Welcome Back

After a nine-game left coast road trip that saw the rox win five of the nine and four in a row, they came to CF for a brief three-game homestand before heading back to the left coast for three with the Padres.  At the same time the rox were welcoming back two of their most promising youngsters who have been out for an extended period of time, Clint Barmes and Brad Hawpe.  I commented last week that while the offense has been sputtering lately, the addition of these two players in the lineup would most likely have a positive impact the team’s offensive performance.  While Barmes has been a little slow getting back to his play prior to his injury, Hawpe has made his presence known.  In his first two games back, he has gone 4-8 with three runs, five rbi and one homerun.  The rox’ lineup is definitely a little more imposing to opposing pitchers with Helton, Holliday, Hawpe and Atkins in the heart of the order.  A manager’s ability to go alternate right and left in the middle of the lineup is often important late in close ballgames.  Hawpe gives Hurdle that ability.   The last two nights not withstanding, the rox have been in their fair share of close games lately.  In my opinion, of all the rockies’ youngsters, Hawpe has the best chance of being a star player.  Hopefully the last two games are an indication that the rox’ offense will eventually return to being a dominant force at CF.

The rox scored 11 runs last night for the second game in a row.  Prior to Friday’s game the rox had scored in double figures six times this season.  Along with scoring 22 runs in the last two games, the rockies’ pitchers have only allowed four, the two Kim’s allowing only one run in their respective starts.  The team era continues on an impressive downward trend on the chart, sitting at 5.21, the lowest of the season.

As is mentioned in the Denver Pest this morning, centerfield remains a concern, at least from an offensive standpoint.  The rox have a few internal candidates that could fill the centerfield role, but none are very impressive.  Cory Sullivan, Larry Bigbie and Choo Freeman have gotten the majority of the playing time in center the second half of the season.  While all have played adequately from a defensive standpoint, they have combined to hit .228 with zero homeruns and eight rbi.  Playing half of their games at CF requires the rox to have a centerfielder who can cover a lot of ground AND hit for at least some power and drive in runs.  Most of the external candidates that would fit within the rox’ financial framework are former players who may be let go by their current teams.

The rox now stand only one game back of Pittsburgh for the worst record in the NL.