SB Nation - Jose Contreras

Tuesday Rockpile: Firin' up the hot....plate

Poseidon's Fist — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:28:16 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

It's okay, Bradley, you do a lot of little things well.

All (Relatively) Quiet on the Colorado Front

The Sporting News' choice for Executive of the Year has a lot of pans to juggle in the fire at this year's GM meetings, not that it is unusual. At least he won't be working out a blockbuster trade this year. In fact, O'Dowd figures to be far from the limelight as the Rockies, along with most other teams, deal with economics in free-agency market, writes Patrick Saunders.

The only probable trade of a prominent Rockie at this point is RF Brad Hawpe. When trying to raise Bradley's value, perhaps O'Dowd should read Beyond the Boxscore - Hawpe grades out at 2nd best in the major leagues since 2007 at some new-fangled stat called "Little Things" (defined as wRAA dividied by WPA/LI). Apparently Hawpe does those "little things" well that commentators love to mention, while Brian Roberts and Derek Jeter are terrible. Hmm...

Even though Rockies fans with a vague recollection of who Seth Smith is will be pining for O'Dowd to bring back Matt Holliday, the Rockies don't figure to fish in the big free agent pond. In fact, in MLBTradeRumor's Top 50 Free Agents, only one current Rockie or projected signee appears - at no. 50. For what it's worth, I agree with Tim Dierkes that No. 50 will wear purple pinstripes and sign on the dotted line rather soon.

Thomas Harding reported yesterday that Jose Contreras and Joe Beimel filed for free agency. Neither are favorites to return to Colorado, though Contreras is an intriguing wild card.

The Elias Free Agent rankings were released yesterday, and Tracy Ringolsby notes that Marquis, Beimel, and Torrealba are Type B Free Agents. Nothing surprising there. In light of the list's publication, Fangraphs notes the Elias rankings is Where Darren Oliver = Matt Holliday Happens. R.J. Anderson uses two former Rockies to illustrate the painfully incongruent draft pick compensation system.

If you missed it yesterday, Rowbot deacs posted a link in the Joel Sherman Fanshot that Torrealba turned down a 2yr/$4.5mil contract, according to Jon Heyman tweeter. I'm just fine with Paul Phillips being the backup to start the season, and I'm very intrigued to see what Michael McKenry could offer the big club eventually in 2010.

Arizona Fall League, and Dreams

Dan O'Dowd wasn't the only Rockie to be honored yesterday. After going 6-for-11 with 3 HR, 4 RBI, 6 runs and a stolen base last week for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the AFL, Wilin Rosario was named AFL Player of the Week. It's good to see the kid raking once again after he struggled with the large jump to Modesto to start the summer.

Another Rockies prospect has had more of a Greg Smith time in the AFL. Chaz Roe is dealing with the flu, part of his disappointing showing thus far. He is a candidate for Rule 5 protection, as he was drafted in 2005, with the Rockies next pick after Troy Tulowitzki.

PizzaCutter wrote a How To piece at BtB for anyone who wants to visit all 30 parks in a summer - on a budget.

Six for Six

dajafi — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:26:33 -0000

More photos » by Jason DeCrow - AP

The man who gave us Game Six. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

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We have exactly six hours, as I write this, before the scheduled first pitch of World Series Game Six. Below, a half-dozen thoughts, most of which have been bubbling for a few days now, to pass at least a bit of that time:

Tonight's pitching matchup, in which future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez (age 38) goes for the Phillies against all-time postseason wins leader Andy Pettitte (37) for the Yankees, is the first time two starters with a combined age of 75 or older have faced off in the Series since Game One of the 2005 Fall Classic between the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox, when two ex-Yankees, Roger Clemens (then 43) and Jose Contreras (allegedly 33) went at it. Pettitte's on three days' rest, Pedro is facing an augmented lineup compared to the one he saw in Game Two (when weak-hitting Jose Molina, not slugger Jorge Posada, was behind the plate), and it's gonna be cold. The game easily could become a battle of the bullpens, a scary prospect for both managers.
Phils second baseman Chase Utley has tied Reggie Jackson's World Series record with five home runs in the five games thus far. As several pundits have noted, there's a real chance that Utley could be named the Most Valuable Player of the Series even if the Yankees win: no one player has stood out for New York other than perhaps Johnny Damon, who's batting .381 and has scored five runs, including the Game Four winner; and closer Mariano Rivera, who has finished off all three Yankee wins to this point. (Hideki Matsui is batting .556 with two homers, but he was reduced to pinch-hitting for the three games in Philly; he has just nine at-bats.) Meanwhile, Utley hit two homers in each of the Phils' wins, has scored six times, leads all batters with eight RBIs, and is basically the only reason the Phils have generated any offense in light of Ryan Howard's epic slump and overall subpar hitting from Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez. If Pettitte pitches a great game tonight and gets the win, he'll be MVP with two victories in the Series--but if, say, the Yankees win a high-scoring game in which someone like Mark Teixeira (2 for 19 thus far) or Robinson Cano (3 for 18) is the big hitting star, while Utley goes 4 for 5 with another homer and a bunch of RBI, he'll probably by the MVP. This would be, at best, terribly awkward: for Chase Utley, the one downside of greatness is having to be recognized for his greatness. Imagine Fox's Ken Rosenthal saying, "Congratulations Chase, but your team lost--how do you feel?" You'll get either nothing or a response they'd better have on at least a five-second delay.

Neither manager has covered himself in glory this Series. As I've written here many times, I think Charlie Manuel is easily the greatest manager in Phillies history--but his in-game decisions hurt the team in each of the last four games. He went with Martinez too long in Game Two, made an inexplicable decision to pinch-hit helpless Eric Bruntlett in a big spot in Game Three and then left reliever Chad Durbin in too long when he obviously had no command, did the same with Brad Lidge in the nightmarish Game Four, and then futzed around with the outfield defensive alignment late in Game Five to near-disastrous effect. Maybe worse, he has a dead spot on his roster in the person of rookie lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo, who hasn't yet pitched in the Series and almost certainly won't unless the Phils are getting blown out; meanwhile, with Victorino hurting after getting hit on the hand early in Game Five, there's a chance he'll have to use Bruntlett, among the worst hitters in baseball, as his DH or left fielder in a win-or-die game tonight. I'd seriously rather see Cliff Lee or Hamels--both lefties, mind you--in the lineup against Pettitte.
Meanwhile, Yankee manager Joe Girardi failed to leverage the advantage he earned by his team winning three of the first four games, starting talented but erratic righty A.J. Burnett on short rest for the house-money Game Five, watching him get pummeled, and now having to sweat out the 37 year-old Pettitte doing the same tonight. If he falls short, Game Seven would go to ace CC Sabathia, on double-short rest--a situation in which the Phillies knocked him around in the 2008 National League Division Series. Girardi's bullpen management has been questionable as well: heading toward the end of the Series, he really only can trust Rivera (who, distressingly for the Phils, probably is good for two innings tonight) and perhaps veteran lefty Damaso Marte and rookie righty David Robertson.
It hurts to admit this, but if the Yankees go on to win, the big turning point in the Series will have been the role reversals of Cole Hamels and Pettite in Game Three. Hamels took a 3-0 lead into the fourth inning, got a tough call on a full-count pitch to Teixiera that went for a walk, and then fell to pieces, allowing a controversial home run to Rodriguez that made it 3-2 and surrendering three more runs before getting pulled the next inning. It was Hamels' whole season writ small: bad luck or bad karma followed by bad pitching and a downward spiral he couldn't escape. (To be clear: I'm not slagging Hamels here. The guy was the single biggest reason we won it all last year; for that, from me, he has a lifetime pass.) Pettitte, by contrast, escaped near-disaster early on: he'd thrown 51 pitches and allowed three runs through two innings, but held the Phillies to one run over the next four on a night when, as he reportedly later told teammates, he had "nothing." I kind of hate the guy, as I do most ostentatiously religious athletes, but I can't deny that he pitched like a champion Saturday night.
There's a lot about the Yankees that baseball fans find irritating, from the eternal sense of entitlement among their fan base to the whining about balls and strikes and the innumerable, interminable mound conferences and other delaying tactics they've used in this Series. But what really turns my stomach about their push for a 27th world championship is the notion that they need to "win it for the Boss," ailing owner/tyrant George Steinbrenner. To put it mildly, this isn't a sympathetic guy: he's a convicted felon (for illegal campaign contributions to kindred spirit Richard Nixon) and a confirmed sexist--and this is even before you think about his depredations among team employees or his contributions to worsening baseball's competitive imbalance. As even Yankee great Don Mattingly acknowledged, he's less likable than Monty Burns. The Yankees, and their fans, should have enough reasons to crave victory beyond wanting to provide still more ego validation to a world-class asshole like Steinbrenner, who's probably too unwell to enjoy it anyway.

Meanwhile, the clock continues to wind toward 7:57pm and at least one more baseball game for the highest stakes.

Tuesday Thoughts: Astros Links and more

davoag — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:40:56 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

New Astros skipper Brad Mills, pointing out the heights he'll take Houston to.

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Well, Mills is the man and DQ has done a great job of talking about all the reasons why he's the acceptable choice now. However poorly they handled the negotiations with Acta, they got the next-best guy, which I'm happy about. Justice, of course, runs down all the reasons why Mills is the right guy. I especially like the story about Mills sliding into the dugout and staying in the game. Toughness is a virtue this Astros team could use.

Looking ahead to who will join Mills' staff, the obvious choice for bench coach is Tim Bogar, as I'm sure it'd be a step up from first base coach. I wonder if Mills will reach out to anyone he used to manage in the minors, like LaRussa bringing in McGwire this week. Any ideas on pitching coaches?

I know it's hard to imagine other news going on today, but here's a nice story on the Astros minor league from an ongoing series on FanGraphs. I disagree only slightly on both Paulino and on Cespedes. First, Paulino was coming off an injury that forced him to miss most of 2008, so maybe he just needs some more time to round into form. I could see his numbers going down next year with more time and seasoning. Cespedes, on the other hand, appears to be a guy everyone loves to call a sleeper, but who never really taps into his considerable potential. Even though he had a respectable ERA when corrected for ballpark factors, Cespedes had some real clunkers and just wasn't consistent enough to make me believe he can be successful at the higher levels. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think once someone stays a sleeper for three or four years, they lose some of their luster.

I know that Justice talked about it earlier today, but I'm not as concerned about the Astros indifference to Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman. Sure, he's 21 and a hard thrower, but who was the last Cuban player to make a huge impact in the majors? Livan Hernandez signed 13 years ago but every player from Castro's island that's signed since then hasn't really panned out that well. Kendry Morales has some potential with the Angels and Jose Contreras had some good seasons, but 40-60 million is a lot for some kid who scouts have only seen sketchily.

Yorvit Torrealba blasts Rockies into NLDS tie, Rockies beat Phillies 5-4

Rox Girl — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:19:26 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

about 1 month ago: Colorado Rockies' Yorvit Torrealba, left, celebrates with teammate Todd Helton (17) in front of Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz (51) after hitting a two-run home run during the fourth inning of Game 2 of the National League division baseball series, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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Colorado scored a first inning run from Carlos Gonzalez, later got a two run home run from Yorvit Torrealba and an effective pitching performance from Aaron Cook and several relievers to defeat the Phillies 5-4 on Thursday and even their NLDS series at one game apiece as the teams now head to Denver and Coors Field for games three and four.

Cook pitched brilliantly before running into trouble in the sixth inning, when the Phillies wound up scoring three of their four runs. Jose Contreras was called on to get out of the inning, eventually inducing an inning double play from Carlos Ruiz to put a stop to the rally. Matt Belisle pitched a scoreless seventh, but Rockies killer Jayson Werth hit a solo home run off of Rafael Betancourt with two outs in the eighth to pull the Phillies back within one run. Franklin Morales finished the inning before giving way to Huston Street who required a little drama, walking Matt Stairs and allowing a two out single to Jimmy Rollins before recording the save.

Dexter Fowler drove in two runs, both with sacrifice flies including the eventual game winner in the top of the seventh inning after the Rockies loaded the bases with none out.

WOOT!!! HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE NOW, MONKEYS!!!

via www.fangraphs.com

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Rockies Set Rotation, Roster for NLDS and Lineup for Game 1

Jabberwocky — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:22:35 -0000

More photos » by Matt Rourke - AP

Ubaldo Jimenez will lead the Rockies' playoff rotation.

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According to Sports Illustrated, Jorge De La Rosa will not be available for the NLDS. As such, here's the Rockies' NLDS rotation:

Ubaldo Jimenez,
Aaron Cook
Jason Hammel

It appears that Jason Marquis will be used out of the bullpen during the first three games, meaning that the Rockies seem to be planning to have Jimenez go in game 4 on short rest and Cook in game 5 on regular rest. The possibility still remains that Marquis could start game 4, though no decision has been made on that. Likely if the Rockies are up 2-1 Marquis would start and if they are down 2-1 Jimenez would go.

Jim Tracy on Marquis:

"I think the first two-thirds of the season were exceptional," Tracy said. "Right now he's not throwing the ball quite in the same manner. And to ignore a guy that has thrown the ball as well as Jason Hammel has thrown it since the All-Star break, I really feel is doing ourselves a disservice."

According to the Denver Post, here's the playoff bullpen:

Jason Marquis
Jose Contreras
Matt Belisle
Joe Beimel
Franklin Morales
Matt Daley
Rafael Betancourt
Huston Street

Belisle basically replaced De La Rosa on the roster. The Rockies have two lefties in the pen to help with the Phillies' Ryan Howard in particular.

From the same link, here's the Game 1 Lineup and bench:

Game 1 Lineup:
CF Dexter Fowler
LF Carlos Gonzalez
1B Todd Helton
SS Troy Tulowitzki
3B Garrett Atkins
C Yorvit Torrealba
RF Brad Hawpe
2B Clint Barmes
RHP Ubaldo Jimenez

This is pretty much what I figured the lineup would be for Game 1, with Atkins and Torrealba starting. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that CarGo will make the start in lieu of Ryan Spilborghs, though I believe that the Rockies are better suited with Gonzalez in the leadoff position rather than in the two hole.

Bench:

1B/DH Jason Giambi
C Chris Iannetta
LF Seth Smith
OF Ryan Spilborghs
3B Ian Stewart
2B/OF Eric Young Jr.

EY2 has taken Quintanilla's bench spot while Giambi slides in as the extra position player.

Hat tip to Rock Oax for his FanShot.

UPDATE: Tracy Ringolsby adds his thoughts on the roster and mentions that Jose Contreras is also a viable option for the starter of Game 4.

Groundballs and the Bullpen: Do we need them?

RockiesMagicNumber — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:00:29 -0000

In the Rockpile today, Poseidon's Fist linked an article by Dave Cameron of Fangraphs discussing the Rockies' postseason rotation. He breaks it down to Ubaldo-Cook-DLR-Hammel, leaving Marquis off of the rotation. But it isn't just "lol marquis is teh awfuls," he raises a really good point:

Marquis would give the bullpen something it doesn't have right now - a guy to come in and get a ground ball in order to induce a DP or a play at the plate.

He raises a good point. The bullpen we have going into the postseason is very strikeout-heavy, pretty much bereft of groundballers. But is that such a bad thing?

Name	GB/FB	GB%	FB%	K/9	BB/9	K/BB	HR/9	AVG	WHIP
Aaron Cook	2.30	56.7%	24.7%	4.44	2.68	1.66	1.08	.282	1.41
Jason Marquis	2.00	55.6%	27.8%	4.75	3.31	1.44	0.64	.260	1.36
Ubaldo Jimenez	1.85	52.3%	28.2%	7.98	3.44	2.32	0.55	.232	1.24
Juan Rincon	1.41	47.7%	33.8%	8.77	7.01	1.25	0.70	.199	1.48
Jason Hammel	1.51	46.3%	30.8%	6.75	2.16	3.12	0.88	.290	1.39
Jorge de la Rosa	1.32	44.7%	34.0%	9.35	4.10	2.28	0.99	.251	1.4
Joe Beimel	0.83	40.4%	48.9%	6.60	2.40	2.75	1.20	.287	1.4
Matt Belisle	1.03	40.4%	39.4%	6.23	1.48	4.20	1.78	.284	1.29
Randy Flores	1.08	40.0%	37.1%	10.03	1.54	6.50	1.54	.299	1.37
Jose Contreras	1.25	39.5%	31.6%	9.00	4.50	2.00	1.29	.288	1.64
Huston Street	0.92	39.1%	42.4%	10.29	1.94	5.31	1.04	.202	0.93
Matt Daley	0.59	32.8%	55.5%	9.77	2.84	3.44	0.89	.223	1.13
Rafael Betancourt	0.60	29.5%	49.2%	10.13	1.88	5.40	0.38	.201	0.92
Franklin Morales	0.54	27.1%	50.5%	9.30	4.76	1.95	0.91	.233	1.39
Joel Peralta	0.50	24.7%	49.3%	8.03	4.38	1.83	1.09	.280	1.58

It's interesting to note that the strikeouts and groundballs seem to be inversely correlated, but that's a different study entirely.

Contrast this bullpen with the guys in 2007, just based on GB%:

Name	GB/FB	GB%	FB%	K/9	BB/9	K/BB	HR/9	AVG	WHIP
LaTroy Hawkins	3.03	63.3%	20.9%	4.72	2.6	1.81	0.98	0.25	1.23
Aaron Cook	2.46	57.9%	23.6%	3.31	2.39	1.39	0.81	0.275	1.34
Manny Corpas	2.03	57.4%	28.3%	6.69	2.31	2.9	0.69	0.223	1.06
Franklin Morales	2.07	54.9%	26.5%	5.95	3.2	1.86	0.46	0.235	1.22
Jeremy Affeldt	1.63	53.0%	32.5%	7.02	5.03	1.39	0.46	0.22	1.36
Matt Herges	1.22	46.5%	38.0%	5.55	2.77	2	0.74	0.199	1.01
Ubaldo Jimenez	1.26	46.4%	36.7%	7.46	4.06	1.84	1.1	0.232	1.3
Jeff Francis	1.19	44.4%	37.2%	6.9	2.63	2.62	1.04	0.278	1.38
Ryan Speier	1.38	41.5%	30.2%	6.5	4	1.63	0.5	0.283	1.56
Mark Redman	0.96	41.3%	42.9%	6.41	2.75	2.33	0.92	0.275	1.37
Josh Fogg	1.00	40.0%	40.0%	5.11	3.21	1.59	1.25	0.293	1.53
Brian Fuentes	0.83	35.9%	43.1%	8.22	3.38	2.43	0.88	0.21	1.13

Click past the jump and we'll break these numbers down.

In 2009, our 3 most extreme groundballers are all starting pitchers. Which makes sense, more or less, it helps mitigate damage via the double play and it keeps pitch counts down by getting more balls in play early in the count.

In 2007, however, 3.5 of our 5 most extreme groundballers were in the bullpen, and only Aaron Cook was in the rotation. Morales' role in the postseason was somewhat mixed, so that's why he gets the .5 for pen and .5 for rotation.

So in a casual sense, yes, we'd like a groundballer in the bullpen. But it seems, for the rationale listed above, that the groundballers are better suited to the rotation, as they are more prone to giving up hits (at least in terms of Marquis and Cook), and typically with bullpen duty, you want to get the outs as lock-downingly as possible, as to mitigate potential inherited damage.

So let's get a quick look at how 2007 and 2009 stack up in summation.

2007	GB%	K/9	tRA*
Rotation	45.71%	5.61	4.96
Bullpen	50.01%	6.46	4.44

2009	GB%	K/9	tRA*
Rotation	51.24%	6.69	4.33
Bullpen	38.48%	8.02	4.06

You could probably just look at that little chart and say "well, the Rockies just are a better pitching team this year" and I wouldn't argue with you at all. But it does seem that in sacrificing GB% for K/9, we made our pen better, and by further emphasizing GB% in the rotation, it made it better there as well.

The two pitchers I'd like to single out kind of embody the balance between the two measures presented: Ubaldo Jimenez and Manny Corpas.

I don't think I need to say much about Jimenez. 7.98 K/9 and 52.3% GB and he throws 700mph and he runs on clean burning biodiesel.

Corpas, however (and I'll keep this somewhat brief, I want to touch on his season more after we're all wrapped up with 2009), strikes out a decent amount, has excellent control of the strike zone (as in he never walks anyone), and still throws his slider very effectively. He also has a career GB% of 51.4%.

His sinker/2seamer/whatever we're calling it lost something this year, and there's a distinct chance we could chalk some of that up to a damaged elbow causing him to overthrow or something (this really isn't my area of expertise). He got hit a lot harder than we'd like to see, but I really think he'll rebound in 2010. He still gets a good number of ground balls, still doesn't give up many fly balls, and actually posted a lower FIP in 2009 than '08 or '07.

Frankly, and I know he was kind of awful this year, but I do think the pen missed having Corpas just for the different toolset he brought along. I mean, clearly we didn't miss him TOOOOOOOO much, but we had to rely on guys like Flores to come strike one LHB out (and he did do that pretty well: 11K to 1BB v LHB) when we had a jam to get out of. Season-long, yeah, Corpas was trouble, but situationally, he might still be a good tool to have around. But again, next season.

As for the original issue, having Marquis in the pen WOULD present us with a groundballing option, but I'm not 100% convinced I want to bring him into tight situations, especially with how wild his last start was in general. If you want a situational groundballer, you need a guy who can come in and paint corners with either a nasty changeup or a strong sinker, locating low and getting the big double play outs. I don't see Marquis being able to do that.

Mopup guy? Sure. 3 inning relief? Sure.

Situational groundballer? ehhhhhhh I wish we had Corpas still.

Rockies grind out playoff caliber win over Cardinals, magic number drops to six

Rox Girl — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:48:53 -0000

More photos » by Jack Dempsey - AP

about 1 month ago: Colorado Rockies' Todd Helton hits a sacrifice fly to drive in a run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning of a baseball game on Friday, Sept. 25, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

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Going up against a bona fide ace, the Cardinals Chris Carpenter, with a potential playoff spot still hanging in the balance, the Colorado Rockies came through with gutsy, gritty 2-1 victory on Friday night, just when they needed it.

The Rockies used two sacrifice flies, one by Todd Helton in the first inning to score Carlos Gonzalez, and a walk off fly to right field by Yorvit Torrealba in the bottom of the ninth to score Tory Tulowitzki to do their scoring. Meanwhile, the Cardinals got their only run when Jose Contreras left a mistake pitch up in the strike zone to Ryan Ludwick resulting in a solo home run. Other than that, mistakes by the Rockies players were few and far between.

Aaron Cook got things off on the right foot by pitching five scoreless innings, with an effective, devastating sinker that hasn't always been there for him in 2009 before giving way to Contreras. Contreras breezed through the harder part of St. Louis' lineup, striking out the side in the sixth, including Albert Pujols while giving up just a Matt Holliday single before getting hit hard by Ludwick in the seventh. Rafael Betancourt and Huston Street added scoreless innings (albeit with some drama in Betancourt's eighth before he induced a Matt Holliday double play to end it) to preserve the tie and set the stage for the Rockies walk off win.

Helton led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk against left hander Trever Miller, but was forced out at second on a Tulowitzki groundout. Jason Giambi with better hitting of late pinch hit for Brad Hawpe and came through with a single to push Tulowitzki to third (don't underplay his heads up baserunning to move up the extra base) which allowed Torrealba the chance to be the hero once again with the game winning RBI.

The Rockies are now 5-0 against the Cardinals this season.

87 - 67

Games Back: 5

Streak: Won 1

Games Left: 8

With eight games left for the Rockies and nine for the Braves, Atlanta still has to come up with four more wins than Colorado does the rest of the way to force a tie. Not that we want it to come to this, but a 3-5 record for the remaining eight games would require the Braves to finish 8-2 (7-2 in their regularly scheduled games plus the play-in) to overtake us. The Rockies magic number to clinch a playoff spot has dropped to six. Not to give too much fodder to the sky is falling crowd, but 3.5 games was the precise advantage that San Diego had on the Rockies after the games on Friday, September 21, 2007.

There were a couple of key distinctions, however. Because of game 163, the Rockies and Padres had 19 total games (10 for the Padres, 9 for the Rockies) left to play rather than the 17 now (hopefully) left for the Braves and Rox. When you push it forward to the Saturday standings and 17 total games left, the Rockies had already cut the Padres lead to 2.5, mainly, and this is the big key, because the Rockies were playing the Pads at San Diego and won. By the next day, coincidentally enough, the Rockies had cut the lead to 1.5. The lack of direct competition late in the season hurts the Braves chances tremendously this year. I said it once before, but the Braves really lost this All-Star race in July, just before the All-Star break when they let two late inning leads at Coors Field slip away.

As of now, the Braves are right with our 2007 pace, and you can remember what it took from the Rockies to overtake the Padres then. We'll see tomorrow if they're capable of cutting the lead to 2.5 with eight games left without the virtue of playing us directly. The Braves need help, and lots of it from the Cardinals and Brewers and Dodgers if they want to extend their season. The Rockies just need to keep on winning.

via www.fangraphs.com

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Aaron Cook and Huston Street returning, but how much did we really miss them?

Rox Girl — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:00:16 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

4 months ago: Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Huston Street reacts after closing out theTampa Bay Rays in the ninth inning of the Rockies' 4-3 victory in an interleague baseball game in Denver on Thursday, June 18, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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Sometimes I don't get the way the mainstream looks at the Rockies, or sports in general, actually. I look and see Colorado as a combination of many wonderful parts working more or less in sync with each other, where players come and go with injuries or what have you but the team as a whole keeps on chugging along, while they seem to find these little day to day injuries as more crucially important. This afternoon I was looking at our new SBNation.com portal site to see if their StoryStream was saying anything about the Rockies and the NL playoffs in general, and indeed it was, but the other big Rockies related bit they're following is the story that Aaron Cook returns to the rotation Friday, along with Huston "not Houston" Street's return from three weeks off with biceps tendinitis last night.

Yeah, Purple Row rides the short bus of baseball blogging for not making a full front page story about these returns sooner to get some search engine love, but we're not entirely to blame here, by winning at the same pace they were before the injuries, the Rockies have been making it look like both players are pretty extraneous to the team.

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Aaron Cook	10-6	26	25	1	1	0	0	145.0	167	75	72	18	46	75	4.47	1.47

Despite his 10-6 won/loss record, the Rockies are only 12-13 in Aaron Cook starts in 2009. Given the amount of innings he pitches, however, the team is more more than happy to welcome him back this Friday. Since he last started on August 21st, the Rockies have switched to a 4.1 man rotation, with replacement starters Josh Fogg and Jose Contreras picking up just three starts while the other four members of the starting staff have started the team's other 26 games. While this strategy has worked (the Rockies have gone 18-11 in that time frame) recent poor starts (such as the 2.1 inning debacle by Jorge De La Rosa last night have shown cracks in the dam and that the Rockies really could use their workhorse to pick up some innings slack and keep the other four starters sharp heading into the playoffs. Nonetheless, the Rockies gained one game on Atlanta, two and a half on Florida, and four games on the Giants in the wild card chase while Cook was absent.

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Huston Street	3-1	59	0	0	0	33	1	55.1	39	19	18	6	11	63	2.93	.90

Street, meanwhile seems poised to return to his closer's role and many Rockies fans will say not a moment too soon. Again, however, while the Rockies have missed him, it hasn't exactly shown up in the standings yet, with Colorado having an NL best record of 13-6 since he went down with his arm issues on September 1st. Again, this isn't to say that the Rockies aren't a better team with Street, they most certainly are, and the same absolutely holds true with Cook, but in 2009 they are showing themselves to be a team that can absorb minor injury losses very well.

Wednesday Rockpile: Playoffs in Sight for Rockies

Jabberwocky — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:27:02 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

These fans are ready to celebrate the second Rocktober in three years.

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With a tense Rockies win in a wet, cold, classic Coors Field game and a Giants loss, the Rockies' magic number for the Wild Card and their second playoff berth in three years is only seven. Colorado only likely needs to go 4-7 over their final 11 to clinch the berth. Heck, going 5-6 would give the Rockies their most regular season wins in franchise history and a 96.7% chance of being in the playoffs. Here are the scenarios in tabular form (hat tip to GOROCKIES85):

Colorado SF ATL Florida

3-8 89 wins 8-3 89 wins 8-3 89 wins 8-2 89 wins

4-7 90 wins 9-2 90 wins 9-2 90 wins 9-1 90 wins

5-6 91 wins 10-1 10-1 10-0

6-5 92 wins 11-0 11-0

7-4 93 wins

As you can see, there's not much chance of Colorado not making the playoffs at this point.

It was the tenth win in eleven games for Colorado in the friendly confines of home. The Rockies are now 39-14 (.736) at Coors since Jim Tracy took over as manager--and with eight more games at Coors simply equaling that pace will render the season-ending series vs. the Dodgers moot. That is, unless the Dodgers let the Rockies within two games of the division lead (not likely at this point).

Injury Updates

Good news and bad news from an injury standpoint.

Aaron Cook feels excited and ready to go (and indeed will start on Friday night vs. Chris Carpenter). Also of note is that Jose Contreras is similarly improving and could also be used Friday. In addition, the article mentions a couple of contract incentives that are coming up for Jorge De La Rosa.

Meanwhile, closer Huston Street returned to the mound for the first time in three weeks after suffering from bicep tendonitis. Also mentioned was that set-up man Rafael Betancourt was nursing a sore calf muscle last night.

On the bad side, Carlos Gonzalez pulled up a little lame after legging out a triple to lead off the first last night. The diagnosis is left hamstring tightness. The move to pull him was precautionary given the cold weather and he is listed as day-to-day. Money quote:

"I made contact and I was trying to go hard like I always do, and then my leg was feeling bad," Gonzalez said. "Right when I took off, I knew I was feeling pain, so I slowed down. I wasn't 100 percent. I was kind of jogging the bases. I expected to stop at second base, and then the ball just kept going off the wall. I was just jogging to third not to put any more pressure on my leg."

Here's Jim Tracy's perspective:

"From what I heard, he would be available tomorrow, but he's going to have to be beyond 100 percent for me to take that chance," Tracy said.

It sounds like Gonzalez will probably be held out of action until the weather improves, which makes sense to me, especially with the Rockies so close to clinching a playoff berth.

Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman defects to Andorra

Eli Greenspan — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:13:20 -0000

More photos » by Javier Galeano - AP

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Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman is the biggest name to defect from Cuba since Jose Contreras did back in 2002. Chapman's fastball has been clocked in the triple-digits, and several believe the 21-year old can continue to develop into a solid middle of the rotation pitcher.

Chapman cleared the first major hurdle by defecting to Cuba, but now he must go through a process known as unblocking, where the U.S. Treasury Department of Foreign Assets Control must confirm that his employment doesn't violate the U.S. embargo with Cuba.

So who will pursue the 6-foot-3, 185 pound left hander. He is expected to command more than the 32 million dollar bonus that Contreras received, but which team would pay him?

One scouting director told SI.com that Chapman projects more as a reliever than a starter, so some teams may stay away. The Yankees and Red Sox will likely be in the mix, and maybe the Angels would pursue him.

Do you want your team to spend on the 21-year old Cuban phenom?