Miscellaneous Ramblings

The bad news is there were two games postponed Thursday due to the weather. The good news is that Kim didn't have to start one of those games. Dohmann, Speier and Kim have been given their share of chances out of the pen this season. We know what happened to Dohmann and Speier, so don't be surprised if something similar happens to Kim. If Denny Stark shows any signs of effectiveness at CS, I suspect a move will be made shortly. I haven't read anything about this possibility, but I'd bet money that the Rockies are hoping Stark can take a spot in the pen.

Many thanks to the Kansas City Royals. If it weren't for you the Rox would be the laughing stock of MLB.

A week and a half ago I first mentioned Helton's slow start, but this is getting ridiculous. PW has started to pick up the pace, so now Helton needs to get going. As I also mentioned in an earlier post, Helton does typically start the season slow, but this year is completely uncharacteristic of Helton. He is currently fifth on the team in rbi and has a slugging percentage under .400. That's right, even Aaron Miles has a slugging percentage higher than Helton right now. I can only wonder if the early steroid issue and now the trade rumors have served as a distraction to him. Knowing Helton, this is driving him nuts.

Javier Lopez, the second casualty of the bullpen problems, was recently called up by the Diamondbacks and earned a save in one of his first appearances. Figures!!

The homerun swing will eventually come for Holliday. In the meantime, his ability to line the ball into the gap is impressive. He has already equaled his 2004 total for triples and is second behind Barmes in total bases.

I have a new poll on the website regarding the All-Star game. Please vote.

There is an update to the draft worksheet on the website. Vernand Morency, a 1998 pick by the Rox, was drafted by Houston in the 3rd round of the NFL draft.

I have added a few items to the "season snapshot". Please let me know if there are additional items you might like to see.

The Rox are in LA for three starting tonight. Jennings vs. Perez starting at 8:40.

Bullpen Woes

(Insert Rockies' starter here) left the game with a lead or in a close ball game. (Insert Rockies' reliever here) came into the game and failed to protect the lead or allowed the deficit to increase.

We've seen this scenario before. In fact, it was almost one week ago I first wrote it, threatening to start every post with those two sentences. On Sunday, the starter was Francis and the reliever was Kim. The "bullpen watch" currently goes something like this: 7 losses and 7 blown saves. 2004 saw 39 losses and 34 blown saves by the pen, a mlb record, so we are well on our way to surpass that pace.

Ok, let's face it Dealin' Dan and Clint, the Kim "experiment" is over. His control is a mess and he can't get important outs. Kim is responsible for 3 of the pen's losses and 2 of the blown saves. With the re-signing of Denny Stark to a minor-league contract, you can expect Kim's days are numbered if he doesn't turn things around in a hurry.

The good news about Sunday's ballgame is that the Rox' pitchers only allowed two walks. The bad news is they hit four batters.

Over the weekend, the Rockies finally figured out the solution to the problems in the bullpen. All they need is every starter to pitch a complete game each game for the rest of the season and we'll be just fine.

It's a Start

The Rockies won last night to give them consecutive victories for the first time this season. I know that many will say it's only two games, but I will go with the adage that you have to win two in a row to win three in a row...and so on. Also, I believe there are definite positives that can be taken from not only the last two games, but the last five. Here are some reasons to be optimistic:

This last time through the rotation, each starter has gone at least six innings, with Jennings being the only member to give up more than two runs. This is important if the Rox are going to have a chance to win, because clearly the bullpen cannot be counted on to shut down the opposition for four or five innings.

The Rox are 3-2 since they ended their 8-game skid. Now, this isn't anything to get overly excited about, but it does indicate that this young team is able to put each game behind them and start fresh each day.

In those five games since the losing streak, the team ERA is 4.40. Again, nothing to earn the Rox headlines on Baseball Tonight, but definitely a step in the right direction. On April 15 the Rox' ERA was 8.28, so 4.40 looks relatively miniscul.

Chin-hui Tsao. Tsao gives the Rox something they have never had: a pitcher who can consistently bring big-time heat. There aren't many players that can routinely turn on a 96+ MPH fastball, so a closer who can do that is a benefit. This doesn't work all the time (see Billy Wagner vs. Vinny Castilla), but the percentages are high. Tsao blew a 98 MPH fastball by Burrell, who has been one of the hottest hitters to start the season.

Clint Barmes. This morning, Barmes can look at the paper and see his name on top for NL batting average. Now, no one expects Barmes to hit anywhere close to this all year, but he has proven he can hit MLB pitching and has created somewhat of a dilemma for Hurdle when Atkins is healthy. Atkins was slated as the #2 hitter in the batting order, but how do you take Barmes out of that slot when he's hitting .463. Good luck to Hurdle figuring this one out.

It is getaway day in Philly, which means an 11:00 a.m. game today. Kennedy vs. Lieber.

Sound Familiar?

"(Insert Rockies' starter here) leaves the game with a lead or in a close ball game. (Insert Rockies' reliever here) comes into the game and fails to protect the lead or allows the deficit to increase."

I think I will just start every DITR posting with those two sentences from now on. It certainly seems to be a reliable, although dissapointing, trend. On Monday, the starter happened to be Chacon and the reliever happened to be Speier. What is particularly alarming to me about the Rockies bullpen situation is that it isn't one or two guys that are struggling, it's pretty much the whole crew that has shown the inability to get guys out at one time or another. In fact, the only member of the pen that hasn't given up runs in bunches and at inopportune times is the guy who was considered the weakest link of the bunch, Marcos Carvajal.

I know Helton typically starts the season slow, but I'm not sure how many times I've heard already, "boy, Helton JUST missed that pitch".

Dan Lucero, of Up in the Rockies, kindly pointed out to me that in my answer to last trivia question, I meant Kevin Sefcik, not Kevin Seitzer. He is correct. It's a little embarrasing to mess up the answer to your own trivia question. As for my latest trivia question, Head Bum, of Rox Head, alertly pointed out that Charles Johnson has returned to the Devil Rays and has some at-bats, so the total of players playing for three recent expansion teams is now eight. It's even more embarassing to get the question for your trivia wrong. Here are the answers to the most recent trivia: Quinton McCracken, Craig Counsell, Greg Colbrunn, Lenny Harris, Mike Myers, Vladimir Nunez, Bobby Witt, and of course, Charles Johnson. I'm still reeling from this last trivia fiasco, so no new question this week.

I forgot to mention in my last posting a couple of new features on the DITR website. First, for a few years now I have tracked the Rockies' ERA on a daily basis. As a result, I have a chart of the ERA since 2002, which will be regulary updated to reflect the 2005 ERA. Secondly, I have added what I call the "Season Snapshot". This is simply a summary of how we are doing for the season, both in terms of record, standing and a few statistics also. The snapshot will be updated each day, so visit often.

Today is getaway day, so that means an afternoon game. Go Rox.

Walks Analysis

In yesterday's post, I mentioned briefly that walks have been a big problem in this young season of 2005. I wanted to expand on that thought with an analysis of walks, past and present. If you are bored by statistical analysis, stop reading now and move on to the next entry in the blogosphere. However, if you choose to continue, I think you will agree with me that my findings are interesting and somewhat troublesome. One doesn't have to analyze the stats to know that the Rox' pitching staff has struggled so far, but an analysis of the statistics will shed light on exactly how badly they have struggled.

As I also mentioned yesterday, the Rox' BB/9 ratio before Tuesday's game was 6.84. After zero walks Tuesday and 10 walks Wednesday, the ratio stands at 6.55. I queried my trusty Lahman database and discovered that the highest ratio for a season since 1960 was 4.93 by Detroit in 1996. This is not a new problem. I recall being frustrated many times over the years with the frequency and timing of walks by the Rockies pitching staff. Of the previous 12 seasons for the Rox, they led the NL in walks allowed five times. (Frankly, I expected it to be more than that.) However, only once, in 2000, was their BB/9 ratio less than the league average(3.70 vs. 3.86). Click here for a graphical representation of this analysis. From 1993-2004, the league average BB/9 is 3.43 while the Rockies' average BB/9 over the same time period is 3.81.

An even more troubling statistic is the ratio of walks plus hits per nine innings. So far this season, this ratio sits at 17.32. Simply put, this means the Rox are allowing nearly two base runners per inning. Taking it one step further, the opposition is getting a runner into scoring position almost every inning. If this trend continues it will most definitely be a long and frustrating season. I fully expect the trend to normalize somewhat, but it demonstrates just how poorly the Rockies' pitching has performed early on.

The answer to the last DITR trivia question was Craig Counsell and Kevin Seitzer. Incidently, Seitzer's single at-bat for the Rox was the last of his career. Here is the next DITR trivia question: No player has played for all four recent expansion teams. However, seven players have played for three of the four. Can you name three of the seven? Hints: Two of them should be easy for die-hard Rox fans and only one of the seven has not played for the Rox.

I have a new poll on the website, this time regarding Garrett Atkins.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

Well, another bad outcome to a game that the Rox could have won. The bullpen will get the loss but it was really Miles' boot of a routine grounder that opened the gates for the snakes. Despite the loss, there are some positives to focus on. First of all, Chacon delivered only the third strong outing by the rotation this season. After giving up a run in the first inning, Chacon settled down and was impressive. He was efficient, throwing 88 pitches over six innings, an average of about 15 per inning. He is obviously much more comfortable back in the rotation than he ever was as the closer last season. Second of all, the Rox pitchers did not allow a single walk. Before last night's game, the Rox had been giving free passes at a staggering rate of 6.84 per nine innings. Last season, the league average rate was 3.38. Clearly, the Rox must reduce their walks allowed dramatically if they are to have any degree of success at all.

Once again, being a high profile columnist has it's advantages. My contact within the Rockies clubhouse tells me the number one injury being treated in the trainer's room is whiplash. This injury has been experienced primarily by members of the relief corp, but some members of the rotation have had flare-ups also.

The bullpen at Colorado Springs appears to be ready if the Rox' relievers continue to falter. Chiasson, Witasick and Anderson allowed four runs in three innings last night for the Sky Sox.

Last week, Dan Lucero at Up in the Rockies, mentioned that Allan Simpson did something that happens every season, but not usually this early. That is, each season some pitcher for the Rox plays his way off of the team, back to CS. In fact, Simpson not only pitched his way off of the parent club, but completely out of the organization. Now that's not easy to do in the first week of the season.

It's becoming obvious to me that the bullpen was considered the wildcard for this team by Dealin' Dan and Clint. How else do you explain the number of moves that have been made already. DD was preaching patience to the media and fans every chance he got, but has demonstrated very little when it comes to the bullpen.

Apparently, the traditional June/July swoon has been moved up to April this season. Hopefully in 2006 it will be moved up to March and we won't have to worry about it anymore.

WOW!

That's about the best way I can describe what the kiddos did Monday. To be down by two runs against one of the best closers in baseball, and to rally to win the game, in dramatic fashion no less, was something that I think nearly every Rox fan will remember for quite some time. Almost every member of the Kiddie Corp was instrumental in a truly memorable Opening Day victory. Baker hit is first MLB homerun, becoming the 52nd player (the spreadsheet on the website is updated) to hit his first as a Colorado Rockie. He also became the 5th Rockie to do it in his MLB debut. Can you name the other four?

Miles was lights out from the leadoff spot, an area of concern among many in the Rockies blogosphere. Barmes was solid from the #2 spot, that is until the 9th, when he was big-time clutch. Barmes' walkoff homer reminded me of Dante's walkoff to christen CF in 1995. The big difference was that Dante had established himself as a clutch hitter while Barmes is still an unknown. Cory Sullivan, who has done nothing but earn his way onto the big-league roster the last two springs, finally made his debut with a pinch-hit, rbi double and the tying run. Somewhat lost in the offensive performances was the fact that Ryan Speier earned his first MLB win. To top it all off, Baker, Sullivan and Speier all played in their first game above AA.

Not bad for a bunch of kids that almost nobody in Denver knows about, let alone the rest of the league. One thing can be said for sure, these kids do not quit. They may lose a lot of games. On the other hand, they might surprise a lot of people and be pretty good. Either way, they should be fun to watch. Thanks KC for a great game and what will be a fond memory.

Tribute to Cat

I mentioned in my post earlier this week that Andres Galarraga had decided to retire, but I felt his retirement warranted a bit more attention than that. Here is my tribute to the "Big Cat".

He was signed by Montreal as an undrafted free-agent on January 19, 1979. He spent his first five seasons of professional baseball at either the Rookie or A level before moving to AA in 1984 and AAA in 1985 and playing 24 games for Montreal in 1985. He hit his first MLB home run on September 21, 1985 at Busch Stadium against the St. Louis Cardinals off Kurt Kepshire.

He was signed by the Rockies as a free-agent on November 16, 1992. He got his first home run as a member of the Rockies on April 10, 1993 at Mile High Stadium vs. Montreal off Dennis Martinez. Galarraga almost instantly became a fan favorite and won the NL batting title that year. Galarraga totaled 172 home runs, 579 rbi and a .316 average for his career as a Rockie. Through 2004, he is in the top 5 all-time for Colorado in nearly every offensive category, including stolen bases.

Cat was a five time all-star, in 1998 with Montreal; 1993 and 1997 with Colorado; and 1998 and 2000 with Atlanta. As I was reading the many articles this week about Cat, the comment that stands out in my mind is that he certainly would have eclipsed 400 home runs for his career had he not been out an entire year fighting cancer. For some reason, the reality of that struck me, making me realize that beating cancer may be his most impressive accomplishment. Thanks Cat for the tremendous memories!

Inaugural DITR trivia question: There are two position players who, in their career as a Rockie, have one lone at-bat. Can you name either of them? Hint: One of the players went on to win two World Series. Leave your answer as a comment.

I have added a file of career Rockies' batting stats to the webpage.