I'd like to know what you folks here think of his ceiling, whether he's been legit or not, and that stuff. a sixth round draft pick by Colorado, he's dominated the Rookie level Pioneer league, with a paltry 0.76 WHIP and close to a 9 K/9. He throws a low 90's fastball with good movement, a plus changeup, and a good slider. Miller has a good frame at 6-2, 190, is a righty, and is just 20 years old. The last two times a Rockies prospect dominated the Pioneer League like this, they turned out to be Brandon Hynick (In Triple A, good chance to a solid BOR starter) and Jhoulys Chacin, a borderline A prospect who is part of the Rockies bullpen now, who was a real find by Rockies scouts. Miller had dominated at West Valley College, striking out 106 in 83 before he was drafted, shows good stamina and projectibility. What's your take on him?

There are some Rockies fans and many sports fans/analysts who believe that either 1) Ubaldo Jimenez is not an ace or 2) That he is extremely close to being one. Now let me tell you all the truth that many of you Rowbots already think. Ubaldo Jimenez is the Rockies ace. Give me any pitcher on the Rockies to start Game 7 of the World Series, and it's him. Now there are many things that prove my point: for starters, Jimenez has the best FIP on the team, he constantly goes deep into games, his WAR is 11th in the MLB (4.0) and his across the line peripherals beat any other starter on the team. However, I'm going to go even further with this, and call him one of the best pitchers in the NL. Go ahead, you can cough Rockies bias, but I'm going to prove it with some hardline stats and comparisons.

Here's the first: Jimenez is not, by any means, controlled by luck. His BABIP is very league average at .299, his line drive percentage is also league average at 19.6 %, and his infield pop up percentage is in the middle of eligible pitching rank at 10.4 %. Now one may ask, why is Jimenez's ERA (3.76) so much higher than his FIP? I can give an acceptable answer to this. He has a below average LOB % (71.5 %), has not executed the pitches when he has needed to (see Jul 22 Ari), blew up when his control deserts him (see Jul 5 Ari), or he was left in the game too long (that's a coaching issue, see Jun 23 LAA)  Many of Jimenez's runs in an outing will come in one or two innings, and he will come away with a loss or no decision of the game. This is the mark of a pitcher still learning in the MLB, and while this examination of his short-comings screams "ZOMG Jimenes sux," this means that Jimenez still has tremendous upside, especially since he is just 25, after all.

This brings me to my second point: Jimenez flat out dominates hitters at times, and when he doesn't (see blow-ups above), still comes away with a quality start. 15 of his 22 outings this year have been QS's, including 14 of his past 18 (that's excluding that horrible April start, he's been a completely different pitcher since then). Now for the whole year, that's 68%, but since the end of April, Jimenez has a whopping 77% QS %. That's a top ten in the MLB stat, meaning that Jimenez has been just as consistent as Roy Halladay. (75 %) Then again, as I had been stating before the QS rate, Jimenez can flat control the game. Several times he will go through a turn of the opposing team's lineup and they will not see a baserunner for multiple innings, and he can often strike out a ton of batters in a game (T-13 MLB K). When his command of his main pitches deserts him, he can usually work with other secondary pitches in the game and give the team another QS. This is the true mark of an extremely talented pitcher and an ace.

A third point: Jimenez shows that he constantly improving with every season and start. In each season since 2007 (his rookie year) Jimenez has improved tremendously in FIP, WHIP, LOB %, BB/9, K/9, H/9, K/BB, and has stayed consistently good in his great GB rate, and opponent's AVG (though this is partially dependent on BABIP). At the age of 25, Jimenez is not even at his prime yet, and as I said before, he has tremendous upside because of his pitch arsenal (Fangraphs rates three of his pitches major pluses, his CB avg this year) and because of his improving peripherals. His fastball has been the fastest pitch in the majors for the past two years, his slider is fast with great movement and a K pitch, his changeup has been improving, and his curveball is great. Jimenez's command of his pitches are improving and should continue to improve with more experience. Many scouts projected Jimenez's stuff as being ace material, but were greatly concerned with his control. He has silenced those scouts now that he's shown that he can command 4 plus pitches at any given time. Every single stat besides ERA explains that Jimenez is the ace of the Rockies's pitching staff and is one of the best young upcoming pitchers in the National league now.

As for my final point, look at a final peripheral comparison of Jimenez and Tim Lincecum, the best pitcher today. I took out ER, W/L, and ERA because those stats are dependent, and K because it didn't work into the comparison.

      G                    GS            CG      SO                             IP                                    H                       HR     HBP         BB

Now, don't those look like similar pitchers? The way I look at it is this: Lincecum is an advanced form of Jimenez (both are power pitchers), who commanded his stuff to the point where his ERA is really low and he gets extreme amounts of K's. However, his walks, hits, and HR per 9 are very similar to Jimenez, having close to the same peripherals. I think it's realistic to say if Jimenez keeps on improving on his command, he will be a Cy Young candidate really soon, and he's already an ace that several teams would really covet on their staff. Due to Jimenez being a second half pitcher, I really can't wait to see how he ends up this year, and hopefully it will come with more respect.

Yes, he's been downright awful this year, and is being overpaid for his performance I realize that, but if you look deeper into the stats, he should be doing way better. His BABIP is downright awful at .242, way below his career BABIP, which is .313, his line drive rate and fallen badly, and are being driven for groundballs. He took his walk and K rate and put them closer to 2006 and 2007 levels. What I'm saying, is that he's bound to improve over the second half, and he's already proven that he's doing a good job as a bench bat. I want Atkins to stay on the team beyond this year, because he's our only proven insurance if an injury happens to say, Helton and Stewart, and because he's actually a good hitter; he was a 5.9 WAR player just a few years ago. Here's the issue though: he's still an arbitration eligible player and vastly overpaid. As far as I'm aware, the system will make him due for a raise, which we can't afford due to the added salaries of some players. This makes him a candidate to be non-tendered this year just as the Rockies did Willy Taveras during this past offseason. If there is no way to have Atkins on our team cheaper than he is now, then I reluctantly agree with a decision to not tender him a contract, but is there a way to have Atkins cheaper? Say we could have him for 2 million, would Rockies fans handle him being a bench bat for that price? So would it be possible for Atkins to stay on the team for another year at a cheaper price, and work around the arbitration system?

It's been well known that despite the Rockies offense being around the middle of the pack this year, that the offense does not have a major hole. This does not mean, however, that they still cannot upgrade the offense at all. While the offense is known for being a solid group, there are three major stories to the Rockies offensive lineup this year:

1) There has been the question of whether the Rockies should play a defensive lineup, in which we believe that players like Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki, and Brad Hawpe can make up for the offensive miscues of Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler, or whether the Rockies should go all out on offense, playing Seth Smith and Ryans Spilborghs.

2) There has been an issue that while the Rockies hit for a lot of power and walk a lot, they also do not hit the ball for average and strike out a ton; this is taking to players like Chris Iannetta and Ian Stewart. Are they being unlucky or overmatched?

3) There has been major confusion of whether Clint Barmes really belongs on the 2 hole; when Barmes was being shuffled around the lineup day in and day out by Hurdle he struggled, but when Tracy but him into the two hole, he thrived. He has shown though, that this thriving has been to his usual streaky nature and to Helton's protection in the lineup, and now that pitchers have figured out the startegy, Barmes is struggling again. Should the Rockies put a better hitter, such as Seth Smith, in the two hole?

Here are my solutions to the problem:

1) Despite popular belief, I think that Fowler has actually been a major issue to the team. If it were not for his ability to take a walk or his speed, he would not be in even any lineup currently. Even his fielding seems to be an issue; while he shows great range, he makes many rookie mistakes in the field, such as showboating, overcharging the ball, and missing many easy catches. With the bat, he takes a ton of pitches, and looks completely overmatched at times. I believe that Fowler should be sent down to the minors until he works out his issues with the plate and with the field; in the playoffs and in the race, the Rockies cannot afford rookie mistakes. Putting Carlos Gonzalez into CF will help the defensive issue and the offense. (that's right) Unlike Fowler, Gonzalez has been learning from his mistakes at the plate (walk rate is going up, making more contact lately), shows the same type of glove ability as Fowler, and is more consistent. He also is a legitimate spark in the lineup: in yesterday's game, both of his speed doubles led to Rockies runs. For CF, it has to be CarGo or Fowler only; I believe that Seth Smith should be the daily left field starter, as he has been a major positive at the plate and with defense, and the Rockies need a major plus defender at CF. CarGo is my guy for that, while Fowler learns in Triple A.

2) This is, in fact, a simple issue that will work itself out; Iannetta's BABIP has been WAY below career norms (.256) and has still the shown the plus power he has this year. Despite being unlucky, Iannetta is still one of the best catchers in the MLB. Stewart, believe it or not, has improved with the bat this year. His walk rate has increased slighty, and his K'rate has down a whopping 9%. Stewart also has a BABIP way below career norms (.240), which is due to increase. The duo of Iannetta and Stewart is a good legit home run tandem that's just going to get better as the year goes on.

3) This has been a newer development with the lineup in Barmes, and one that I'm quite torn on. If the Rockies want an offensive improvement, then they will promote Eric Young Jr from AAA, then demote Omar Quintanilla, and make EY2 the starter and Barmes the utility man. There are 4 upsides to this: 1) better OBP from 2nd base 2) more speed 3) freedom with the linup (there wouldn't be a necessity to keep Barmes in the 2 hole) and 4) Barmes would make one hell of a bench bat and utility fielder. The downsides to this are : 1) less power from 2nd 2) less defense and 3) Young will have to learn to adjust to MLB hitting.

If Young could straight out start hitting when he goes to the Majors, I would totally overlook the defense side for Barmes and make him the starter. However, it doesn't work this way. It would be a total waste if young went to the majors and produced offensively like CarGo to adjust, and Young doesn't even have defense on his side. I really do believe that Seth Smith in the two-hole would make this lineup instantly better, but I'm afraid of losing Barme's production from the two hole if he got sent down the lineup or benched for Young. For now, I say, start Barmes up until September, platoon him with Young when the rosters expand, then make Young the utility man in the playoffs, then if Young impresses, trade Barmes in the offseason. If all three of these questions were answered, and Young was called up, then my lineup would be:

2B Young

LF Smith

1B Helton

RF Hawpe

SS Tulowitzki

3B Stewart

C Iannetta

CF Gonzalez

What do you guys think?