Closser doesn't start to turn things around this season.

1B: No questions here. Todd Helton is the guy. Ryan Shealy will probably be traded either this season or in the offseason for prospects or to fill another hole.

2B: Big question mark here. The Rockies' front office is convinced that Aaron Miles is a good player. Either that, or they were playing him under the assumption that Jayson Nix would be ready by opening day 2006, which looked like a real possibility at the beginning of 2004. Then Nix hit .213 at Tulsa last season and isn't showing much improvement this season, so my guess is that he won't be ready. Still, how long are the Rockies going to put up with Miles? Eddy Garabito is hitting well right now, but his minor league numbers suggest that he's probably no better than Miles. Luis Gonzalez is a solid option here, or the Rockies could look on the free-agent market (but, like catcher, second base is a thin position.) It doesn't look like Troy Tulowitzki will be ready by opening day, though he could potentially be up by the end of the season if he plays well. (Yeah, I know he's a shortstop, but Barmes is at short, and one of the two will move to second when Tulo is ready.)

SS: Clint Barmes, assuming no more venison-related incidents, will be here. Neither Tulo nor Chris Nelson will be ready by opening day, and I doubt Matt Macri will stick at short.

3B: Garrett Atkins will be here, which is a good thing. To me, he seems like a guy who will hit around .300 with decent power, with potential to break out and have a 30-homer season somewhere down the line. Jeff Baker is also an option, but he could be moved to the outfield or second or become trade bait. Ian Stewart will not be ready by opening day, though if all goes well he could be a September callup.

LF: A question mark, though not as big as catcher or second or center. Matt Holliday's been decent, but the Rockies have quite a few guys who could play here. Jorge Piedra could be good, but with Hawpe in right and probably another lefthanded bat in center, I think the Rockies will go for a righthanded power bat in left. Same goes for Cory Sullivan, who doesn't give the Rockies the power you'd like from a corner outfielder. Tony Miller, Ryan Spilborghs, or Jud Thigpen could get a shot in spring training, but I don't think Thigpen is ready and Spilborghs doesn't hit for a lot of power.

CF: With Preston Wilson gone, the Rockies will have open auditions starting sometime around July of this year. Choo Freeman will probably get the first crack at the job but I don't think he'll stick. More likely, it'll be Sullivan or Jeff Salazar here, though Salazar hasn't been that impressive at Tulsa this season. The Rockies might also have another outfielder from the Wilson trade by next season, too.

RF: The only question is whether or not Clint Hurdle will feel the need to platoon Brad Hawpe next season. If he does, Tony Miller could be the righthanded side of the platoon.

Starting pitching

Iffy. With Aaron Cook's injury and trade talk surrounding Chacon, Jennings, and Kennedy, and with BK Kim and Jamey Wright not likely to be with the Rockies next season, Jeff Francis is the only sure thing in the rotation, and he could be the ace by the end of the season. My guess is that of the three trade possibilities, only one will actually be traded, since the Rockies are not having a fire sale. My best guess is that it will be Kennedy, which would be a shame since he's got upside and he's probably not as bad as what he's showing this season. Jennings would be the smartest move, but even then, it's not like the Rockies have some guys at AAA or AA that we're excited about and that we want to plug into the rotation. Maybe Jason Young, but he's had his chances. Ubaldo Jimenez and/or Juan Morillo could be ready by the end of the season if all goes well, but they certainly won't be ready by opening day. So, just a guess, but our rotation in April could be Cook, Chacon, Francis, Jennings, Young. But it's another wait-and-see thing. If Kennedy or anyone else is traded, we could end up with some nice pitching prospects.

Bullpen

This could be a strength. Brian Fuentes and Jay Witasick have been good, and assuming both are back next season (if the Rockies are smart, both will be) the eighth and ninth innings will be solid. If Chin-hui Tsao is healthy, it could be even better. Jose Acevedo's been pretty good, and Marcos Carvajal will be in there somewhere. And something tells me that Scott Dohmann and Ryan Speier really aren't as bad as they looked in April of this year. Plus Jason Young is a possibility here if he isn't in the starting rotation. The Rockies' 2006 bullpen could be a good thing.

So there you have it, your potential 2006 Colorado Rockies. It looks to be like a team that could win 75-80 games, or maybe I'm just being overly optimistic. Starting pitching looks like it could be a problem, and that's not a good thing considering how hard it is to lure free agent pitchers to Coors Field.

Minor League Report: June 24

2005-06-25T14:37:00.000-06:00

In the Tom's personal life department, I got my LSAT score back today... made a 171. I'm stoked.

Anyways, onto the minor league action from last night... Colorado Springs lost what must be their fifteenth game in a row (I don't know, it seems like they never win) 7-3 at Salt Lake. Tim Olson and Jud Thigpen each had a three-hit night, and for Olson it included his tenth homer of the year. Thigpen is batting .317 at triple-A, although the sample size is pretty small. Justin Hampson struck out eight but also gave up seven runs.

Tulsa lost to Midland at home, 5-2, as the Drillers' offense managed only three hits. If you really care who got those hits, look it up. Matt Macri still hasn't played at double-A.

Modesto had a good offensive night, beating Lancaster 12-6. Ian Stewart went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs (and didn't strike out or make an error, either.) Seth Smith went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI and even threw in a stolen base for good measure. Steven Register wasn't great but he was good enough as he improved his record to 5-7.

In Asheville, Ching-Lung Lo got back on the winning track as the Tourists won, 13-6. Lo wasn't terribly impressive, surrendering five runs on eight hits, but he did strike out five over five innings while walking nobody. The offense saw Chris Nelson hit his first homer of the year as part of a 4-for-5 night (he's now hitting above the Mendoza line) and also got homers from Justin Nelson and Neil Wilson. I'm convinced Asheville is a hitter's park, though, so the numbers from Lo may not really be that bad.

Tri-City got shut down by Salem-Keizer, 6-1. The Dust Devils whiffed an incredible 16 times in the game.

Casper lost 8-5 to Idaho Falls. The offense churned out 12 hits but that wasn't enough. Christopher Cook hit his second homer in as many games. Early returns on Kyle Blumenthal are making him look like our next big catching prospect, but let's see how he holds up over an entire season (he may be too advanced for the Pioneer League as well.)

Tap the Rox Tonight: Game 71 -- Kim vs. Carrasco

2005-06-24T16:33:00.000-06:00

Blah.

I'm going to the double-A game here tonight so I won't be around for the game. There's not a lot to say about the two teams that I didn't mention in my series preview. Kim has been pretty good lately, but his most recent start reminded us that he is, in fact, BK Kim. Still, he's been better at home than on the road, so we should have a good shot at winning.

While the Royals aren't as bad as the Rockies are on the road, their 10-25 record away from the K is nothing to brag about, and the Rockies are actually playing .500 ball at Coors this season. Although some are suggesting that the Rockies should actively be trying to lose games against the Royals in order to help themselves get the #1 pick in next year's draft, I'm against that. It's not like we'd really be going wrong picking #3 or so. 2006 doesn't appear to have a Justin Upton-type player who will be far and away the best player available in the draft. Besides, if we're picking at that spot it will probably be behind the Royals and Devil Rays, who are infamous for making some dumb decisions when it comes to the draft.

Minor League Report: June 23

2005-06-24T14:47:00.000-06:00

Late minor league report... had a pretty short day at work, but I wasn't up early enough to give an update this morning.

The Sky Sox got spanked, 11-1, at Salt Lake, though Jud Thigpen had a good game, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. And I thought promoting him all the way to triple-A from A-ball was a bad idea. Denny Stark sucks, though.

Tulsa lost to Midland at home, 5-2. I have no idea why Matt Macri isn't playing for the Drillers yet. Anyway, Alvin Colina hit his sixth homer of the year. I don't know a thing about his defense behind the plate, but his offensive numbers look pretty good. Oh yeah, and Ryan Spilborghs went 2-for-3. Call him up to AAA already... it's not like the Sky Sox outfielders are doing much.

Ian Stewart was 3-for-4 with a homer and 2 RBI to power Modesto over Lancaster, 8-7. Troy Tulowitzki picked up his first hit as a pro, though he's still batting just 1-for-13 since his debut. Stewart's offense is beginning to come around, as his average is now up to .242.

Asheville lost to Kannapolis, 3-0, as Kannapolis got a good outing from lefthander Ray Liotta (hey, wasn't he in GoodFellas?) The Tourists managed only four hits on the night. Ryan Mattheus was decent for seven innings but he ended up taking the loss.

Tri-City got only two hits, but that was good enough to beat Salem-Keizer 3-0. Phillip Cuadrado got two more RBI, and Zach Simons was solid for four innings, though he didn't get the win.

Finally, Casper beat Idaho Falls in a 12-11 slugfest behind three hits apiece from Corey Wimberly and Steven Suarez, as well as a homer by Christopher Cook. The pitching... ummm... Rafael Sanchez pitched a scoreless inning and a third while striking out two to get the win.

Series preview: Royals at Rockies

2005-06-23T17:04:00.000-06:00

The Rockies return to Coors Field this weekend for a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals, who are sitting at 25-46 thanks to a recent hot streak under new manager Buddy Bell, though a three-game sweep at the hands of the White Sox cooled them a bit. It's unclear how much of an effect Bell has really had on this team. While the team is winning, they also overachieved under former manager Tony Pena in 2003, and Bell's track record as a manager doesn't really indicate that he's that good of a manager.

I'm really surprised that the Royals are not the youngest team in baseball, given the youth of many players on their roster. With top hitter Mike Sweeney on the DL, the Royals' starting infield consists of 22-year-old Justin Huber at first, 22-year-old Ruben Gotay at second, 27-year-old Angel Berroa at short, and 23-year-old Mark Teahan at third. Center fielder David DeJesus is 25, and left fielder Shane Costa is 23.

The youth is even more apparent on the pitching staff, on which only Jose Lima has reached age 30. The Royals are notorious for rushing prospects to the big leagues before they are ready, and nowhere is that more evident than 22-year-old pitcher J.P. Howell, a lefthander who was playing in the Pioneer League last season, and started this season in A-ball. Recently sidelined reliever Ambiorix Burgos (21) was called up from A-ball earlier this year, too. Two other 21-year-olds, starter Zack Greinke and reliever Leo Nunez, are on the pitching staff, as well as 6'10", 270-pound lefthander Andrew Sisco, a 22-year-old from Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

That said, despite their recent hot streak, the Royals really aren't a dangerous team, and the Rockies have a shot at sweeping them at home. The team's best hitter, Mike Sweeney, is on the shelf, and after him the next-best hitter is Emil Brown, who's a career .230 hitter and is probably playing way over his head right now. The Royals' offense has even fewer home run threats than the Rockies do, although it must be noted that the K is a pitcher's park.

The Royals' pitching is pretty solid, though their staff does feature a few ERA's that make Joe Kennedy look good. Friday night's starter, D.J. Carrasco, is 2-2 with a 2.56 ERA and a .241 OBA in 46 innings covering seven starts (note: the Royals' resurgence may have more to do with the 28-year-old Carrasco than it does with Buddy Bell.) He's been highly consistent this season, as six of his seven starts have been quality starts. His career numbers indicate that he probably isn't this good, but at 28 this may simply be a pitcher coming into his own. On Saturday, 27-year-old Runelvys Hernandez, who missed all of 2004 with an injury, will take the mound. He's 5-7 with a 4.61 ERA and .256 OBA this season, but his numbers have really improved over his last four starts as he's seen his ERA drop from 5.67 to 4.61, while the Royals have won each of those games.

On Sunday, the Royals will go with Jose Lima, who's 1-5 with a 7.82 ERA. Yes, that ERA is higher than Joe Kennedy's (who, coincidentally, will be opposing Lima on Sunday.) Opponents are hitting .303 off Lima (which isn't higher than the .334 they're hitting off Kennedy.)

The Rockies had better get to the Royals' pitchers early, as Kansas City's late-inning relief is very good. Closer Mike MacDougal seems to be returning to the form he showed in 2003, when he saved 27 games for the Royals. While he has a 3.97 ERA and opponents are hitting .254 against him, he usually gets the job done late for the Royals. Setup man Mike Wood has actually been better than MacDougal, with a 3.51 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. And then there's Sisco, who for whatever reason is stuck in middle relief. The big lefthander is practically death to hitters, with a 2.19 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 37 innings. Opponents are hitting a paltry .201 against him, and he's actually been better against righties (.198) than lefties (.211). It's amazing the Cubs gave up on this guy and let him get away in the Rule 5 draft, and it's clear he has a future as either a starter or a closer.

The Rockies' three starters will be BK Kim on Friday, Franchise on Saturday (note to Rockies: move the starting time ahead about five hours), and Kennedy on Sunday. Amazingly, our best opportunity for a win is probably on Sunday, though this is one of the few times this season that we can honestly say that the opposing team's starting pitcher has been worse than Kennedy this year. I like our chances with Franchise against Hernandez, though not as much as I would if it were a day game. And as well as Carrasco's been pitching, he's probably not this good. The Rockies could get a sweep here.

Who's hot for us? Well, Preston Wilson's got three homers in his last ten games, though he hasn't done a thing to help his average. J.D. Closser's actually hitting above the Mendoza line, although he's mostly being benched in favor of Danny Ardoin. Eddy Garabito is hitting .333 since his callup. Brad Hawpe homered off a lefty on Tuesday. But really, nobody on the Rockies is hitting well. Maybe coming home is just what they need.

Minor League Report: June 22

2005-06-23T16:14:00.000-06:00

The inactivity of Tap the Rox in recent days has been due to my real life getting in the way. Not that there's much to report. Rockies get swept on the road yet again. Tulo made his pro debut, but he didn't do too much.

So on with last night's report. Ryan Speier blew a save as Colorado Springs lost to Salt Lake, 5-4. Shortstop Tomas Delarosa went 3-for-3 with 3 RBI, though he's not showing up on anybody's prospect radar, mine included. The Sky Sox just don't have anybody that I'm excited about. On the other hand, super prospect Casey Kotchman hit a two-run homer for the Stingers.

Tulsa was off for the TL All-Star break, and resumes action tonight at home against Midland.

In Modesto, Ubaldo Jimenez picked up his fifth win of the year in a 4-2 win over High Desert. U-ball struck out nine and walked only two over seven innings, but didn't get any run support until the seventh inning when the Nuts plated four, three of them on Joe Gaetti's thirteenth homer of the season. Tulo went 0-for-4 for the second night in a row, but I'm not going to judge him on the basis of two games. On the other hand, Ian Stewart's defense is starting to become something of an issue, as he committed his fifteenth error of the season. Even after going 2-for-4 last night, he's still only batting .232 for the season, and I wouldn't be surprised if he repeated high-A next season.

The Rockies' other prime prospect at short, Chris Nelson, went 2-for-4 for Asheville last night as the Tourists beat Kannapolis, 8-7. Solo homers from Joe Koshansky (his 17th) and Justin Nelson (his 9th) and a two-run blast by Matt Miller (his 13th) highlighted the offensive barrage by Asheville, and Matt Daley improved his record to 7-2 after a hitless inning and a third in relief of starter Jake Postlewait. Miller, by the way, is hitting .354. Call him up, Rockies.

Tri-City dropped to 0-2 with a 5-2 loss to Salem-Keizer. The Dust Devils' offense managed only four hits while whiffing an amazing 12 times. Of course, Tri-City starter Shane Lindsay struck out 11 batters in six innings himself, while giving up one hit and one unearned run, only to get a no decision for the game. First baseman Brian Kirby, who apparently had two at bats for Colorado Springs earlier in the season, hit his first homer of the year but also struck out twice.

Finally, up in Casper, the baby Rockies' second game of the season was suspended due to rain, tied at 6 with the Rockies coming to bat in the bottom of the seventh. Four Rockies had two hits before the game was suspended. I have no idea when the game will be finished.

Series preview with the Royals coming up later tonight, followed by another Minor League Report tomorrow morning. I'm off work Sunday and Monday, so I'll come up with something to post then.

Success From Within: Views from Other Franchises

2005-06-20T15:17:00.000-06:00

Three franchises that have been successful at building from within in recent years have been the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians, and the Minnesota Twins. Although the Twins are usually pointed to as an example of a small-market team overcoming that by developing a productive farm system, the Braves and Indians both built successful franchises in the 1990s by developing their own players. I'm looking at these three franchises to show what it takes to build a franchise this way, as well as help with some perspectives on what the Rockies need to do to build their own dynasty.

The Braves were terrible in the late 1980s. From 1986-1990, they never won more than 68 games before a 1991 season in which they went 94-68 and advanced to the World Series. The years preceding that World Series appearance are comparable to what the Rockies are experiencing now (I'm not saying that the Rockies will be in the World Series next season.) During that period, the Braves had a good player development system, but the players in it were either still in the minors or too young to contribute at the big-league level. The farm system produced both standouts -- Tom Glavine, John Smoltz (acquired in a trade from Detroit), Ron Gant, David Justice -- as well as roleplayers like Mark Lemke, Jeff Blauser, Deion Sanders, and Francisco Cabrera. But the important thing to remember is that even with some of those guys playing regularly from 1988-90, the team was still very bad. Another important point is that the Braves not only developed their own players, but they supplemented their development with players acquired from other organizations. Not only did the Braves acquire prospects like Smoltz through trades, they also acquired a few key players on that 1991 team from free agency or trades. 1991 NL MVP Terry Pendleton came over from the Cardinals before the season, while utilityman Rafael Belliard came from the Pirates. Since that time the Braves have relied on this formula, primarily building from within as the system has continued to develop stars such as Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Javy Lopez, and Marcus Giles, while plugging holes with talented players acquired via free agency or trades, like Greg Maddux, Tim Hudson, and Gary Sheffield. Because the Rockies are not necessarily a "small-market" team like Milwaukee or Kansas City, they can afford a few free-agent signings here and there; the point is that aside from a few franchises in the largest markets, most teams cannot afford to build a team solely through free agency. The Braves' primary source of talent has been their farm system, and that has helped them win thirteen consecutive division titles.

A list of players developed in the Indians' farm system in the mid- to late-'90s reads like a who's who of the stars of baseball: Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Brian Giles, Richie Sexson, Bartolo Colon, Kenny Lofton, Albert Belle. While none of these players currently play for the Indians, the Indians are in a situation different from the Braves, who were in a larger market and thus were able to keep many of their star players. The Indians' ascension was slower than the Braves'; following a 57-105 season in 1991, the team won 76 games in consecutive years before winning 66 in strike-shortened 1994 and 100 in 1995. That led to a string of six division titles in seven years, although the Indians didn't win a single World Series. Most of the key players on those teams were developed from within, and a few of the players -- Brian Giles is a prime example -- could not find playing time in Cleveland and blossomed into stars elsewhere. Like the Braves, the Indians acquired key players and roleplayers from other organizations to supplement their homegrown players, but also like the Braves the Indians relied primarily on their farm system for talent. Unlike the Braves, Cleveland, as a small-market franchise, couldn't afford to keep players like Manny Ramirez when they became free agents. The Indians had a couple of rebuilding years after their 2001 division championship, but they're now returning to contention similar to the way they did in 1994. And, once again, they're doing it primarily with players developed from within.

Minnesota is the example of a small-market franchise that's been successful by developing players from within the organization that people most often point to, though they were preceded by Atlanta and Cleveland in this respect. The Twins, from 1995-2000, never finished better than fourth in the AL Central. They finished second in 2001 as young players began to mature, then won three consecutive division titles. The organization has produced few superstars -- it did produce Johan Santana and David Ortiz, though -- but it has produced a number of solid players who became contributors on division-winning Twins teams. The Twins have really been strapped for cash, even moreso than Cleveland, and as a result are able to keep very few of the star players they develop, but their organization continues to produce players that will keep them in contention.

So what can the Rockies learn from this?

1. Building a team this way takes time. The Rockies, until recently, hadn't really been committed to developing their own players. The organization has produced a few key roleplayers but hasn't developed a star since Todd Helton. While the organization currently has a few players with star potential, those guys are a few years off. The losing seasons that the Rockies have suffered recently, by the way, have occurred not because the team is waiting for young players to develop but because the team was using an old method for building a team that wasn't working. So it may take a few more years after this one.

2. Don't be afraid to supplement homegrown players with free agent signings and trades. Keep in mind, though, that these should be smart free-agent signings, not the signings that Arizona made this offseason that will be bad contracts in a few years. Plug holes on the team with free agents, but don't rely on them to build the team. The organization is already producing some talent -- build on that.

3. Recognize your team's disadvantages. The Twins have a major difficulty signing free agents and even retaining their own players, so they have had to rely even more on their farm system than the Indians and Braves did. The Rockies, by virtue of their location, have great difficulty in attracting talented pitchers through free agency. Therefore, the Rockies will not be able to fill holes on the pitching staff as well that way, so the organization might want to put more emphasis on developing pitchers in the organization. Remember, hitters WANT to play at Coors Field. The team won't have too many problems attracting free-agent hitters if they're needed, but holes on the pitching staff will be very difficult to fill.

That's all for now. Game time in, um, a while.

Tap the Rox Tonight: Game 68 -- Kennedy vs. Pettitte

2005-06-20T08:17:00.000-06:00

Tonight, the Rockies continue their nine-game road trip as they begin a three-game series at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The Astros are 28-39, and while they have been almost as bad as the Rockies on the road (9-27), they've actually been pretty good at home (19-12). That doesn't bode well for the Rockies, who are a woeful 5-28 on the road, including 1-5 on the current road trip.

The first game of the series will see Joe Kennedy take the mound for the Rockies against Andy Pettitte of the Astros. Kennedy has been the subject of countless trade rumors recently, and he missed his turn in the rotation a week and a half ago before returning Wednesday at Cleveland, where he pitched five innings and was in line for the win when he left, only to see the bullpen blow the lead. His stats for the year are awful -- 3-6, 7.22 ERA, 1.92 WHIP, .333 OBA -- and his K/BB ratio is pretty bad as well (41/36). His 2004 season, however, indicates that Kennedy can turn things around, though unfortunately the Rockies seem to think that a trade is the best way to get him to turn it around.

Opposing Kennedy is Pettitte, whose record is in Kennedy's neighborhood, though he hasn't been as bad as Kennedy. Pettitte is 3-7 this season, but his other stats -- 3.76 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, .263 OBA, 58 K, 17 BB -- tell you that he's been the victim of poor run support and bad luck this season. The Astros just haven't been giving him much help. Now, Pettitte has scattered a few bad starts here and there, though we have to expect that he'll be good tonight, or at least the Rockies will make him look good.

The Astros' offense is, um, not that scary. Morgan Ensberg is the team's leader with 16 homers, but he also strikes out every 3.9 at bats. Willy Taveras, the Astros' batting leader, is hitting .288. Lance Berkman is hitting .241. Jason Lane is hitting .243. Adam Everett is hitting .237. Brad Ausmus is hitting .214. Mike Lamb is hitting .212. It seems most of the Astros' hitters are easy outs, so perhaps the Rockies will turn these three games into pitchers' duels. Or "no offense duels."

Jamey Wright takes the mound on Tuesday against the rookie Wandy Rodriguez, in what represents probably the Rockies' best chance to get a win in the series. On Wednesday, Jason Jennings goes against fellow Texan Roger Clemens.

Minor League Report: June 19

2005-06-20T08:04:00.000-06:00

Another game, another loss for the big league club. What's new?

Colorado Springs lost, 8-0, at Sacramento. The Sky Sox only managed four hits, although two of them were by big leaguers making rehab starts (Miles and Greene.) Justin Hampson took the loss to go to 1-7.

Tulsa beat Springfield, 5-4, in 12 innings. Jeff Salazar hit a three-run homer, his sixth of the year, while going 2-for-6. You know, isn't it a bit odd that even though Tulsa won the Texas League North in the first half, there aren't a lot of guys on the team who we're really excited about? Other than Salazar and maybe Nix, there just isn't anybody who the scouts think has major league potential. But they're a very good team, and I'm guessing there could be a few guys that surprise people.

Modesto lost, 11-8, at San Jose in another slugfest. Randy Blood hit a grand slam, his third homer of the year, and Joe Gaetti homered for the second night in a row. Steven Register took the loss after allowing eight runs, though only three were earned.

Asheville beat Greensboro, 4-1, behind six strong innings from Jarrett Grube, who struck out five and walked none. Dustin Hahn went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Tonight, the big news is that Tulo makes his debut as Modesto takes on High Desert at home. And what of Macri? Well, he's still on the Modesto roster even though he hasn't played for a couple of games.

Tap the Rox Today: Game 67 -- Franchise vs. Penn

2005-06-19T08:24:00.000-06:00

And we come to the rubber game of the series (very odd to say that for a road series; usually it's "and today the Rockies look to avoid the sweep.") Taking the mound for the Rockies is Jeff Francis, and this just happens to be another start where something has to give.

There are two things everybody has noticed about Francis to this point:
1. He pitches very well in day games, but isn't so good in night games.
2. He pitches very well at home, but isn't so good on the road.

So today, we not only have day-game Francis, but also away-game Francis to deal with. Jeff's split stats bear this out: at home, he's 4-1 with a 3.68 ERA; on the road, he's 1-3, with a 7.65 ERA. In day games, he's 3-0, with a 3.22 ERA; in night games, he's 2-4 with an 8.05 ERA. Odd? You bet.

Eleven days ago, Jeff pitched at home in a night game and got shelled, so apparently the night thing trumps the home thing. It would follow, then, that the day thing trumps the away thing, logically. Or not. He got shelled in a day game at Wrigley on May 29, too, though he got a no decision. So who knows which Francis will show up?

Two factors work in Jeff's favor today. He has a release point that's difficult to pick up, and I'd assume that it's most difficult the first time you see it. And, among the current Orioles players, only Eli Marrero has ever faced him. The other factor is the opposition. The Orioles actually have a pitcher who has even less big league experience going against him today in Hayden Penn. Penn was putting up some great stats at AA Bowie this season before his callup. The problem, of course, is that even the Rockies don't qualify as a double-A team, and Penn hasn't been that great in the majors. Of course, he's 20 years old, and he hasn't been awful, either. He really hasn't been that hittable, giving up only 19 hits in 21 innings. However, he's walked 12 batters in that time as well, and he's given up three homers.

Still, the Rockies' offense has faced two pitchers with higher ERA's in this series so far and hasn't done much on offense. They did just enough to give Jason Jennings a win on Friday, while they weren't nearly good enough to salvage BK Kim, who started pitching like, well, BK Kim yesterday (how long did we really think that was going to last?) So it's hard to tell. Plus, the Rockies are playing on the road, where they've been awful this season. Jeff does have one of our five road wins this season, though.

Minor League Report: June 18

2005-06-19T08:16:00.000-06:00

Um... yeah, the Rockies lost last night. On to the minor leaguers...

Colorado Springs lost to Sacramento, 5-3. Only thing of note is that Aaron Miles made a rehab start and went 1-for-4 with an RBI. As usual, the Sky Sox had zero offense.

In Tulsa, P.J. Bevis wasted a fine start from Christian Parker as he blew his third save of the season and the Drillers lost, 2-1. Parker went seven innings and gave up no runs on four hits while striking out six. Doug Bernier hit his second homer of the year.

The big news in Modesto is that the Rockies' #1 draft pick, Troy Tulowitzki, will debut tomorrow. I have no idea what the team's plans for Matt Macri are, though he wasn't in the lineup Saturday as the Nuts lost to San Jose, 13-9. Joe Gaetti was the big star of the night, going 3-for-4 with two homers and six RBI. Ian Stewart and Randy Blood also homered. And the pitching... um... you don't want to know. Marc Kaiser got roughed up for eight runs in four and two-thirds innings, but he escaped the loss.

Asheville lost, 6-3, at Greensboro, as somebody named Jose Garcia struck out nine Tourists. Justin Nelson went 2-for-4 with his seventh homer of the year and Matt Miller improved his average to .357 with a 2-for-3 night, but the rest of the offense didn't cooperate.

That's it. Rockies preview up in a bit.

Tap the Rox Tonight: Game 66 -- BK vs. Sir Sidney

2005-06-18T13:58:00.000-06:00

Before I get into tonight's game, Roxhead has an excellent article about Joe Kennedy and, specifically, whether or not the Rockies should trade him. I agree with a lot of the points in that article. The reason that so many teams are interested in Kennedy is that he's a 26-year-old lefthander who's already had a good season in the best hitter's park in the majors. Why should the Rockies trade that? It's not like he's costing the Rockies a lot of money, and it's not like there's anybody at triple-A who would be better. The starting pitchers who could probably get us the most out of a trade are BK Kim and Jamey Wright, both of whom are pitching well right now, and both of whom will probably not be Rockies next year.

Speaking of Kim, he gets the start tonight after his excellent start on Sunday against Detroit. Somehow I think that the Orioles' bats won't be quiet two nights in a row, but with Sir Sidney pitching for the Orioles, Kim may not need to have a great start.

The Rockies' offense has been quiet the past few games, and it was quiet last night, but Jason Jennings was so good that the team only needed to score two runs. Ponson is probably a good starter for the Rockies to start swinging the bats against, although it's also worth pointing out that the Rockies offense away from Coors Field may be just the thing Sidney needs to get back on track. Anyways, Ponson hasn't been that good in his past few starts. His ERA is ballooning as fast as his weight. Even when he's been on (or as close to on as he's been this year) he allows a lot of baserunners. In his past six starts, he's given up eight, seven, ten, eight, seven, and eleven hits, and he gives up walks to spare, too. He's been the beneficiary of, apparently, lots of runners left on base and lots of run support. On May 17, he gave up eight runs (six earned) on eight hits in an inning and a third -- and got a no decision as the Orioles won 12-8. On the season, opponents are hitting .313 against him.

Against Kim, the run support may not come. Kim has been strange this year: as a reliever, he's been awful, but as a starter, he's been good. In four starts this season, he's 1-2 with a 4.09 ERA; that ERA, BTW, is skewed by one bad start in which he gave up five runs in five innings. Throw out that start, and his ERA as a starter is 2.65. As a reliever, his ERA is 7.84. He actually hasn't been all that hittable, as batters are only hitting .238 against him. The problem, as with most Rockies pitchers, has been walks -- in 42.2 innings he's walked 28 batters. Once again, though, those are mostly problems in relief -- as a starter he's only walked 7 batters in 22 innings.

However, Kim hasn't faced an offense as potent as the Orioles' as a starter, and three of his four starts as a Rockie have come at home. Betcha can't guess which start was made on the road -- that's right, the bad one. So who knows?

Also, who knows what lineup Hurdle will send out there tonight? It seems like Clint Hurdle never uses the same lineup two nights in a row, but that's only because he really never uses the same lineup two nights in a row. Some of that is due to injuries, but there's no consistency in the Rockies lineup.

Anyways, game's at 5:05 Denver time.

Minor League Report: June 17

2005-06-18T09:29:00.000-06:00

This morning, I felt as though I had woken up in an alternate universe.

The Rockies won on the road? Against the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles? The Rockies held the AL's best offense to one measly run?

Something must be wrong. Okay, so the Rockies did put across only two runs. At least everything hasn't gone haywire.

Anyways, here's the minor league report from last night.

Colorado Springs beat Sacramento, 4-3 (more signs that something is wrong: the Sky Sox win.) Somebody named Pascual Matos reportedly homered for the Sky Sox. Jud Thigpen went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, and an RBI. That's not strange, except for the fact that he was in high-A two weeks ago. Mike Esposito struck out six over seven innings, though he didn't get the win. Rich Harden, making a rehab start for Sacramento, struck out seven in two innings -- okay, maybe I did wake up in this world.

Tulsa beat Springfield, 6-3. Ryan Spilborghs drove in a run in a pinch-hit appearance and Tony Miller swiped two bags. Jayson Nix was 2-for-3? Alternate universe.

Modesto won, 5-1, at San Jose behind a strong performance from Ubaldo Jimenez, who gave up three hits and two walks over seven innings while striking out eight. (U-ball only walking two? Alternate universe.) Christian Colonel was 3-for-4 with an RBI.

Asheville won, 5-4, on an eighth-inning rally that saw Matt Miller pick up his 47th RBI on the year. After last night's 2-for-4 showing, he's now batting .354. Promote him.

After looking at the minor league box scores, I'm still not convinced that I have awakened on planet Earth. If the Rockies win a slugfest tonight, I'll be wondering even more.

Series preview: Three games in Baltimore

2005-06-17T07:16:00.000-06:00

The Rockies open a three-game series at Camden Yards tonight against the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles are the surprising leaders of the AL East so far this season. The secret to the Orioles' success has been a superb offense that has carried a generally mediocre pitching staff.

The O's offense is excellent, perhaps one of the best in the American League, and looks something like an offensive team that the Rockies should be trotting out every day. Brian Roberts is the prototypical leadoff man, leading the AL in both batting average (.361) and on-base percentage. He's also hit eleven homers. In fact, the first three hitters for the Orioles (Roberts, Melvin Mora, and Miguel Tejada) are all batting over .300.

Miguel Tejada is having another great season, batting .326 with 18 homers and 54 RBI. Mora has hit 14 more out of the #2 spot. Sammy Sosa's been rejuvenated a bit by the trade to Baltimore, though he's nothing like the player who reguarly topped 60 homers a few years ago. He and fellow 500 Club member Rafael Palmeiro each have hit eight homers this season -- not bad, but not great, either. With Javy Lopez out, the Orioles' offense isn't as scary as it could be, but it's still a good one.

That said, the Orioles' offense needs to score a lot of runs, because their pitching has been average at best. Two of the three starters the Rockies will face in this series have an ERA over 5 (and Camden Yards isn't really known as a hitter's park, either.) With all that's been said about the Orioles' offense, their defense, particularly in the outfield, isn't great. Tonight's starter, Daniel Cabrera, is 5-5 despite an awful 5.88 ERA. While he strikes out almost a batter an inning, he gives up just as many hits and walks a lot of hitters, too. His most recent start was horrendous, earning a quick trip to the showers with seven runs in two innings (against the Reds!) He's occasionally a great pitcher, but more often than not he's an average pitcher who waits for his offense to bail him out. Saturday's starter, Sidney Ponson, the supposed ace of this staff, has really been no better, with a 6-4 record despite a 5.36 ERA. Ponson's stats bear out a very hittable pitcher who also occasionally works himself into trouble with walks. Opponents are hitting a torrid .313 against him this season. In his last start, he also gave up seven runs, and also against the Reds (although at least Ponson spread those runs over six innings.)

The final starter we'll be facing is Hayden Penn, a 20-year-old rookie who was called up due to an injury to Erik Bedard. Penn is 1-0 with a 4.71 ERA over four starts, picking up his first big league win in his last start. That said, he wasn't that good in his last start, giving up five runs on seven hits in five and two-thirds innings; like many Oriole pitchers, he was helped out by good run support. In 21 innings, he's given up 12 walks and struck out only 8. Chances are he'll get better, but at this point we have to like our chances for a win against him.

The Orioles' bullpen is very strong in the late innings, with Jorge Julio (2-2, 3.24) pitching the eighth and B.J. Ryan (0-1, 1.93, 17 saves, 51 K in 32.2 innings) nailing it down in the ninth. The problem is that with a starting staff that weak, the Orioles often have to go to the bullpen earlier than that. Steve Reed (1-2, 5.40) has actually seen his ERA balloon AFTER leaving Coors Field, while Steve Kline (2-2, 6.23) just isn't the same pitcher he was in St. Louis last season.

If the Rockies can avoid being bombarded by the Orioles' offense this weekend, we can avoid the sweep as well. Jennings takes the hill for us tonight, with BK Kim pitching Saturday and Franchise on Sunday. I actually like all three of our pitching matchups, what with Jennings and Kim pitching well of late and Franchise going up against a 20-year-old rookie. But we'll have to wait and see. Other than playing at Coors Field, there's no cure for offensive woes like facing Sidney Ponson.

Minor League Report: June 16

2005-06-17T07:05:00.000-06:00

Yeah, nothing for the past couple of days. Tap the Rox is back with a report on the minor league action from last night, plus a series preview with the Orioles coming up in a bit.

Colorado Springs lost, 5-2, at Fresno. The direct effect of all the injuries to the big league club is the depletion of the triple-A roster, which, other than Choo Freeman, has nobody to be excited about. Freeman, by the way, struck out three times last night, so I'm not sure how much there is to be excited about even with him. Wilton Chavez took the loss to drop to 0-5, although he really wasn't that bad.

Tulsa beat Springfield, 5-1, behind a strong outing from Zack Parker and three RBI by Corey Slavik. Tony Miller went 3-for-5, scored two runs and had a stolen base.

Modesto beat Rancho Cucamonga, 6-3, as Christian Colonel notched his second homer of the year and Ian Stewart added 2 RBI (though he's still only batting .225.) Aaron Marsden picked up the win to move to 3-5.

Asheville lost both games of a doubleheader against Greensboro, 7-3 and 6-5.

BTW, these columns will get a bit longer starting Tuesday as both the Casper Rockies and the Tri-City Dust Devils begin their seasons. Casper's roster for this season is up. Who am I watching? Well, there's our supplemental round pick from this season, Chaz Roe. There's also Kyle Hancock, another HS pitcher drafted this year, and last season's draft-and-follow Xavier Cedeno. In the field, I like second baseman Corey Wimberly and outfielder Dexter Fowler.

Minor League Report: June 14

2005-06-15T06:20:00.000-06:00

Colorado Springs got shut down by Matt Cain last night, 7-0. Cain, the top prospect in the Giants organization, scattered four hits over seven innings while striking out eight. As you can probably tell... the Sky Sox offense didn't do much. Considering who currently plays for them with Shealy, Piedra, Ardoin, and Garabito all up in Denver, that's not too surprising. Justin Hampson took the loss, dropping his record to 1-6.

Tulsa beat Wichita, 8-4, as Jeff Salazar returned to the lineup (although he went 0-for-4.) After getting only two hits off starter Ryan Baerlocher, the Drillers roughed up Wichita's bullpen for three runs in the seventh and five in the eighth. Jon Asahina gave up four runs and eight hits over seven innings, but that was good enough to pick up his eighth win of the year.

Modesto won, 10-1, behind a strong outing by Steven Register, who despite giving up ten hits only gave up one run while going the distance. Seth Smith went 4-for-5 with three RBI; Chris Iannetta went 2-for-5 with four RBI. On a down note, Ian Stewart went 0-for-4 at the plate and added his 14th error of the season in the field.

Asheville lost, 9-3, after the bullpen wasted a good start from Jarrett Grube, giving up eight runs in the final two innings. Grube went seven innings, struck out five, and walked none, while only giving up one run.

In other news, I'm not sure where this has been reported but Purple Row has noted that the Rockies have signed nine draft picks. I can't find it either on the Rockies website (which has only mentioned Tulo) or on Baseball America (which marks Tulo, Corey Wimberly, and Michael Milliron as having signed.) Chances are most of the college players will debut at Tri-City, while most of the high school players will debut at Casper.

Tap the Rox Tonight: Game 62 -- Franchise vs. Westbrook

2005-06-14T09:32:00.000-06:00

If you haven't been paying attention, the Rockies are currently a mere four games out of fourth place in the NL West. Yes, you're reading that right -- four measly games separate the Rockies from being out of the cellar.

Of course, the Rockies begin a nine-game road trip tonight, and considering that they're an ugly 4-23 on the road this season, that doesn't bode well for the team continuing its recent, uh, warm streak (6-4 in the last ten.) Tonight, as the Rockies open a three-game series at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, two former Rockies first-round draft picks take the mound.

The Rockies' starting pitcher tonight will be 2002 first-round pick Jeff Francis (5-3, 5.24). Francis just isn't the same pitcher on the road that he is at home -- Rox Girl over at Purple Row has an interesting theory that Jeff's release point is very deceptive during day games, but it's easier for hitters to pick up the ball at night. It's also easier for hitters to pick up the ball when the opposing team darkens the background in the hitter's eye, as San Diego did. Jeff has had some very good outings this season, but he's had a few bad ones sandwiched in there which lead to the ballooned ERA. Overall, though, he's been more solid than not, giving the Rockies five quality starts this season. He took the loss in his last outing, giving up five runs on twelve hits against the White Sox.

Taking the hill for the Indians tonight will be the Rockies' 1996 first-round pick, Jake Westbrook (2-9, 5.00). Jake's ERA is inflated quite a bit by three outings that were just awful. The won-loss record, though, seems to be more a function of bad luck than anything else. Of his thirteen starts this season, eight have qualified as quality starts. On Opening Day, he went the distance, giving up one run on four hits -- and lost. In his last start at San Diego, he gave up one earned run and three hits over six innings -- and lost (it didn't help that the Indians let in two unearned.) On May 18, he went eight and a third innings, gave up two runs on five hits while striking out eight -- and, you guessed it, he lost that one two. The record is a mirage -- Westbrook has been a good pitcher more often than not this season, and take out the three awful starts, and he's got an ERA of 2.91. His K rate, while not overwhelming, has been pretty solid and he's not walking that many batters.

The obvious bane for Westbrook this season has been run support, or lack thereof. (Teammate Cliff Lee, who's 7-3, has gotten plenty of it.) Westbrook is the Indians' Shawn Chacon: when he's pitching well, the offense doesn't show. The Indians' offense was expected to be one of the best in the AL this season, but it's been rather disappointing. Victor Martinez, who hit .283 last season, is hitting .207. Aaron Boone, a lifetime .264 hitter, is batting .181. The Indians' top hitter this season, Grady Sizemore, is hitting .300. And the Tribe's leading home run hitter is... Ronnie Belliard? Geez, these guys are making the Rockies look good.

The Rockies get lucky that they won't have to face Lee, the Indians' best hurler this season, although they do get C.C. Sabathia on Wednesday. Until then, the Rockies could win a pitchers' duel with Westbrook tonight.

Candidates for promotion

2005-06-14T07:44:00.000-06:00

One criticism that I have (and others probably share this criticism as well) is that the Rockies aren't aggressive enough in promoting their farmhands. It often seems as though a player who is clearly dominant at a level is kept there for no apparent reason. Now, I'm not saying that we should be the Royals and be overly aggressive with our prospects, as that's usually bad for them. We shouldn't move our guys up a level before they're ready, but it wouldn't hurt to move a guy who's dominating a league's pitchers or hitters up to the next level to see how they respond. It's more helpful to see how a guy will respond to a callup than to leave him to continue along at a level that he's already mastered.

Now, the one exception is the jump from Triple-A to the majors, which is usually determined less by whether the player in question is ready for the jump and more based on the needs of the big-league club (whose success, after all, is the ultimate goal of the farm system.) If you're a right-handed power-hitting outfielder, and the team already has two of those, chances are you're not going to get called up unless somebody gets hurt.

Now, the Rockies shouldn't respond to hot streaks by calling a guy up, but at this point in the season we've generally seen enough of a guy at a given level to know what kind of player he is at that level. 200 ABs is enough for a hitter to make a sound judgment about how he fits at that level, and isn't just based on a hot start.

Joe Koshansky (1B, .313/.388/.594 in 224 ABs at Asheville, 15 homers, 55 RBI): I've been calling on the Rockies to move him on up to high-A ball for a while, and a glance at his stat line makes it obvious why. Joe is a big (6'4", 225) guy who can mash the ball out of the park. However, at 23, he's only at low-A ball (in his defense, he was a four-year college player.) It doesn't look as though either Koshansky or the Rockies have anything to gain by keeping him at Asheville much longer. His defense is a bit shaky (8 errors) but other that that I can't think of any legit reason he shouldn't be playing at a higher level right now.

Matthew Miller (OF, .354/.380/.563 in 263 ABs at Asheville, 12 homers, 45 RBI): There's less of a case to promote Miller than there is Koshansky, but the Rockies should at least consider it. The crowded outfield at Modesto makes this a difficult move. Miller almost never walks, and while he's not the power source that Koshansky is, he's close to it. Also, at 22, he may be a little old for low-A (like Koshansky.)

Matt Macri (SS/3B, .283/.379/.451 in 233 ABs at Modesto, 7 homers, 32 RBI, 5 steals): I'm going to profile this one not because I necessarily think Macri needs to be called up but because it looks like that's what will happen with Tulo set to debut at Modesto. Macri will either be moved somewhere else in the field or promoted to Tulsa. While his stats aren't bad, he strikes out WAY too much; at such a low level that can be a red flag. But his power numbers are pretty good.

Ryan Spilborghs (OF, .346/.437/.539 in 228 ABs at Tulsa, 6 homers, 50 RBI, 10 steals): Now is probably a good time to point out that Spilborghs is putting up those numbers at Tulsa, which is known as an extreme pitcher's park. The Rockies could have called up Spilborghs to triple-A when Holliday went down and Piedra went up to replace him, but instead called up Jud Thigpen. Nothing against Jud, but the smarter move would have been to call up Spilborghs and see how he responds to the PCL (Jud could have then been moved up to take his spot at Tulsa.) At 25, he doesn't have a lot of time to make an impression on the big league team.

Jeff Salazar (OF, .283/.376/.410 in 212 ABs at Tulsa, 5 homers, 26 RBI, 10 steals): Salazar was originally intended to go up to triple-A, but he got hurt and so didn't get the call. The Rockies' plan seems to be to have Jeff be the opening day starter in center in 2006, and if that's the case, they could probably help him out by giving him half a season in triple-A.

Joshua Newman (LHP, 1-1, 3.23 ERA in 30.2 innings at Modesto, 50 K, 24 BB): Newman walks too many batters, but that strikeout rate is just incredible. He's been almost unhittable this season, allowing only a .183 BAA. The Rockies may be waiting for the walk rate to come down, but I'd like to see how he responds to a callup to Tulsa.

Jason Burch (RHP, 4-1, 3.12 ERA in 34.2 innings at Modesto, 39 K, 18 BB): Another middle reliever at Modesto who's been almost unhittable (.218 BAA.) Burch isn't nearly the strikeout machine that Newman is, but he also doesn't walk as many batters.

Christian Parker (RHP, 4-1, 2.29 ERA in 63 innings at Tulsa, 44 K, 16 BB): A 29-year-old journeyman isn't of much use to the Rockies if he's down at double-A, but he could be useful to the team eventually. The Rockies need to bring him up to triple-A to see if he's for real or if this is just a mirage.

Minor League Report: June 13

2005-06-13T23:22:00.000-06:00

The big league club had the day off, so here's what the future Rockies did.

Colorado Springs got rocked, 14-3, at Fresno. Denny Stark, in two thirds of an inning, gave up nine runs on eight hits and two walks. Apparently not wanting to use their bullpen, the Sky Sox used first baseman Brian Buchanan and left fielder Jeff Pickler to pitch the seventh and eighth. Both, amazingly, put up better lines than Stark did.

Tulsa lost both games of a doubleheader at Wichita, 9-8 in the first game and 2-1 in the second. Corey Slavik hit his sixth homer of the season in the first game, and then hit his seventh in the second game.

Modesto had the night off, resuming action tomorrow at Rancho Cucamonga.

Asheville won both games of a doubleheader against Greenville, taking the first game 4-3 and the second 9-6. Ching-Lung Lo was solid in the first game, going only four innings but striking out five and walking none. He did give up seven hits and two runs, though. The star of the second game was Joe Koshansky, who went 2-for-3 with a solo homer in the first and a grand slam in the fourth. For the season, he's now batting .312 with 15 homers and 55 RBI. I have no idea why he's not at high-A.

Weekend update

2005-06-13T08:18:00.000-06:00

Nice performance by BK Kim yesterday.

Ryan Shealy's been recalled from Colorado Springs to make his major league debut. With games at AL parks coming up this week, the Rockies are apparently going to use Shealy as the DH and see what they've got with him.

Ken Rosenthal from the Sporting News (who also reported that Tim Hudson had been traded to the Dodgers this offseason) reports that the Nationals turned down a trade for Preston Wilson that would have sent Ryan Church and Zach Day to the Rockies in exchange for the Rockies eating $3 million of the $7 million Wilson is owed this season. With the way Church is playing, I can't say I blame them for not wanting to give up Church.

In other news, this is starting to sound more and more like a fire sale. Apparently the Rockies are entertaining offers for Brian Fuentes. Since a lot of teams need bullpen help, Fuentes is a valuable chip, but Fuentes could have a place in the Rockies' future. That would be a bad move.

Tap the Rox Today: Game 61 -- Robertson vs. Kim

2005-06-12T08:09:00.000-06:00

Uhh... you might be reading this post's title and immediately writing off the Rockies' chances.

In reality, BK Kim has made three starts this season and two of them have been at least decent, if not good. Oddly enough, he's been better as a starting pitcher than as a reliever this season, and with Chacon on the DL he's been moved into the rotation, albeit temporarily. He's 0-5 on the season, and 0-2 in his three starts. In his previous start, he pitched as well as we could have possibly hoped but was saddled with the loss as the Rockies gave him the run support they normally give to Chacon (read: none.)

That may or may not end up being a problem today as Nate Robertson takes the hill for Detroit. Robertson's walk rate is atrocious (although it's better than Kim's, but Robertson has walked more than he's struck out) and playing at Coors Field probably won't make things any better for him. Opponents are hitting only .253 against him and he has an ERA under 4, but the fact that Robertson walks so many batters -- roughly 4.5 per nine innings -- means that opponents always have a chance because he's giving those free passes. After squeezing out six runs in the first two games, the Rockies may put some offense up today. Or they may go out and lay an egg.

Robertson's a lefty. However, since so many players are currently down with injuries, it's possible that Hurdle could start Brad Hawpe on a flyer. After all, the Rockies currently have only two right-handed hitting outfielders, although Hurdle likes to play Luis Gonzalez out there occasionally. But Clint has even taking to sitting Todd Helton against tough lefties lately. However, I would exactly call Nate Robertson a "tough" lefty.

Minor League Report: June 11

2005-06-11T23:15:00.000-06:00

Colorado Springs was rained out tonight, probably from the same system that gave the Rockies a rain delay. No idea when it will be made up.

Tulsa won at Wichita, 9-6. Zack Parker improved to 8-2 after going six innings and giving up six hits, four runs (only two were earned) and two walks. New first baseman Tino Sanchez (don't ask me where he came from) had two RBI, as did Gustavo Escobar and Tony Miller. Shortstop Doug Bernier went 0-for-4, dropping his average to .238. I'm guessing that Matt Macri will be taking his spot soon.

Of course, Macri also went o-for-4 tonight, but nobody in Modesto did much of anything at the plate as the Nuts lost 7-2. Ubaldo Jimenez got rocked, giving up five earned runs on seven hits over six innings. He did strike out seven, however. Matt Merricks struck out two batters over two innings, continuing his rehab assignment.

Asheville lost, 12-6. I don't need to tell you that the Tourists' pitchers had a bad night. Joe Koshansky homered twice, his twelfth and thirteenth of the year; Matt Miller immediately followed Koshansky's first homer with one of his own (his twelfth of the year) but couldn't match Koshansky's second bomb.

Tigers 6, Rockies 4

2005-06-11T22:52:00.000-06:00

Geez...

Neither starting pitcher was exceptional tonight. Jason Jennings took the loss and wasn't helped by some shaky defense. He gave up four earned runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out three.

The Rockies left 13 men on base, so it's not as though we didn't have a chance to win this game. Another loss.

Tap the Rox Tonight -- Game 60: Jennings vs. Bonderman

2005-06-11T15:37:00.000-06:00

Jason Jennings (3-6, 5.93) takes the mound for the Colorado Rockies tonight as they continue a three-game set against the Detroit Tigers. After two consecutive great starts, Jennings was merely okay in his most recent start last Sunday against the Reds, giving up four runs and nine hits over five innings and getting a no decision. The Rockies, however, ended up winning the game, making three consecutive starts by Jennings which the Rockies have won.

As previously mentioned, the Rockies are gutted by injuries. The most recent casualty is Matt Holliday, who will miss four to six weeks of action with a broken pinky. Jorge Piedra has been called up to take his spot on the roster, but more than likely we're going to be seeing a lot of Dustan Mohr over the next few weeks.

Jeremy Bonderman (6-4, 3.90) takes the hill for the Tigers. Bonderman has a nice K rate and walk rate, and he has nights where he's unhittable. He also has nights where he's human, such as his last start in which he took the loss, giving up five earned runs on five hits and two walks. He's given up two longballs in each of his last two starts, and Coors is probably not a good place to go when you're pitching like that.