SB Nation User Blog: Silverblood

Purple Row Awards: National League MVP

Silverblood — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:14:09 -0000

Who is the man casting such a long shadow over the NL?

The round of imaginary hardware-dispensing concludes today, in the form of the National League MVP. This is the last of the six awards voted on by the staff, and the third unanimous one, after which we will all have to sit back and wait for the real ones to be announced, then scoff behind our hands that they are clearly not as deserving as ours.

As ~~Jabberwocky~~ Poseidon warned, the choice may indeed be slightly contentious. Wanna see why? You have to JUMP.

Our new and improved, fail-safe magic baseball minds hereby unveil to you the best possible choice in all of baseball for the coveted MVP award....

David Eckstein

#22 / Second Base / San Diego Padres

Height: 5-7

Weight: 175

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 20, 1975

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - David Eckstein	136	503	64	131	27	2	2	50	39	46	3	1	.260	.323	.334

Yeah, your jaws are on the floor. But listen people, Eckstein was the cream of the crop this year. Whether it was his SCORP (Scrappiness Over Replacement Player) at 6.7, his Grit/9 at a appropriately gritty 11.4/9, or his Shortness/Hustle ratio (1:1) he topped the charts in every category you care to look at. Which is why we here at Purple Row unanimously award the Most Valuable Pest to Davi --

/is passed envelope

hangon er

/clears throat

I'm afraid there has been some kind of terrible mistake. Instead of awarding Most Valuable Pest, we're here to award Most Valuable Player. You know, one that is good at playing baseball. (But may not be quite as short, gritty, or scrappy as Eckstein. This is a travesty).

Actually, well, no. It's not. And the choice is still unanimous.

******

1. Albert Pujols

#5 / First Base / St. Louis Cardinals

Height: 6-3

Weight: 230

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 16, 1980

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Albert Pujols	160	568	124	186	45	1	47	135	115	64	16	4	.327	.443	.658

Okay, okay, I promise we're done yanking your chain now. As if it was going to be anybody else. Even for a guy with standards as high as Albert Pujols, the 2009 campaign was exceptional. You can reel off stat lines that look like video game numbers, but here's just a sample of which categories he led in this year, both traditional and sabergeek alike: OPS, runs scored, total bases, home runs, Adjusted OPS, Runs Created, extra base hits, times on base, Offensive Win Percentage, IBBs, and Home Run Per At-bat. He was third in batting average and RBI, but not by much. And he was doing all this even before acquiring his Tonto in the form of our old pal Matt Holliday. Baseball-Reference lists his top 5 comparisons through the age of 28: Jimmie Foxx, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Lou Gehrig, and Ken Griffey Jr. That's a pretty impressive list. And now, Albert, we ask that you make some space in your glittering trophy case for our humble, as well as imaginary, Purple Row Award. Aw, thanks. Aw, no, really. It's our pleasure. C'mon, man, you're embarrassing us.

2. Troy Tulowitzki

#2 / Shortstop / Colorado Rockies

Height: 6-3

Weight: 205

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Oct 10, 1984

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Troy Tulowitzki	151	543	101	161	25	9	32	92	73	112	20	11	.297	.377	.552

Call this a homer pick if you like. It probably is. But despite purple-colored glasses being clamped so firmly on our faces, we were able to look at what Tulo did since June 8th -- when he changed his stance -- and the resultant part his performance played in spurring a team to one of the all-time biggest turnarounds of all time. From being the second-worst team in baseball (thank you Washington Nationals) to coming so damn close to stealing the NL West title out from beneath a Dodgers team that had had it on ice since May, there's a lot of ways to say that the Rockies' season was special. And as the point was often made by sportswriters, as Tulo goeth, so goeth the Rockies. He was undoubtedly the MVP of the team, and yes, we do feel ourselves justified in handing off second-place honors to him here. It's such a steep drop from Pujols to Number Two, moreover, that it's not really a problem.

t -3. Chase Utley

#26 / Second Base / Philadelphia Phillies

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Dec 17, 1978

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Chase Utley	156	571	112	161	28	4	31	93	88	110	23	0	.282	.397	.508

t-3. Hanley Ramirez

#2 / Shortstop / Florida Marlins

Height: 6-3

Weight: 200

Bats: B

Throws: R

Born: Dec 23, 1983

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Hanley Ramirez	151	576	101	197	42	1	24	106	61	101	27	8	.342	.410	.543

Coming in tied at third were a pair of NL East beasts, Chase Utley and Hanley Ramirez. Utley's numbers were more or less equal with Tulo's, and he was a vital part of a team that has now found itself in possession of its second consecutive pennant, but on a lineup like that, which had something like 5 guys over 30 homers, it's hard for me at least to say that he was particularly the most valuable. Undoubtedly the best-hitting second baseman in MLB, Utley is normally more defensively reliable than he was in the NLDS, and while he is a deserving candidate, it's only for second or third-place honors.

Hanley Ramirez continues his growth as one of the most dynamic players in the game (another NL shortstop wearing #2, I can get behind it) and I'm really hoping that next year, he and Tulo will combine to knock Rollins and Reyes (ugh) off the list of premier shortstops. All he did was hit, but lost some points (again, at least from me) for the rumors of his not exactly being a team player at times, and getting into clubhouse scuffles with Dan Uggla. Plus, the Marlins faded pretty steeply at a time they were still as much in the race as the Braves. Yeah, yeah, you can argue all you like about whether it means best player solely by stats or best player in regards to the team. I am firmly of the latter camp, which was why I was so disgusted when A-Rod won AL MVP a few years ago for a last-place Texas Rangers team.

Here's full disclosure of silly and/or lunatic voting by your hard-working staff:

NL MVP	RMN	PF	togb	Russ	Silverblood	Jabbs
1	Albert Pujols	Albert Pujols	Albert Pujols	Albert Pujols	Albert Pujols	Albert Pujols
2	Chase Utley	Hanley Ramirez	Pablo Sandoval	Troy Tulowitzki	Troy Tulowitzki	Chase Utley
3	Hanley Ramirez	Troy Tulowitzki	Troy Tulowitzki	Chase Utley	Ryan Howard	Hanley Ramirez
4	Adrian Gonzalez	Chase Utley	Hanley Ramirez	Ryan Zimmerman	Adrian Gonzalez	Troy Tulowitzki
5	Troy Tulowitzki	Tim Lincecum	Matt Kemp	Hanley Ramirez	Pablo Sandoval	Matt Kemp

Full table of points, again weighted on a 50-40-30-20-10 scale:

Albert Pujols (300)
Troy Tulowitzki (170)
Chase Utley and Hanley Ramirez (130)
Pablo Sandoval (50)
Adrian Gonzalez (40)
Ryan Howard (30)
Ryan Zimmerman (20)
Matt Kemp (20)
Tim Lincecum (10)

This is the end of the Purple Row Awards, everyone. Thank ya very much. Now we sit back and wait for the Hot Stove. First offseason move: Joel Peralta outrighted. I think we all support that.

Rockies Review: Offseason Procedures

Silverblood — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:12:30 -0000

More photos » by Jack Dempsey - AP

I plan on seeing this a lot more next year.

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Well, Rowbots, the season is still over. Sadly. I've been around, but I had to take a week cold turkey off from the Rockies because that Game (you know the one) hurt so much that I still haven't been able to bring myself to watch highlights from the eighth inning. So we're left to watch the Angels beat themselves, Chase Utley morph into Chuck Knoblauch, and other such exciting postseason baseball (at least this time sans Frank TV). Yankees-Dodgers World Series FTW! (Give me the meteor).

There isn't much to say on the Rockies front that hasn't already been said, but I thought I'd throw this up there and explain how thingz iz gon work from now, through the blasted, desolate no-baseball hinterlands until life begins next spring (I hear there's an invention called football, may have to give it a try). As I see it, the Review is most usefully constituted as a weekly feature during the season, so I must sadly report that this is the last regular post for a while. If something big happens in Rockiesland, like us signing John Lackey +, Clint Hurdle being re-hired, or anything else like that, then I'll Review the beejeezus out of it, just for you, my loyal readers. But life will begin again next spring, by which point the Dodgers will have been humiliatingly booted out of the playoffs + and someone else that is not the Yankees will be busy hoisting a championship flag and giving out hardware. Time for us to dream again, keep ourselves warm over the hot stove, enjoy the crisp fall air and the upcoming holiday season, all that.

I have to say, the sting of that Game will take a while to dissipate, but I'm still able to thank the Rockies for a great, highly enjoyable, heart-attack-inducing season that (I certainly do hope) marks the beginning of their ascent to a regular contender. There will be transactions aplenty, awards to give out, and time to speculate, until the crocuses start showing and the buses roll into Phoenix, and by that time spring will have been sprung and we'll be ready to run the gauntlet all over again.

Thanks much for all your support and kind comments this year. It's been a lot of fun doing this Review for you. If you have suggestions on how I can improve it for next season, don't hesitate to leave them in the box below.

Colorado Rockies vs. Milwaukee Brewers, Miller Park, 12:10 PM MT. Monday, April 5, 2010. Be there or be square.

/turns out the spotlight

/exits stage right

+ LET ME DREAM OKAAAAAY

Poll

Who is the least offensive choice to win the World Series?

Yankees

22 votes

Angels

150 votes

Phillies

53 votes

Dodgers

12 votes

I'll just request the meteor too

46 votes

283 votes | Poll has closed

Rockies Review: Our Town, Our Time

Silverblood — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:28:38 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

I expect to see, oh, three more of these before the end of the season.

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First things first: Wow, what an incredible season. From the word go way the hell back on April 6 (losing to the Dbacks in their home opener by a score of 9-8) to coming to the technical end today (losing to the Dodgers in their home closer by a score of 5-3) it's been a rollercoaster of epic proportions. Bookended between those two losses to NL West division opponents was down down down, up up up, down down, and up down up again. (One thing that didn't change was more losses to the Dodgers, but we'll magnanimously overlook that fact). If 2007 was our filing of intentions to be taken seriously as a contender forthwith, then 2008 was the embarrassing Polaroids that we should hide under the bed (ask Rox Girl about that) and 2009 represents the ship finally sailing. Or so we hope. The team matured, after the much-publicized and shockingly effective in-season managerial resetting, from a gawky collection of talented but underachieving individuals into a purple-and-black dynamo that's rumbling into the playoffs as the possessor of its second wild card berth in three seasons, with a chance to lay to rest the lingering sour taste from Rocktober Part Une.

Join me after the jump as we glory in the good moments, rejoice that the bad moments are over with, hide the evidence, fuel the RV, and prepare to wreak doom upon the unsuspecting peons of Philadelphia (who, no doubt, are planning the same for us. Look out beloooooowww!)

On April 11, coincidentally the first time the Rox played Philadelphia (second if you count that the first game of the series was the 10th) I was holed up in a B&B in western Scotland, paying far far too much for wireless internet in the boonies, and cheerily ignoring a five-hour time difference and staying up until 2 AM just to glimpse the first pitch on Gameday. My psychosis needs no further attesting (as you never know when it might crop up in blackmail) and what happened in the game was more important, as it contained some themes we might recognize. The Rockies hit three homers, including one by Tulo, but were unable to bail out Jorge de la Rosa, who coincidentally couldn't bail himself out either by allowing five two-out runs. (This, combined with his seven-run outing at Citizens Bandbox later in the season, explains why I am slightly leery of having him face the Phils, but hey, a mulligan's a mulligan. Injury gods, we require George back for our scheduled world domination. Thxbai). This sort of game was emblematic of April, as the Rockies lurched from looking competent to looking downright offensive. They struggled to establish any kind of consistency, as the dearly departed Clint Hurdle used a different lineup every game and was prone to pulling a starter too early or a reliever too late. Gloom and doom was endemic around here at the Row, as we'd all been led to expect a showing more akin to the second half of 2007 rather than the general cowflop that constituted 2008. After spending spring training talking up fundamentals, it looked instead as if the Rockies had put "mental" in, sure, but forgotten the "fun." (Not to mention "skill." Don't ask me where that fits, I know it's somewhere).

May wasn't much better. The Rockies lost consecutive series to the Giants, Marlins, Astros, and Pirates (ouch) before briefly putting on their big-boy panties to split a four-game set with the Braves (crucial, pending later-season developments) and winning two of three against the Tigers in Detroit. But as they had heretofore excelled in doing, they followed a spark of light with a resounding thud. They were swept at home by the thorn-in-the-foot Dodgers, getting outscored 31-13 in the three games. Hurdle, who by that point was starting to see the shadow of the axe, benched Tulo for grounding into a first-pitch double play in the first game. It was an embarrassing showing all around; the team went 6-31 with RISP, blew the third game by allowing a five-run seventh inning, and dropped, with a very loud clunk, to 18-28. Their low-water mark before the 2007 about-face was nine games south of .500. This was just a little bit worse. Gloom? That's an understatement. The general sentiment around here made Hamlet look like an optimist.

That sweep by the Dodgers, however, was the seed of something good. Something very good. Something that they never, ever, would consider as good: their ex-manager, Jim Tracy. Hurdle was relieved of his post on May 29, and that night, Jason Marquis threw eight shutout innings against the Padres, Yorvit Torrealba recorded an RBI, and the Rockies capitalized on Padres errors for two unearned, winning 3-0. The era of the "Interim Manager" was officially underway. It was expected to be a tourniquet on the wound, hope he could coax the outfit back to a slightly more shipshape look, and entice some enterprising baseball guru to take a flyer on a fixer-upper in the offseason. Talented but underachieving players, just two years removed from a World Series run that was looking flukier all the time, and Tracy had managed himself out of gigs in LA and Pittsburgh. It might well be his last shot at proving himself a legit big-league skipper. He needed just a little redemption. We needed just a few wins. That was all we were hoping for.

Boy, were we in for a surprise.

The Rockies won the series against San Diego. However, they then went to Houston and showed the ugly plastic-surgery scars, losing the first three. By the fourth game, they were just hoping to escape Texas with a modicum of respectability, which was more or less achieved when they walloped the Astros 10-3. Not what they were looking for. Not really up to par.

Someone, after months of fumbling around in the dark and cobwebbed storage closet, must have located and turned on the "on" switch.

The Rockies went to St. Louis. Innocent enough, right? Lots of people go to St. Louis and get out of there with nothing but a tacky snapshot at the top of the arch, but the Rockies were just on their way up. Out of nowhere, they came together with the force of a Category 5 hurricane. Ian Stewart turned into Godzilla. The team as a whole punished St. Louis in the way that they were used to happening to them. They swept the four-game set by a convincing margin: 11-4, 10-1, 7-2, and 5-2. That was startling and pleasant enough, but it didn't stop there. They went to Milwaukee and did the same thing to the Brewers, winning the kind of close games that had been biting them in the posterior: 3-2, 4-2, and 5-4. And they were really warming up to this hot streak thing: They came home and bulldozed the unsuspecting Mariners for three, stringing together a winning streak -- 11 games -- that put in its application to be seriously considered alongside the 2007 insanity. A day off might have dulled their momentum, as they dropped the opener to the Tampa Bay Rays 12-4, but rather than vanishing back into their rut of incompetence, they dusted themselves off and took the next two. They swept the Pirates. They lost a series to the Dodgers. (Naturally). They went out West and broomed the A's and old friend Matt Holliday.

This "being a good team" thing was well and truly off to the races.

From there, we all know the drill. How the Rockies won big, won small. Won heartstoppingly, won ugly, won beautiful. Just won, baby. How they fended off the determined charge of the Giants all year long (until at last the Giants remembered they didn't have an offense, said, "Shit!" and withdrew). How that fending-off of the Giants included one of the most photogenic finishes of all time, Ryan Spilborghs' 14th-inning grand slam to seal a come-from-behind, 6-4 win. (This was on my 21st birthday, August 24 continuing a three-year-long tradition of astounding walkoff wins on that date. Preen preen preen). How the Rockies swept season series from the Reds, Nationals, and Brewers. How they throttled the Cubs, 11-5, on back-to-back days in August, and shut up the stupidity patrol in blue attempting to hijack Coors Field. How they lost yet more series to the Dodgers, even when they were hot. (Okay, we don't need to dwell on that). How they led the wild card for 31 straight days, defusing a furious last-minute effort by the Braves, before finally putting it away for good on a Franklin Morales curveball just a few days ago, to complete one of the most remarkable turnarounds in baseball history. They came inches from snatching out the NL West title, in a race they trailed by 15.5 games on June 3. While they didn't quite manage it, they delayed the Dodgers' clinch until Game 161.

Wow.

There have been heroes aplenty this year: Troy Tulowitzki, Huston Street, First Half Brad Hawpe, First Half Jason Marquis, Aaron Cook, Ubaldo Jimenez, Jorge de la Rosa, Jason Hammel (the only rotation in MLB with five starters possessing 10 or more wins apiece. HOLLA). Rafael Betancourt, for being total ice. Matt Daley and Joe Beimel, even Franklin Morales at times (although not now) for making Taylor Buchholz's absence bearable. Yorvit Torrealba, recovering from every parent's worst nightmare to turn into Cyborgerrealba down the stretch. Seth Smith. Carlos Gonzalez, who went from totally overmatched to totally dominant. Chris Iannetta, whose 11th inning homer against the Brewers was a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Jason Giambi, for coming in and making us all look like fools. And every guy on this team, each and every of the 25, and 40, who make this a total team effort, who come in every day and give it their gutsy god damnt all.

This chronicle isn't over. 92-70 is the team's best record ever, but there's more to go. There are ghosts to be avenged. There are perceptions to correct. There are worlds to shock, and as the fall leaves turn crisp and the bunting is unfurled on the stadium walls, the era is now. It's October, when heroes are made and spines thrill, when Seth Smith dumps a pinch-hit double down the line, when Eric Byrnes goes face first and a franchise's icon throws both fists in the air in pure, unabashed delight. When Tulo cracks one, when he makes the spinning play in the hole, when Stewart throws from the seat of his pants, when U-ball throws 100 and makes it look easy, when Street rips off a slider and they're nowhere near it. When Todd Helton works the count to 10 pitches and hits a double, when he scoops another throw out of the dirt, when the lights come up and you're one of the four still standing, THEN:

THIS IS ROCKIES BASEBALL.

THIS IS ROCKTOBER.

THIS IS THE TIME.

GO ROCKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poll

My Nostradamus mad skillz are saying that in the postseason, we will:

Go all the way. I'm feeling it. It's time to finish some business from 2007. Colorado Rockies, 2009 World Champions. How ya like them apples?!

140 votes

Get as far as we did last time. Another NL Champions flag flying over Coors, but we don't match up with the Yankees, Angels, or Sawx in the Series.

43 votes

Give it a gutsy effort, but be foiled by the Dodgers or Cards in the NLCS

49 votes

Give it the ol' college try, but won't get past the Phillies this time. Still a great season though.

81 votes

313 votes | Poll has closed

Rockies Review: Ladies and gentlemen, start your defibrillators

Silverblood — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:54:14 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Holy lawd awwwwwmighty. THANK YOU CLINT BARMES.

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I have to say, Rockies fans, it is a stroke of luck that I am alive to write this. What with the team redefining the meaning of the Heart Attack Pack on a daily basis, the inability of the Braves to lose a damn game, and the well-chronicled ineptitude of the four Mensa candidates in blue, it's been a stressful weekend. At the end of it, we still hang on, maybe more or less by the seat of our pants, but hey. The U.S.S. Rockie has been taking on some water, but it's not time to launch the lifeboats yet (and hopefully not ever. But haven't we learned by now that it's never ever easy with this lot?). Suddenly, our season-long foe, the San Francisco Gi-nots, are 5.5 games arrears with an elimination number of 2, and we are staving off the last Charge of the Tomahawk Brigade instead. As SDCat likes to say, Rockies, for the love of God, do not make us live in a world where John Kruk is right.

The reason we are not only a slender 1.5 games up: Clint Barmes. Barmes has been run ragged around here, and deservedly so, for his foibles at the plate, but that play to end it today felt like as much a season-saver as Betancourt beating Schierholtz at the Phonebooth. Barmes usually brings his glove even if his bat has been in the great Lumberyard in the Sky for most of the month (although in fairness, it may be attempting to re-materialize). Yet today, this may have been the first time we were so thrilled to see the words "Barmes" and "popup" in the same sentence. Let's just say this. I went to get dinner a good 30-40 minutes after the game was over, and my legs were still shaking.

It is no longer time to look back. We will only be looking forward. Kindly join me after the jump as we sound the horn of Helton Hammerhand in the deep ONE. LAST. TIME.

Okay, I lied. We are going to look back. But quickly.

The Rockies are not playing their best baseball at the moment. Losing a home series to the Padres is still inexcusable, and they went something like 2-for-28 with RISP for the entire Cards series. Today exemplified the problem. It seemed like every other inning they'd have a guy at third with less than two outs, and only twice (on Hawpe's single in the first and Helton's in the fifth) did they come home. As a consequence, the Rockies' most persistent Achilles heel -- allowing their opponents to hang around and hang around and hang around -- very nearly bit them in the butt again. I don't know if they all just crave the adrenaline rush, but there is no such thing as a routine win with this club. At least you save money on caffeine. Oy.

Still, I do think they are playing very gritty baseball. (Uh-oh, where's David Eckstein?) Grinding out two of three against the very legitimate Cards, including the nasty 1-2 punch of Carpenter/Wainwright, is nothing to sneeze at. Each win ended in highly dramatic fashion, whether it was Torrealba's walkoff on Friday or Barmes' miracle today. I stand by my assertion that I'd rather face St. Louis in the postseason (assuming we GET to the postseason, must take nothing for granted) than the Phillies. The Cards defense robbed us blind against Wainwright; we were squaring the ball against him fairly well and would have very likely been ahead/won the game if Dan Iassogna (henceforth referred to as the Ump-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) had correctly called Albert Pujols out on strikes in the first. But that's not to exculpate our half of the unit from blame. Ubaldo Jimenez absolutely has to get rid of his first-inning weeble-wobbles (5.91 ERA in the opening frame) and bring the bulldog that shows up on the mound in innings 2-7. If the blue is not calling the damn pitch, throw it where they'll take a hack at it and pound it into the ground. Also, giving up a go-ahead homer to Jason Freaking LaRue? Fail. FAIL. FAAAAAAAAIIIILLLLLLL.

(Yes, that is a sore spot. Fine. It's over. It's over. Moving on. Deep breaths).

As mentioned, the travails of the umpiring squad has been much brooded upon, so they don't need to be rehashed here (everyone knows the litany of bad calls, particularly in tight situations, that went against us, and led to some very deserved frustration). But let's just hope that that's done with. Although at the rate we've been going, we're due to get hit with the Angel Campos crew for the upcoming series against the other Crew.

Oh god. I shouldn't even joke about that.

There are plenty of weak spots. Brad Hawpe has shown flickers here and there of emerging from his second-half somnolence, but still can't get the switch on. Ian Stewart is looking as if he'd be outmatched by a Jugs machine. Dexter Fowler has been reduced to Willy T v.2.0, trying to bunt his way on, and I have to feel somewhat queasy about the fact that Jason Marquis is opening our final regular-season home series against the Brewers on Tuesday. You'd really think it's time for him to have a quality start, but our once rock-solid confidence in Marquis is plummeting like, well, a rock. But on the other hand, who is glad to have Huston Street back? I am really freaking glad to have Huston Street back. Anyone want Morales pitching the ninth inning today?

The other thing we have to look out for is Jim Tracy showing signs of Hurdleitis (anyone remember that game against Kansas City a couple years ago where Hurdle yanked a cruising Jeff Francis, put in a struggling Manny Corpas, and was rewarded with a loss?) with his equally derided decision to yank Jason Hammel, one out after letting him hit with two runners on. (God, I am glad we are done with the Padres. Couldn't they just suck?) Tracy is also showing signs of overmanaging, as he put in Seth Smith as a PH, only to replace him with Spilborghs when the Cards put in a LHP. Spilborghs then struck out on three pitches. Tracy needs to go back to what was working and stop trying to force things.

That problem, I think, is showing up with the whole team. They insist they've got nothing to fear, they're in the catbird seat (and this is after all, true) but they're definitely aware, and I think, pressing. By contrast, the Braves, unencumbered with a competent opponent and having nothing to lose, can just do the same thing we did in '07 -- rip off win after win and make the Wild Card leader sweat as the season barrels into the homestretch. If there's anything we've been shown over the weekend, it is a) that we will have to kick, punch, and claw our way for each win, and b) you cannot count on the Braves losing anything with that marshmallow schedule showing its worth. (Marlins, please prove me wrong. POST. HASTE. Thxbai). As some have pointed out, this is possibly a blessing in disguise, as it means the Rockies will be unable to coast into the playoffs and have to fight for everything they get.

Looks like more heart meds are in order. I don't know how I'll ever survive this week, but I love this baseball team with everything I am and I will live and die by it.

Live, please live. It's much more interesting.

GO ROCKIES!!!!!!!!

GO MARLINS!!!!!!!!!

Poll

Are you dead?

I think I might be, yes. No RISP-hitting, no competent ump squad... this dispatch filed from six feet under.

25 votes

No, but it was a close thing. I CAN HAZ ROCKIES BLOWOUT WIN FRIGGIN ONCE?! THXBAI!

118 votes

Hell no! I've never felt more alive!

50 votes

/shakes and mutters.... umps...Barmes...didwewin... /shakes harder

56 votes

249 votes | Poll has closed

Rockies Review: The Knights Who Say NI! Declare That Merely A Flesh Wound

Silverblood — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:37:17 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

The Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.

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It was a close thing. At one point, it looked as if the Giants might have cut our legs off, but instead, denial worked, the leg came back, and we sprang to our feet and ran the sword through that annoying black-and-orange entrant in return. Now we have to see if it'll finally knock them down for good. (Answer: not likely). But being in this position at all is highly preferable over just 48 hours or so ago. What was shaping up as a truly craptacular road trip was redeemed today by a number of complex scientific factors, such as the skyrocketing graph of Yorvit Torrealba's awesomeness, the angular momentum of a pair of Golden Thongbombs, the square root of Tulo's clutchiness and CarGo's speed -- even the gentle breezes of Stewart's K's and the lovely calculable parabola of a Barmes popout. Or, in layman's terms, Good U-ball returned today after an unfortunate hiatus in San Francisco, the Rockies finally figured out Danny Haren, and they escaped the desert with a 5-1 win, to take 2 of 3 from Arizona and close out a difficult road trip at 4-5. Not exactly what they were looking for, mixing in a pair of tough losses against San Diego, a pair of total blowouts in San Francisco, and a blown lead in Arizona. But, remarkably, the Giants, Marlins, and Braves all lost today as well, pushing the Rockies back to 4.5 games clear in the wild card -- just where they were before all the pain began.

And so, if they can shake off the offensive rust (which showed signs of happening in hitter-friendly Chase Field and should be aided by finally heading back to Coors) they ought to be nicely assured of a playoff spot. Knock on wood.

Join me after the jump to examine top performers, the upcoming chess games, and sundry other factors to aid in the Rockies' ambition of having the Giants arranging tee times a few weeks from now.

First of all, whoever spiked Yorvit Torrealba's Gatorade: we owe you a debt of thanks. Yorvit has held the dubious honor of being the Row's biggest punching bag almost from the moment he got here, and for the most part, it's been deserved. Not so in September. I don't know if Yorvit just woke up one day and decided to Be Good, or if it's a fortuitously timed hot streak that we need to ride like a rented mule, but Yorvit is hitting .739 (17 for his last 23) with runners in scoring position. Likely this is because he isn't worrying about hitting home runs, as it seems the rest of the lineup is, but whatever it's doing, if his planets are just in order or what, long may it continue. I am quite at a loss for how useful he continues to make himself (I mean, it's Yorvit! This needs some time to process!) but Yorvit, you just carry on with your bad self.

Fortunately, catcher isn't the only position that's stepping up in the playoff race. Tulo, as we've always expected and known about him, is proving himself a leader who wants to win baseball games more than just about anything else in the world, and is responding accordingly, putting together a 4-game homer streak before it was snapped today. Nonetheless, his contributions didn't go lacking, as he scored the tying run. Tulo has already set a career high of 29 homers that seems almost certain to tick over into the 30's, and although he isn't quite near his rookie-year high of 99 RBI, he's surely making his presence felt down the stretch. Tulo is really the rock of this team, and as has often been remarked, you can judge how the Rockies are going by how #2 is going. I doubt it's just chance that the upswing at the end of the road trip coincided with Tulo's power surge. Reminds me of Matt Holliday going nuts in September two years ago, hitting homers left and right as the Rockies geared up for their mad-dash surf into the delirium of Rocktober. Except that was a last-minute hot streak that came out of almost nowhere. The 2009 Rockies, ever since handing the reins over to Jim Tracy, have been one of the best teams in baseball. (This week's hiccup excluded).

And they do that by continuing to benefit from his Midas touch. Yesterday, Tracy put in Ryan Spilborghs to pinch-hit for Brad Hawpe, and was rewarded with a run-scoring double. (Spilly stayed in the game and added another one later). Not to mention, Tracy has one of the best new (except not really new) toys to play with that I've ever seen: the recently rejuvenated thong-powered entity otherwise known as Jason Giambi. Almost everyone, myself included, was openly skeptical that an aging ex-roider hitting a buck ninety-nine was going to bring anything meaningful to our playoff chase. Boy, were we wrong. Giambi introduced himself with a pair of game-winning hits, and now that he's become Tracy's favored late-inning replacement bat for Clint Barmes, he just continues to produce. He hit a bomb to break the game open in yesterday's 10-4 win, and hit another one today to widen a 3-1 lead to a 5-1 lead (somewhat more comfortable, I believe we all agree). Not to mention, he apparently is in complete love with the organization, enjoys being around the guys, and admires Tracy's acumen as a game and player manager. As was mentioned in the game thread, it seems that getting out of the black hole of Oakland earns any slugger a mulligan. We're lucky to be benefiting from the latest proof of that theory.

Props also go to Jason Hammel, who's developed into an outstanding #4 starter, and Rafael Betancourt, for pitching possibly the biggest inning of the road trip: the bottom of the ninth in the last game in the San Francisco series. After getting thrashed like the proverbial red-headed stepchild in the first two games, the Rockies' lead had been whittled down to a slender 2.5 games, and they'd lost their last six games in the Phonebooth. In the third game, after receiving an absolutely brilliant start from Jorge de la Rosa, they entered the bottom of the ninth with a 4-0 lead. But trouble ensued when Franklin Morales started off by allowing the Giants three straight singles. He was yanked in favor of Betancourt, and Betancourt entered with the Giants having already cut into the deficit and hungry for a possibly season-breaking sweep. No pressure, right?

Betancourt got a ground ball from Uribe that turned further heart-breaker when Tulo threw the ball away. 4-2, still no outs, Giants on second and third. Shaking and pacing from Rowbots. Betancourt got a popout from Edgar Renteria -- the same guy that had hit the go-ahead grand slam off him in the third game of the last Giants/Rox series. Then he got Randy Winn to ground out, bringing home the third run. The tying run stood on third with two outs. Betancourt engaged in a protracted battle with Nate Schierholtz, and ended it by striking him out swinging, in possibly one of the biggest emotion swings that is possible to fit into fifteen minutes. Betancourt has solidified his place as the eighth-inning guy and enjoys a remarkably high level of trust for a guy that joined the club just recently. He has the much-desired "veteran presence" and has been through the rigors of a stretch run with the Indians before. We're glad to have you, Raffy. Stick around for a while, willya?

But if there are plenty of golden stickers to hand out, there's certainly a few, um, not-so-golden stickers as well. To use the technical term, looking like crap. Jason Marquis, Brad Hawpe, Ian Stewart, and Clint Barmes, for a start. The first two of those four were our first-half All-Stars, but have recently hit a slump like nobody's business. Marquis is struggling to replicate the form that made him so effective, putting together a string of rocky starts and losing the good will he had built up. He did look better in his start against the Dbacks, but got horrifically squeezed by the home plate umpire and it got into his head. As before, pitch selection is proving a major stumbling block -- he threw a slider to Brandon Allen, the Dbacks' #8 hitter, when fastballs were working, and was rewarded with a game-tying, two-out homer. Watch more film, Jason. Stat.

But Marquis isn't alone in his struggles. His fellow All-Star, Brad Hawpe, is just flat-out awful right now. He can't hit (although he can occasionally walk) he can't field (a horrendous gaffe in the field led to two runs for the Dbacks and our loss in the first game of the series) and in general, that theory that Carl Crawford stole his mojo may have something to it. Hawpe, who has characteristically been a streaky player, decided to divide his hot and cold streaks by halves of the season, instead of by weeks. You know, I think I liked it better the other way. As we said when it happened, Daaaaaaamn yyyyooooou Caaaaarl Craaaawford! (Speaking of mojo, will Todd Helton's new beardless look result in a) success, b) failure or c) Benjamin Button? Please write your answer in #2 pencil and remember to cite proper examples).

While Stewart and Barmes have retained their ability to field, their hitting has not followed suit. Barmes can't buy himself a hit right now, might have diddled himself out of one by failing to run on his suicide squeeze today, and in general has been deeply infected with the Popoutitis disease. Stewart, as Lodo Magic Man likes to point out, is doing his best to live up to his middle initial (K). However, he did have the tiebreaking single today, so credit where credit is due. But when the main competition at your position is Outkins, you're, uh, gonna be staying in the lineup a lot. Stewart did briefly seem to get the hang of hitting home runs, but that was also the phase that Barmes went through (and now Barmes doesn't even hit home runs). Stewart was emblematic of the Rockies' offensive woes on the road trip: don't try to hit a bomb when a single will do. At times they all looked as if they were well aware of the problem and had started to press, which only makes it worse. It showed signs of perking up in Chase Field, so maybe it'll be alive and well by the time the Rockies start their final regular-season homestand on Tuesday.

Proceedings begin with a second look at the Padres, and the three starters they faced last time -- Edward Mujica, Tim Stauffer, and Clayton Richard. The Rockies were stifled by each of the three, so they'll need to correct that oversight posthaste. Jorge de la Rosa will be starting the first game, Marquis the second, and Hammel could take the third, or the rehabbing Aaron Cook/Jose Contreras could do the honors instead. There really is no excuse for losing a series to the Padres at home, and if this mini-swoon really is over, the results should reflect that. Fortunately, the Rockies' lapse ultimately didn't cost them ground, but it was a lucky thing.

The big test will come after the Padres depart, in the form of a three-game set with the NL Central champions (hopefully by the time they get there) St. Louis Cardinals. The Rockies will get to cut their teeth against a legit championship contender, including the chance to face both of the Cards' Cy Young candidates, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Just as big a story will be the return of Matt Holliday to Coors Field. Hopefully we show him what the purple-and-black September magic looks like from the other side of the mirror.

Go Rockies!

Poll

MVP of the past few weeks?

Jason Giambi

32 votes

Seth Smith

29 votes

Yorvit Torrealba

157 votes

Troy Tulowitzki

108 votes

Jim Tracy and his mad skillz

36 votes

Other (add in the comments)

3 votes

365 votes | Poll has closed

Rockies Review: They just saved the good part of the road trip for the Midgets, right?

Silverblood — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:13:22 -0000

More photos » by K.C. Alfred - AP

I don't think we would ever have imagined exhorting the guys to follow the example of Yorvit Torrealba, but hey, it's a weird season.

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It's been an up-and-down sort of week. It began with an eight-game winning streak that included a pair of dramatic comebacks (Seth Smith's two-run walkoff single against the Reds, Yorvit Torrealba's three-run ninth-inning double against the Padres) but all in all, it ended with something of a sour taste, as Franklin Morales performed the ignominious feat of a walk-off walk in dropping the second game of the series to the Friars. That was followed up today by an all-around failure, resulting in a 7-3 loss. Coupled with the Giants finally figuring out how to beat the Dodgers, it left us 3 back in the division and 4.5 up in the wild card. While technically that is a sweep-proof lead (even if the Giants do, please god no, what they did to us last time, we'll still be up 1.5) let us hope that it does not come to that. While we've already established that nothing good will come easily, I don't particularly want to let the Giants come creeping back. We had them on the ropes at 5.5 games out. We still do hold the 4.5 game edge, and with only 18 games to play, the math becomes inexorable at some point. That doesn't mean we need to start doing anything... stupid.

Join me after the jump for a look at some of the things we need to quit doing as we head to San Fran for a series that can either settle the issue fairly decisively, or make it juuuuuust a wee bit too interesting once again.

Numero uno area of concern: The offense. We scored an average of 4 runs a game at home against the Reds, we scored an average of 3 runs a game on the road against the Padres (admittedly in the giant sucking black hole known as Petco Park) and even our miracle man, Seth Smith, appears to be looking mortal after a 1-for-9 showing in his last two games. Bad at-bats and stranded baserunners abounded today, whether it was two straight backwards K's and a groundout with two men on, the side striking out in the seventh, or a second-pitch double play to end the eighth inning with the bases loaded. Aside from the 7 runs scored by the Friars today, they weren't looking too offensively minded either, scoring 4 runs in the two previous games. I know it's Petco and all that, but seriously, if you're playing the Padres (or anybody, really) and they score 4 runs in two games, you should win both of them. But in the first game, it took the Rox until the ninth to score (albeit in dramatic fashion on Yorvit Torrealba's bases-clearing double) and in the second, it took them until the ninth (again) to tie what had been a 2-1 affair for most of the duration. (Yorvit better look out for Mafia men sent after him by Heath Bell, as he caused Bell to blow his first two saves all year at Petco. Back to back to boot). And then they promptly lost in the tenth when an intentional walk backfired (who is surprised?) as Frankie Morales couldn't find the strike zone and walked in the winning run.

Of course, things might have been different if they weren't playing in Petco and Tulowitzki would have had an eighth-inning homer (his second of the game) instead of a long flyout that croaked on the track, but obviously that's part of the situation and has to be taken into account. This was followed today with the aforementioned generally bad game, as Jason Marquis struggled with his command and the offense failed to report. This isn't particularly the way I want to go into our final head-to-head matchup with SF, again in their place rather than ours. While the Phonebooth may not be in the same level of boneyard as Petco, it's not overly friendly to hitters either. And we start off with a tough draw, Jason Hammel against the unfortunately recovered Freak. (Not that I'm wishing injury on Tiny Tim, I just wish he could have sat out another, oh, 3 games or so. Maybe he'll be somewhat rusty from the time off). This is followed, wouldn't you know it, by the oh-so-fun combination of Zito and Cain. As I'm sure I don't need to remind you, that combination added up to a sweep for SF last time, also as we were coming off a series loss against an NL West opponent, also after an exciting last-minute win in the first game of that series. Zito's ERA against us this year is 0.42, and the Giants have won 3 of Cain's 4 starts against the Purple. The last time Lincecum faced us in SF, he threw eight four-hit, shutout innings.

So, I'd say we need to find the offense. Pronto.

Welp.

This is not to advise anyone to panic, as after all we'll still have the numeric advantage if the worst should come to pass, but allowing your closest competitor for a playoff spot to sweep you twice in less than a month won't engender any warm fuzzies in me (or anyone, I imagine). The Giants are in the most crucial stretch of their season -- they looked pretty out of it after the Spilly grand slam, too, and look how that turned out -- and don't think they don't know it. If they can win several games in a row against us, it's back to the wire, and they can still have a chance to pull off a fairly major upset. Not that I necessarily think this will happen, but we do have three games against the Dbacks at Chase, where they always play us tough, before returning home to face the Pads, the Central-leading Cards, and the prone-to-stupid-celebrations Brewers, who can't pitch all that well but certainly have plenty of offensive firepower. Of course, we swept both those clubs back in June, but it's September now, and the last fevered hours are upon us, gents (and ladies). We are indeed privileged to be fans of a ballclub that's been playing so well, that's still seriously in the playoff discussion, considering a relatively set field elsewhere (in my humble opinion, the AL East, AL Central, AL West, NL East, and NL Central races are more or less wrapped up) but the only thing we needed to do last time we went into San Fran was to avoid a sweep. Guess what happened.

Now, I won't say that the sky is falling, because it's clearly not. We still control our own destiny, and once they're done with us, the Giants go to LA to play the Dodgers again, who creamed them resoundingly in the first two games of their just-concluded series. If you can run enough time off the clock, as Brandon Stokely demonstrated today, you make it just that much harder for the math to work out. Which is why, if it comes down to it, I'll be rooting for the Dodgers over the Giants. Yes, I want that first NL West title like you wouldn't believe, and man oh man do I want the Dodgers to complete a '64 Phillies (or 07/08 Mets)-esque eleventh-hour meltdown. But I also just want to get into the postseason however the hell it comes. If that means wild card, so be it. I seem to recall we went to the Series as the wild card just a few years ago. And also that the last NL team to go to the Series and be swept in 4 by the Red Sox (the '04 Cards) showed up two years later and won the damn banana (the '06 Cards). So if you believe in the numerology...

What other issues are there? The zillions and zillions of baserunning blunders, for a start, need to disappear. Frankie Mo needs to not be rattled, as he appeared to be on Saturday night, and go back to the guy who's making Huston Street's absence palatable. The offense. I think I may have mentioned that...

Am I scared? Yeah, maybe a little. We have the gruesome example of last time hanging over our head like the sword of Damocles, the Giants are desperate, and we're facing one of the top rotations in the NL. But there's also the fact that the Rockies are the overall better ballclub, still hold the cards, have been playing like they really want it, and can salt away their spot in the Elite Eight with just a win, or even two, in the latest round of the Derby-by-the-Bay. Join us on Monday at 10:15 ET/8:15 MT, for the first round of "Oh Gawd This Is Gonna Kill Me, I Swear."

That may be so. But remember, what doesn't kill you, will make you stronger.

Go Rockies!

Poll

San Francisco...

is going to be very very good to us. As we have been shown, karma is a powerful force, and it owes us three wins against the three-headed monster.

16 votes

is gonna be... okay... I guess? Just tell me we still have a lead, right? 4.5 games? That's good...

61 votes

is going to be a problem. A serious problem. But we'll snatch one, at least.

73 votes

Oh god. Lincecum/Zito/Cain AGAIN? Well, in that case, can they at least put in Valdez and Howry?

37 votes

I don't know what it'll be, I'm covering my eyes.

30 votes

217 votes | Poll has closed

Rockies Review: Now that's more like it

Silverblood — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:23:32 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Ten feet tall, made of radiation.

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About this time last week, nobody was in particularly good spirits, as the Giants' come-from-behind win, featuring an Edgar Renteria grand slam (sorry for the memories, go ahead and repress them again) had secured a three-game sweep for them and a tie in the wild card. While not exactly panic, let's just say that the sentiment around here wasn't one of sunshine and roses.

Well, as we've learned all year, a week can make all kinds of difference, and that anything can happen in the wild, wild West (and the wild, wild card). Not that this week seemed to be making one. We were locked in tango with the Giants; after a lone misstep on their part allowed us to claim a one-game lead, that was how matters remained. We won, they won. We lost, they lost. We all stopped thinking that it was going to be easy when that comfy-looking four -game lead vanished quicker than you can say, "Seth Smith is a sexy beast," and unless something drastically unforeseen takes place in the last few weeks of the regular season, the race is going to come down to the wire. Anybody up for another play-in game.....?

Gentlemen, start your defibrillators.

Join me after the jump as we take a look at the factors fueling a 5-1 (thus far) homestand, and our return to a two-game lead in the Wild Card (thanks to our 13-5 beatdown of the Snakes today, and Prince Fielder hitting a walk-off homer to beat the Giants in 12).

First and foremost, the Rockies are benefiting from a massive Midas touch when it comes to plugging in bit parts and role players. Jose Contreras, possessing a 5-13/5.42 mark with the White Sox, came in and threw 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball against the Dbacks in the second game of the series. Jason Giambi has two late-inning, tie-breaking hits already, providing the winning margin in both those games. Franklin Morales, taking the closer's job from the injured Huston Street, continues to look like a beast, and the horrible horde of Rincon-Flores-Peralta-Herges has been, thankfully, relegated to the part of the bullpen that's brought in to do mop-up duty, instead of the one pitching the important innings. Rafael Betancourt has been a solid enough setup man to make us all (almost) forget about the Lemur, and once Street comes back (hopefully soon, and hopefully strong) we still have Frankie to use as his left-handed counterpart. Frankie has been blossoming in the pen (you have less chances to balk and consequently come to pieces when you're only pitching one inning) and his velocity, hovering in the low nineties only a year or so ago, has now gotten ramped up as high as 98. He profiles quite well as an interim closer, and he'd be the closer on a number of other teams. This is the kind of depth that playoff-caliber teams need to have. Check.

The other thing that playoff-caliber teams need to have is a bona fide ace. Well, if there was any doubt, Ubaldo Jimenez has seemingly arrived to claim the crown. Now, I'll knock on wood, as U-ball still isn't immune to the occasional hiccup, but it's starting to look like he can produce eight-inning, two-run, seven-K efforts in his sleep. He's gone six innings or more in 24 straight outings, and like Mariano Rivera with his cutter, you know what's coming with him and you still can't hit it. According to the Denver Post, Inside Edge tracked 2,825 of the 3,041 pitches U-ball has thrown this season. 1,893 of those 2,825 were fastballs. The percentage of well-hit balls? 17%. This isn't even counting his slider (.125 BAA) and changeup (.206 BAA).

He ranks fifth in innings pitched, sixth in wins, seventh in strikeouts. What's more, he doesn't have to do it alone. Of the six pitchers leading the NL in wins, three are Cardinals (Wainwright, Carpenter, Pineiro) and three are Rockies (Marquis, JDLR, and Jimenez). JDLR weebled and wobbled all over the damn place today, walking six, but managed to limit the damage to one run in five innings. As is oft repeated, winners find a way to win even without their best stuff, and JDLR did that today, recording a 20th straight decision. He's 14-3 since starting 0-6. Admittedly, Oy George is as much a threat to show up as Yay George, but at least when he does, he's no longer quite as prone (knock on wood) to nuclear innings.

Of course, a pitcher(s), no matter how good, can't do it alone. That's why it's time to give some love to our madmen atop the lineup, Carlos "Gangsta" Gonzalez and Seth "Holy Sh!t!" Smith. (This isn't to forget my favorite quote from an opposing manager in some time. Jerry Manuel on Tulo):

"Their shortstop. He's a player. He's gangster," Manuel said. "He's not just on the gangster bus. He's driving it wherever he wants to go."

Be that as it most certainly may be, I think that CarGo should be renamed BusGo, and Seth Smith, for the moment, has hijacked the driver's seat of the gangster bus. He has caused the type of torment to the Dbacks that, I imagine, has led to them wishing to various entities that he would just go the heck away. Fortunately for us, he hasn't. He's hitting .542 in his past six games, racked up five RBIs today with a two-run shot and a three-run shot, and overall has five doubles, four homers, 10 RBIs and 10 runs scored to add to his resume for NL Player of the Week. If Smith isn't getting hisself a Swiss watch in a few days, somebody done the boy wrong. Combined with Dexter Fowler's imminent return and the continuation of Brad Hawpe's prolonged second-half slide, Smith may have played himself into a starting role for the time being. Anybody else like the taste of a Smith/Fowler/CarGo outfield? Mmmm-hmmm.

There are glimmers that Stewart may be starting to wake up too (2 for 2, 2 RBI, 3 runs scored, 3 walks today. I credit the procreation effect; much congrats to Ian and Susan Stewart on the birth of their daughter Ellsi) and Yorvit Torrealba, of all people, is providing a jolt from the catcher's spot. He's still completely useless when it comes to throwing out baserunners, but he did collect a pair of doubles today and is hitting (hold onto your chairs) a tidy .285 on the season. I know, that's not something you ever saw Yorvit doing, but since Iannetta is also slumping recently, Torrealba has officially supplanted him as the starting catcher. I can't fault the move for the time being. It's nice to have a catcher hitting something besides lazy fly balls and weak grounders (and yes, until recently, that was Yorvit's specialty. Weird season indeed).

It'll be another roller coaster of a week ahead. The Giants return home to take on the not-so-fearsome Padres, and we'll also be at home playing the Reds for four. While the Reds have been pitifully inept for most of the season, they're showing signs of a pulse, winning seven straight and 8 of 12. It'll be our job to return them to the obscurity to which they're normally accustomed, and we've got the right man on the mound for the (strangely) afternoon-game opener tomorrow: Ubaldo Jimenez. And if we've learned anything thus far, it's that it'll be cause for yet another week of various hair-raising adventures.

Hopefully we're not the one with the levitating follicles.

Go Rockies.

Poll

The only mistake Seth Smith ever made?

Getting involved in a land war in Asia

59 votes

Cheeking off to Don Corleone

13 votes

Going to Ole Miss

86 votes

Grabbing a nuclear reactor with both hands ... wait, that wasn't a mistake.

50 votes

Other (aka I'll dazzle you with my comedic genius in the comments)

12 votes

220 votes | Poll has closed

Rockies Review: Karma's a (Not So Nice Word)

Silverblood — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:17:36 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

3 months ago: Colorado Rockies' Clint Barmes slams his bat after making the final out against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

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Ouch, Rockies Nation, ouch. I don't entirely know where to begin with it, aside from: damn, that one hurt. I suppose we might have expected it, as karma has an unfortunate tendency to bite you in the butt right when you think you've gotten away with a steal, and quite frankly, here comes crunch time. We learned today how a backbreaking grand slam feels like (funnily enough, like your back being broken) and a lot more about the team that we might have preferred not to. There were culprits aplenty, whether it was Atkins looking at three straight strikes with a runner on third and one out in the top of the eighth (back in those oh-so-enjoyable times when we were only behind by one) followed by CarGo fishing in the dirt to end the inning, after his escapades in the previous frame had diddled us out of an extra run. Not to mention the normally reliable Rafael Betancourt giving up the go-ahead grand slam to Edgar Freaking Renteria (fourth homer of the year, holla!) and otherwise dooming us to one of the hardest losses to stomach all year. All we had to do in San Francisco to retain at least a two-game lead was to avoid getting swept. And... well....

It didn't go too well. In the unique and colorful parlance of Purple Row, we like to call this "fail."

Join me after the jump if you feel like analyzing the collective misery any more. I promise, it's short.

The week started with all kinds of excitement -- walk-off wins supplying possibly the most dramatic moment of the season, thanks to Spilly's 14th-inning, game-winning grand slam against the Giants on Monday. Well, after a start like that, perhaps it figures that there had to be an equally bad event at the end to balance it out. Don't discount the karma, people. It'll get you. After climbing to within two games of the Dodgers thanks to Tulo's game-winning single (this one just in the tenth) things started to take a nosedive. We lost the next two to the blue while continuing our troubling habit of leaving small villages on the basepaths, and "Buddy, Can You Spare a Run?" was the theme of the next two, as the total offensive doldrums didn't alleviate until a too-little, too-late effort in the second game of the Giants series enabled us to lose 5-3 instead of 5-0. We knew that facing Lincecum, Zito, and Cain at home was going to be a tough task, and that the Giants would have extra motivation to get us back for the pain we inflicted on them earlier in the week, but if this is a playoff-contending team, it's the kind of challenge they needed to sink their teeth into. Not get antsy and overanxious. And, well, the five-game skid is the longest since Tracy took the helm, reminding us all painfully of how bad things used to be before. It hurts more now that we've got something to lose -- our four-game lead in the Wild Card, for a start, which we had as recently as Tuesday.

There is, however, still a bright side. First, it was better to have this little choke at the end of August instead of the end of September -- assuming that a little choke is what it is and the boys proceed to get better at home against the injury-ravaged Mets. (I seem to recall there's a little revenge needing to be doled out there as well). Things had been going so well that we probably should have expected a minor funk before this, and it'll show us a lot about the mental makeup of the club if they put this nonsense behind them and return to taking care of business. After all, there are still thirty games left, maybe having some fear of God put into them will freshly galvanize them (seeing as the Wild Card, or the division, is never won in August) and as we were just painfully shown, a whole lot can happen in as little as a week. If they brush off this heartbreaker of a series and return to taking care of business as before, I think we'll be one of the eight teams not making golf reservations for the second week of October. (And it'll feel extra good to deny the Giants, amirite?)

In conclusion: yes, this hurts. If you're panicking right now, you're perfectly within your rights to do so. Five-game losing streaks against division rivals, including getting swept by your closest competitors to fall into a tie where there was once a four-game cushion, is never cause for celebration. I will say that I personally did not enjoy the weekend proceedings a whit. It was pretty darn painful to see the team play that badly.

But in the end, there are still two things to take from it: one, the aforementioned thirty-one games remaining on the slate, and the fact that this is, plain and simple, the nature of the game that we all love so much. There are hot streaks and there are cold streaks. Sometimes it's a mistake -- you leave the fastball up and Edgar Renteria makes you pay. Sometimes you do your best, you throw the pitch where you wanted it and it still goes yard. Sometimes it's out of your hands (usually when Angel Campos is on the umpiring crew). Sometimes you make a perfect play on the tough grounder, then sling it into the stands. Sometimes you lay out to make the catch and it squirts out of your glove. Sometimes you strike out 11 in 8 innings and your team doesn't give you a stinking run. It all adds up into the peculiar beauty, and the peculiar pain, of baseball. And as bad as the bad times hurt, just as good do the good times feel. Remember how you all felt after Spilly's grand slam? You will feel that good again this season, I promise.

Basically, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains.

Geez, I wish it had rained.

***

P.S. By the time this posts, I will be on my way to DIA, heading back to New York. I'll be back in Colorado for Christmas, but it's uncertain if I'll be coming back after I leave in January (I'm moving out of state). And this has made me realize that a whole generation of my life is coming to an end, and a new one is starting. I grew up with the Rockies, got away from them for a few years, and came back for good in 2006. I've been attending school out of state, but at least I've had the summers to spend time with my purple obsession. I've been to a whole lot of games. I've seen the aforementioned good times, the aforementioned bad times. To think of that coming to an end is strange. I honestly don't know when I'll get to another Rockies game at Coors Field, and that's a strange thought. For better or worse (currently worse) there aren't a whole lot of things on this earth that I love more than this baseball team, and now I'll be commencing my (permanent, at least for a while) absentee fan time. You guys back in Colorado, you enjoy those October games, and everything after -- in 2010 and beyond. I stand by my assertion that we'll still get there. And I'll get back eventually. Hopefully it won't be years.

Go Rockies.

Poll

I am currently feeling:

Believe it or not, still not worried. Thirty-one games left, mainly at home, against some weaker teams. We'll bounce right back.

78 votes

I'm worried, yeah. That wasn't such a good showing, and we definitely can't afford it again. But I still think we'll be okay.

129 votes

Kind of sick and unhappy. The Giants and Dodgers. WHY did it have to be against the Giants and Dodgers? I'll be rational later, but don't talk to me just now.

150 votes

Freakin' panicked. Are you kidding? The wheels are going to come off big time.

124 votes

481 votes | Poll has closed

Rockies Review: We outsail the Pirates, but can't catch the Fish

Silverblood — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:15:36 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

We should have done this to the Fish a bit more.

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It's been a quiet week in Lake Woebegon, if by quiet you mean winning a series at home against the woeful Bucs, but dropping one on the road to the hot Fish. It doesn't exactly have the excitement of a divisional clash, but the Marlins are on our tail for the Wild Card, and at one point today, it looked as if we might have to start THE SKY IZ FALLIN chants. Fortunately, a 7-3 win in the second game of the doubleheader enabled the Rox to escape the approaching Tropical Storm Claudette (man, living in Florida would suck, wouldn't it?) with a 1-2 start to the six-game road trip. While it might be a bumpy flight up to Washington, where they're heading to commence three against the Nationals, the proceedings will hopefully smooth out from here. It won't, however, be as easy as you'd think. While the Nats are still solidly in the cellar of the NL East, with a frankly embarrassing 43-75 record, they've been red-hot. After an eight-game winning streak, they dropped a pair to the Braves and one to the Reds, but recovered to take the next three from Cincinnati. Now that they're just getting the hang of this whole winning business, they'll be understandably eager to compensate for the three wins we picked up at their expense back in July. They've also helpfully equipped us with Joe Beimel since that time, but in all honesty, I see no reason to pay back the favour. We have an off-day tomorrow, then Ubaldo Jimenez opens the series against Craig Stammen on Tuesday at 5:05 pm MT, and I don't give a damn about being altruistic. The Nats need to be squashed like, well, Gnats. GRRAAARGH!!!

That blood-and-brimstone moment (brought to you by Carl's Jr) aside, let's take a look at the past week. Monday started us off with a bang, as we completed the series against the Cubs by taking three of four, posting back-to-back 11-5 scores in the last two games. And oh yeah, some guy named Troy hit for the cycle, although he may have benefited from the hometown scorer on the triple (then again, it's not the hometown scorer's fault that the Cubs really suck at playing defense). Racking up tacos on his own accord with his 5-for-5, 7 RBI performance, Tulo solidified his position on the cleanup spot, where he's been wreaking holy terror on almost everybody. As Jim Tracy noted, it creates matchup problems for the opposition by splitting the spectacularly solid Helton and still-slumping Hawpe. Tulo, meanwhile, is just hitting .339 for August, slugging an eye-popping .695, which takes into account his 4 round-trippers, 3 three-baggers, and 3 two-baggers. In addition, his BB/K split before the break was 39/64; it's 15/25 thus far in the second half. As a number of articles have taken the liberty of pointing out, Tulo's performance can act as a fairly general barometer of the team's. Well, he's going now, which is why we have, despite losing the series to the Marlins, maintained our 1.5 game lead in the Wild Card. (The Mets helped us out by beating the Giants today. The Giants themselves have dropped to 4-6 in their last ten games, have one more against the Mets tomorrow, then get to go feast on Cincinnati. Let's hope that that crappy team that also wears red will prove to be a help).

All this excitement, however, must have led to the lot of them having hangovers, which is really the only way to excuse Wednesday's 7-3 loss to the Pirates. It was the sort of sloppy game that the Rockies haven't played (thankfully) in quite some while, an unwelcome blast to the past when they didn't pitch well, didn't hit well, and didn't look sharp in general. This is the sort of misstep they must avoid against creampuffs, and fortunately the embarrassment led to them exacting revenge in the next two, as they buried the Pirates by a combined score of 18-1. But as it was the Pirates, and that's what you're supposed to do to them, I'd rather take a closer look at the Marlins series. They were a hot team coming in, we had to contend with the long flight to Florida and suspect Miami weather, and the fact that the first game featured the patently unfair matchup of Jason Hammel against Marlins ace Josh Johnson. (True story: A few nights ago, I had a dream about Jason Hammel. He was talking to my sister and I, and he'd made a list of "Top Ten Things About Jason Hammel." Entries six and ten on the list, both underlined several times, were, "I must pitch better!") So were we being set up to fail, was it an excusable slip, or was it a troubling misstep against a contending team?

There's certainly no shame in being dominated by Josh Johnson, as we were (he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Garrett Atkins broke it up, and the shutout, with a solo homer) and in fact we staged a furious rally in the ninth, clawing to within a run on Chris Iannetta's three-run bomb, but fell flat, 6-5. The attempt to dig out was heartening, but the trouble here was with the pitching. Jason Hammel might know he has to do better, but he didn't show it, allowing 6 hits and 3 runs, all earned, to go with four walks and three strikeouts in his four innings, labouring through 95 pitches to get 12 outs. Adam Eaton, called up to replace Jhoulys Chacin, didn't fare particularly better, as he allowed 3 hits and 2 runs in his three innings. Joe Beimel allowed a run in his inning of work, and ultimately, this proved to be the one run too many.

Chacin himself was demoted after walking six in his inaugural start against the Pirates, which may have dampened some of the calls to have him replace Hammel in the rotation. Eaton isn't going to offer anything quantifiably different, so it looks like we're going to have to pin our hopes on Hammel suddenly figuring something the hell out. In six post-break starts, he's 2-3 with a 5.65 ERA, allowing 45 (!) hits and 18 runs in 28 innings, along with two homers, 5 hit-by-pitches, 8 walks, and 23 strikeouts. While the walk figure is better than some of his others (it works out to about three walks per nine innings) it doesn't matter too much if he's just going to let them hit their way on. Hammel's a fifth starter, of course, and a fifth starter doesn't need to be world-beating, but it would be better if he wasn't a risk for a massive blowup every time you ran him out there. Thus far, he's managed to weeble and wobble his way out of serious trouble, but I have to say, he's still not engendering a lot of confidence. With Josh Fogg chipping in 3.2 innings of scoreless relief in the first game of the doubleheader today, I wonder if we'll start hearing calls for the Dragonslayer to be stretched out and stuck back in there. Us older Rowbots may remember the general bellyaching that accompanied Fogg's starts in 2006 and most of 2007, but he is, at least, a fairly predictable commodity.

However, Hammel wasn't the only starter to struggle, and the slightly more disturbing development from the first game of the doubleheader (and the reason Fogg needed to come in at all) was that Aaron Cook did likewise. Making his first start back from a jammed big toe, Cook wasted no time in proving that maybe he wasn't quite ready. The Marlins pinballed him for 8 hits and 7 runs, three walks and two homers, in just 2.1 innings. Then again, they did that to Matt Daley and Joe Beimel as well. As soon as the Rockies' official site featured an article on Daley's successes, he promptly had a one-inning, four-hit, two-run bellyflop, helping push the Marlins' lead to 9-3. Beimel himself had a second consecutive choppy outing, as he allowed three hits and a run himself in his inning of work. I'd say that the Marlins series definitely exposed some soft undersides, that or everyone just chose it for a communal off-day. The offense isn't exempt from blame, as getting only one run off Chris Volstad (their version of Jason Hammel) won't earn you any gold stars on the merit chart. I have to say, being reminded of how the guys used to play wasn't particularly enjoyable. After losing the first game by a closer-than-expected score, I was actually expecting them to go out and bounce back, not endure the 10-3 pasting that followed. At least they salvaged the third game. But having Cook struggle like that is never a good thing. Troy Renck believes that if he goes down, and/or isn't exactly Cook, our playoff chances take a fairly significant hit. At least the other important cog, Jason Marquis, who had his first truly bad outing against his former club in Saturday's 6-5 loss against the Cubs, returned to form with 7 innings of 1-run ball against the Pirates. (Yeah, yeah, I know, it's the Pirates. But still).

Fortunately, there were some bright spots to take away as we forsake Florida for the feds. First, aside from Tulo, is there a hotter hitter in the lineup than Carlos Gonzalez? He's hitting .390 in August alone (.413 OBP, .732 SLG -- no, those are not typos) with 3 homers and 9 RBIs, an effort which has jacked his post-break performance to 4/10/.381/.414/.714. Nor is he a Coors Field creation, as his home and road stat lines look quite similar: .280/.316/.560 on Blake Street, .278/.357/.431 elsewhere. (Speaking of which, I can't be the only one taking a deep and vindictive thrill in the fact that our old friend Matt Holliday, freed from the Oakland boneyard, has returned to All-Star form and is tearing up everything in sight in St. Louis. Nah, we can't ever know how good a guy is in Coors, right? Asshats).

CarGo and Dexter Fowler, fortunately recovered from a knee injury incurred while running down a long sac fly in the last Cubs game, have proven to be the promised whirlwind on top of the lineup, as their 7-for-10 combined performance fuelled the 10-1 rout of the Pirates on Thursday. This has relegated Seth Smith to a premier pinch-hitter, which is not at all a bad problem to have. CarGo contributed homers in both halves of the doubleheader, and continues to offer his usual great defense (Smith had a few problems in his start in the first game). Combined with Huston Street's return to form after his shaky outing against the Cubs, things are starting to look even more reassuring on that front. Nobody remembers Greg Smith, and nobody really needs to. In addition, Brad Hawpe broke his umpty-zillion at-bat homerless streak with a two-run homer today, finally reaching 16 big flies for the season. (Remember when he was leading the team? Now he's muddling well behind Tulo, who leads with 23).

The other topic that needs addressing, which I meant to get to in last week's Review but didn't, is the catching. Three-run bomb on Friday aside, Chris Iannetta's still having trouble putting a comfortable separation in between himself and the Mendoza line. Iannetta's always been one of those guys who gets an extraordinarily long leash from Rowbots, and it'll continue, as we're already well aware of what Yorvit Torrealba offers on a full-time basis and aren't particularly eager to go back to it. Iannetta's defense and game-calling are both solid, and a slugging catcher is a commodity that only a few teams can boast, but still, it'd be nice if he'd stop striking out and hitting lazy fly balls. Iannetta's strength has always been his discerning eye, but his post-break OBP is a Willy Taveras-esque .300. (Yes, ouch). He's walked only 7 times in 68 ABs, against 17 Ks, has a pair of doubles and 4 HR, but is still not exactly the "Dreamy" we require. Note to Chris: Get on it.

All in all, I don't think the Marlins series was any sort of fatal misstep, especially since the Mets helped us out with the Giants, but it does show that there are a few weaknesses against contending teams that will need to be addressed before we hit that crucial ten-game stretch against the Dodgers and Giants to close out August. Our bullpen, for example, didn't look quite as inviolate as before, and there's still those continuing struggles of Hammel, and the clunker of an outing against the Pirates, and the clunker turned in by Cook in the first game today. Ideally, we'll get well against the Nats and make a 3-3 or 4-2 road trip. But, of course, there shouldn't be any overlooking them. We need to get back in the driver's seat.

Go Rockies!

Poll

A series loss against the Marlins...

Eh, it was just an aberration. The Marlins were hot and at home, we had to face Johnson and a hurricane. Not worried at all.

75 votes

Was mildly concerning, but still nothing to get out the crash helmets for.

112 votes

Has me a little on edge. What? What! It doubled our clunker quotient per series, and Hammel and Cook getting whaled on like that doesn't give me fuzzies.

47 votes

SKY IZ FALLIN!!!11

10 votes

244 votes | Poll has closed

Rockies Review: Have YOU walloped a Small Furry FailBear today?

Silverblood — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 01:55:01 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Dexter has the right idea: SMITE.

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Because if you haven't, then there's a few things you should know about this most important of scientific principles. The Surgeon General has recommended that Small Furry FailBears should be pounded wherever they appear, as doing so will confer a number of healthful benefits. It clears skin, counteracts entropy, lowers blood pressure, increases libido, perks energy, spikes happiness, lowers gas prices, mends the ozone hole, and does the shopping. In addition, not pummelling Small Furry FailBears is in fact a Bad Thing for the universe. You see, the FailBears, as physical manifestations of, well, failure, in fact encapsulate your bad breakup, the fact that you weren't promoted at work, that asshat who cut you off on I-25, and the catastrophic devaluation of your investment portfolios. They are a walking disprovement of Leibniz's silly "best possible world" theory, and in fact run the risk of returning the world to a state of Hobbesian chaos, where life is nasty, brutish, and short (especially if you're in the stands at Coors trying to fend off the FailBears' mindless myrmidons). So in short, valiant soldiers, SMITE SMITE SMITE.

Oh yeah, and doing that and getting Matt Cain to lose to the Reds will put you back into a tie for the Wild Card. So there's always that.

Three games into one of these silly Friday-Monday four-game series, and the Rockies -- particularly their bats -- are looking happy to be home. After three shutouts in ten games, along with only scoring one run in another, concerns about the offense were starting to become the predominate question. Well, the Rox have done their best to lay some of those fears to rest, scoring 6 in the opener, 5 in yesterday's frustrating loss, and 11 today, to do their part in ridding the world of the influence of the FailBears. Whether it's home cooking or just the reversion of several mini-slumps, it's working, and in the series finale tomorrow -- Tom Gorzelanny vs. Jorge de la Rosa, 6:40 pm -- they'll attempt to complete a hat trick against the team with possibly the most irritating fanbase in baseball. That second game of the series is going to rankle for a while, as it was entirely winnable and in fact might have been if Milton Bradley hadn't run down Tulo's laser to end the seventh inning. A split wouldn't be bad, but as has been the case for a while, we're in the stage of not accepting "acceptable." As long as the JDLR who shows up isn't the one who tends to show up against the Phillies, then we've got a good chance of hanging another crooked number. (Now that I've said that, they'll get shut out. Sorry about that).

What's been fueling this offensive reawakening? Carlos Gonzalez, for a start. After his slow start, he's come on like absolute gangbusters, raising his season average to .283 and enjoying a 3-for-5 day today. Pairing him and Dexter Fowler on top of the lineup has become a drool-worthy combination, with plenty of speed, a little power, and the best smiles on the team. (Hey, that's a stat, right?) If CarGo has in fact learned the strike zone and is intending to continue like this, then the Holliday trade looks even better for us. Suddenly, that's a pretty good-looking outfield, especially with Seth Smith continuing his reign of terror in the late innings. Was there ever a better pinch-hitter? John Mabry? Steve Finley? Doesn't anyone miss them? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

There is, however, a component of that outfield that isn't carrying his weight, and that's in some way a bit surprising, seeing as said component had a first half that sent him to the All-Star Game. It may be that Carl Crawford (I like the Rays, but it'll take me a while to forgive him for that) foully stole his mojo when he robbed him of that go-ahead home run but Brad Hawpe just hasn't been himself in the second half. He did have a pair of hits today, but he's been striking out a ton and bouncing ground balls to short, including a double play to kill what could have been a huge first inning today. On second thought, it may be that Hawpe is in fact completely himself, as he's always run wickedly streaky, but his first half was so consistently good that we were hoping that was behind him. Hawpe's defense has always been something of an Achilles heel, so it'll be doubly visible if he isn't carrying his offensive share, but he's still a relatively premier left-handed bat and, theoretically, will hit the next phase of his streakiness and go back to proving it.

In the meantime, let's try to diagnose the problem. He's in a serious power drought -- he slugged .577 in the first half, .392 in the second half, and only has 1 home run, 7 RBI, 3 doubles, and 1 triple in 74 post-break at-bats. His OBP figure is, however, relatively identical -- .396 first half, .398 second half -- and his average, while it's not near the strong .320 he posted for the first half, still isn't too bad at .284. But when 16 of your 21 hits are of the singles variety, that seems to indicate that he's not getting the same drive on the ball as he was. I haven't had time to actually watch too many games this summer, so perhaps someone can enlighten me -- is he trying to pull the ball, is he hacking too much (he's always been prone to a certain degree of hackiness) is his timing off, or is he just being Brad Hawpe and therefore streaky, dammit? With the rest of the outfield suddenly picking it up, it may be that Brad decided he was entitled to a well-earned holiday after doing (along with Helton) the heavy lifting for the first half. Which was all well and good -- for the All-Star break. But Bradley, darling, we're in a pennant race now. I advise you to check back in posthaste.

What about the infield? Tulo continues to tear it up in the cleanup spot, and Todd is Todd, but third and second base have been a bit of a quandary. Ian Stewart has been quietly slumping as well, with only 2 post-break homers, two doubles, a triple, a .380 OBP, and a .254 average. Clint Barmes has hit a terrible slump (he's something like 3 for 47, with all three hits being homers) and was benched for the first two games of the series, but Jim Tracy, displaying his continuing Midas touch, put him in as a defensive replacement and was rewarded with the third of those three homers. Barmes' elite D kept him in the lineup for as long as it did, but after his frustrating showing on the road trip, almost everyone agreed it was time to give Q some of his, oh, 10 innings of allotted playing time per season. Barmes used to be the Row's absolute whipping boy before redeeming himself to some measure this year, but his average is down to .245 and he's starting to show an unnerving resemblance to "Black Hole Barmes." Hopefully a few days off, and maybe some healthy fear about losing his starting job, will help him get back to his earlier form, but he's always been a player who falls off in August/September. If we've got another player (Hawpe) who isn't carrying his weight, then we're going to have to take such things into account. Unlike Hawpe, Barmes' defense is good enough to justify his playing time, but not in a pennant race. In short, pick it up, Clintock.

The starting rotation is continuing to perform relatively well, but it's still something of a concern at the moment. Ubaldo is fine, but JDLR got blown up by the Phillies, Aaron Cook sprained his toe, Jason Marquis had his first bad start in a while, and Jason Hammel is clearly still the weak link. He was frankly lucky today, as he could have been blown up entirely by the Cubs and just managed to weasel out of it. I'd rather see Jhoulys Chacin in his place, but I'm fairly sure that the front office won't want to throw a 22-year-old fresh from Double-A into the middle of a pennant race. Shame, because aside from giving up what proved to be the game-winning homer last night, Chacin's filthy stuff has been on full display in his limited appearances. In my opinion, we can't keep running out a guy (Hammel) who's always a candidate for a nuclear implosion in half his games (particularly the ones at home). Of course, we don't want to move hastily or whatnot, but it bears close watching.

Funnily enough, the top performers of the past stretch have been the bullpen. Matt Daley, Franklin Morales, Josh Fogg, Rafael Betancourt, and Joe Beimel have proved themselves a trustworthy fivesome and then some, finally building a bridge to our lights-out ninth-inning guy (he's named after some road and a city in Texas, not entirely sure). 1-2-3, drama-free ninth innings are a welcome relief after Fuentes' nightly adventures, and the last time we had a closer of this calibre was in 2007, back when Manny Corpas was good. (Seems like a long time, doesn't it?) I'm still getting used to this whole feeling of not cringing when the call to the bullpen is made, but I feel like it's something I could start to enjoy. (Something else that I'm enjoying? Trusting that the manager knows what he's doing).

Once we (ideally) dispose of the FailBears once and for all tomorrow, we've got three against the Pirates to finish out the homestand, before taking to the road for six against the Marlins and Nationals. The Marlins have Cody Ross, so that's always a problem, and the Nationals are doing their best to imitate, well, us, changing managers and suddenly going on a red-hot tear. I for one am a little leery about that series, as it's in Washington and no doubt that they're just getting the hang of this "being a good team" thing, they'll want to pay us back for earlier meetings. It is essential, of course, that they are not allowed to succeed at doing this. Right afterwards, we come home to play the Giants for four, the Dodgers for three, then go back on the road to play the Giants for three more.

One thing is for certain. It's a hell of an exciting race. And it feels pretty good to be in one. After last...

Right. We're not going to talk about that.

Go Rockies!

Poll

Cubs fans are so annoying, they:

single-handedly created the national debt

51 votes

widen the ozone hole every time they open their mouths

100 votes

killed Flipper

52 votes

poured beer on me at the game last night

25 votes

You fool. Those aren't Cubs fans. THOSE ARE THE MAFIA!!!

29 votes

257 votes | Poll has closed