KTE Meet the Colorado Rockies

[smg58]

The Colorado Rockies

These numbers are as of Thursday morning.

58-62, .483
4th place in the NL West, 5.5 games behind the Dodgers, 4 games behind the Reds for the wild card.

News: The Rockies brought back long-time third baseman Vinny Castilla earlier in the week; at last check he was on a minor league assignment for them. The more pressing news is the day-to-day status of their best hitter Matt Holliday, who was hit in the wrist by a pitch earlier in the week.

So who are these guys, and how have they managed to stay in contention? Well, the team is largely home-grown, and humidor or not, they've developed some pitchers who can survive playing half their games in Coors Field with their numbers intact. I'm not sure the humidor explains everything about the downturn in offense at the Rockies' home park -- the latest example of which was an 18-inning game on Tuesday that the Rockies lost to the D-Backs by a score of 2-1 -- but I'll leave it to the person covering the KTE when the Mets go out there to expound on that.

The position players:

Catcher: Yorvit Torrealba (5 HR, 39 RBI, .253 BA/.301 OBP/.424 SLG) has been getting most of the starts lately. The very weak-hitting Danny Ardoin (0 HR and 2 RBI in 105 AB, .190/.261./.257; I'm assuming his glove is really good) is the back-up.

First base: Todd Helton (12 HR, 58 RBI, .297/.409/.483). The one "name" player in the line-up. Having an OK year by his standards. The Rockies have to be concerned that a decline is starting, as they will owe Helton $19.1M in 2011.

Second base: Jamey Carroll (61 R, 4 HR, 28 RBI, .301/.383/.400). He has a rock-solid OBP at the top of the Rockies' batting order, but the 10 for 20 in steals makes you want him to try to run if he gets on.

Shortstop: Clint Barmes (7 HR, 54 RBI, .236/.273/.363). Had the great start followed by the bizarre injury last year, and has done little right at the plate since.

Third base: Garrett Atkins (19 HR, 81 RBI, .305/.381/.516). Very quietly having a great season.

Left field: Matt Holliday (22 HR, 71 RBI, .327/.378/.570). Very quietly having an even better season than Atkins. If his wrist is still an issue, look for the less threatening Luis A. Gonzalez (.250/.274/.371) and Ryan Spillborghs (.290/.330/.460) to platoon.

Center field: Cory Sullivan (10 triples, 1 HR 18 RBI, .276/.321/.411). Has shown no pop, and the good speed implied by the 10 triples has not helped him steal bases (only 7 for 12). Spillborghs might play center against a lefty if Holliday is OK.

Right field: Brad Hawpe (17 HR, 57 RBI, .299/.385/.514). Another solid bat in the line-up.

The pitching match-ups:

Friday, 7:10: Byung-Hyun Kim (7-7, 4.65 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 112.1 IP, 12 HR, 91 K) vs Steve Trachsel. For all his misadventures, Kim is still around, and is capable of a decent outing.

Saturday, 7:35: Jeff Francis (9-9, 3.39, 1.17, 154 IP, 14 HR, 94 K) vs. emergency Pedro replacement. I don't know who's in this spot for the Mets -- possibly Dave Williams as a call-up -- but this does not look like a good match-up for the Mets regardless.

Sunday, 1:10: Jason Jennings (7-9, 3.34, 1.28, 172.2 IP, 14 HR, 118 K) vs. Orlando Hernandez. El Duque gets the staff ace.

The starters we're missing:

Aaron Cook (8-11, 4.09, 1.42, 167.1 IP, 12 HR, 66 K)
Josh Fogg (8-7, 4.59, 1.46, 133.1 IP, 18 HR, 68 K)

The bullpen:

Brian Fuentes (3-3, 23 SV, 3.35, 1.08, 48.1 IP, 5 HR, 58 K). He brings it. His ERA is rather high given his otherwise excellent peripherals, but he appears to be doing the job.

Ramon Ramirez (3-3, 2.90, 1.05, 49.2 IP, 2 HR, 50 K). A solid young set-up guy who appears capable of challenging Francis for the closer role at some point.

Jose Mesa (0-5, 3.59, 1.59, 52.2 IP, 5 HR, 29 K). Not the guy you'd expect to be leading the pen in innings. He hasn't been dreadful, but he hasn't been that good either. I think the Mets want to see this guy get the ball instead of Ramirez.

Manuel Corpas (0-1, 2.25, 1.08, 12 IP, 1 HR, 15 K). He's had a great first month in the majors.

Jeremy Affeldt (7-6, 5.45, 1.53, 77.2 IP, 10 HR, 34 K). He's been used as a lefty out of the pen since the trade that brought him here from Kansas City, and already has three wins to show for 7 innings of work.

Tom Martin (2-0, 4.47, 1.40, 44.1 IP, 3 HR, 34 K). Like a lot of veteran lefties, he's played for a lot of different teams, including the Mets in 2001.

Ray King (1-3, 4.22, 1.63, 32 IP, 3 HR, 15 K). Strictly a situational lefty, as righties have a .931 OPS against him.

[Elster88]

Good stuff.

[MFS62]

Nice job, 58.
After all these years, it is amazing to see most Rockies' pitchers with ERAs under 5.00, and some under 4.00. That humidor must be helping.

Later

[metirish]

Keith said last night that the Rockies have the best team ERA in the league,is that possible?

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Nice job in instructing us about our upcoming enemy.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I wonder how old friend Kaz Matsui is doing in Colorado Springs?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

From the Rockies' web page on MLB.com.

Talking about need for the Rockies to add some more offense:

]The primary focus of any late-summer tinkering remains on finding solutions from within, with Triple-A infielders Kaz Matsui and Carlos Rivera creating the biggest buzz. "Matsui's definitely a guy [we're considering]," said O'Dowd about potential August moves before the rosters expand in September. "We want him to continue to get some at bats. But we'll address that one in the short term." Matsui came to the Rockies organization in a June trade for Eli Marrero and has hit .284 with three homers and 11 RBIs in 22 games with the Sky Sox while nursing a herniated disc.

[Guest cooby]

MFS62 wrote: Nice job, 58. After all these years, it is amazing to see most Rockies' pitchers with ERAs under 5.00, and some under 4.00. That humidor must be helping. Later

Phillies guys last night said they have the lowest team ERA in the league

[Guest cooby]

Whoops, just read what metirish said, heheh.

I guess the Phillies guys and Keith got the same note

[smg58]

Kaz is hitting .272 at Colorado Springs with three home runs. He hasn't played with the Rockies at any point since the trade.

The two reserves I neglected to mention earlier: Infielder Jason Smith (5 HR, 13 RBI, .265/.327/.429), and outfileder Choo Freeman (2 HR, 15 RBI, .248/.310/.359)

Yes, the Rockies' 4.09 team ERA is indeed first in the NL, and second in the majors behind Detroit. Their 549 runs rank 10th in the NL and 22nd overall. Their .758 OPS ranks 8th in th NL and 16th overall.

[seawolf17]

B-H Kim and Jeff Francis are actually both a lot WORSE on the road than they are at home:

Kim -- Batters are hitting ..337/.401/.543 on the road, and .253/.316/.365 at home.

Francis -- Batters are hitting 249/.332/.406 against him, as opposed to an incredible .189/.264/.333 at Coors.

Jennings is about the same home and away.

[Frayed Knot]

Good stuff dude.
I think the Rox have been off everyone's radar for most of the year - even though they're still in the muck of things in both the NLWest and the WC chases.

And now we know them!

[Elster88]

Frayed Knot wrote: I think the Rox have been off everyone's radar for most of the year

Prob since we haven't played them yet this year.

[Frayed Knot]

<<<----- And I've become Kaz!!!!


That it's late August and we haven't played them yet is a big part of it obviously.

But it seems to me that they've just been a totally anonymous team all year. This new non-Coors-like baseball being played out there - due both to the makeup of their squad and the now-famous baseball humidor - has taken away virtually all of what we used to know about them. Lotsa new faces as well.

[Gwreck]

Elster88 wrote: Prob since we haven't played them yet this year.

Seems strange that you could be playing a team for the first time during a year on August 18. Rockies are the last "new" team we face this year.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Until we play Detroit, of course.

[Gwreck]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Until we play Detroit, of course.

Of course.

[Zvon]

Very nice KTE smg58.
Thnx.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Bump for tonight. I think we face the same pitchers and everything. The only new tid-bit I can think of is the call-up of Kazuo.

Matsui is 7-for-17 in 5 games.

EDIT: Checking now, the pitching matchups will be Trachsel v. Kim (7-9, 5.18); Williams v. Josh Fogg (9-8, 4.91); and Perez v. Jeff Francis (10-10, 3.53)

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Always nice to know in advance who's ass you're going to kick. Nice job 58.

[Guest Edgy DC]

2005 first-rounder Troy Tulowitzki has been called up by the Rocks and will replace Clint Barnes as the starting shortstop.

Matsui played a bit in center during his exile in AAA, so it'll be interesting to see if the Rocks try to go forward in 2007 with three shortstops.

[Frayed Knot]

Matsui's a FA after this year so it's not like the Rox need to find a place to stash him if they don't have one handy.

[Guest Edgy DC]

No doubt. That is part of why it is interesting.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Rocks have also called up their "Catcher of the Future," Chris Ianetta, and released Danny Adroin, since the last time we saw 'em.

I would imagine Ianetta gets a start in this series.

Remember Ben Petrick? He was supposed to be a phenom and wasn't.

Kazoo looked like he did when he was going well with the Mets. He just could never stay healthy enuf to keep it up.

[seawolf17]

And JD Closser. The Rox have had a lot of "catchers of the future" throughout the years, it seems.

They should have just dealt for Piazza and had him hit 90 homers a year playing half his games in Coors Field.