Hitting the Road
After a dissapointing 3-6 homestand, the rox started their most recent road trip off with a come-from-behind win last night against the Nationals. This is something the rox have not done much of recently, both win and in come-from-behind fashion. As frequently as the rox came from behind to win during the first six weeks or so of the season, that's how seldom they have managed to do it in the last three weeks or so. Two things need to happen in order to have the opportunity for a come-from-behind win: the pitchers need to keep the game close and the batters need to deliver some timely hits. The first element has continued to happen on a regular basis as the pitching staff has remained fairly consistent and solid. Timely hitting, on the other hand, was almost non-existent in recent weeks. All one has to do to get the picture of the rox' poor hitting performances was to look at a chart of the batting average with a 10-day rolling average. From May 9th until June 7th, the 10-day average never was higher than .252, topping out at .252 on May 22nd and a low point of .206 on June 2nd. The good news is the hitting has improved, with the 10-day rolling average at .294 as of today and the team average over the last seven games at .316. In five of those seven games, the rox have double figures in hits.
The middle infield situation could get very interesting in a month or so with the acquisition of Kaz Matsui from the Mets. The RMN this morning reported that Gonzales will return to the super utility role when he completes his rehab assignment and that Carroll has claimed the everyday second base job. Unless Carroll cools down dramatically in the next several weeks he will see his name in the lineup every single day. As has been noted in a few rockies' blogs recently, Carroll has been the main catalyst of the offense lately and will get a lengthy look from Hurdle before being replaced. That leaves Barmes as the lone candidate to lose his starting position if Matsui is tearing it up at CS by mid-July. Barmes has shown brief glimpses of climbing out of the batting slump that has plagued him nearly all season so far. However, just when you think Barmes once again has a decent chance of stringing together a bunch of hits, he goes o-fer a few games in a row. As Dealin' Dan put it, the trade of Matsui was a no-risk, potentially high-reward deal given the dissapearance of Marrero and with the Mets paying Matsui's salary. Barmes cannot afford to look over his shoulder at all, but it seems that his job is by no means secure.
The rox have signed a number of their draft picks over the last few days, including their first pick, and the draft files have been updated to reflect those signings.
Until next time, go rockies!
The middle infield situation could get very interesting in a month or so with the acquisition of Kaz Matsui from the Mets. The RMN this morning reported that Gonzales will return to the super utility role when he completes his rehab assignment and that Carroll has claimed the everyday second base job. Unless Carroll cools down dramatically in the next several weeks he will see his name in the lineup every single day. As has been noted in a few rockies' blogs recently, Carroll has been the main catalyst of the offense lately and will get a lengthy look from Hurdle before being replaced. That leaves Barmes as the lone candidate to lose his starting position if Matsui is tearing it up at CS by mid-July. Barmes has shown brief glimpses of climbing out of the batting slump that has plagued him nearly all season so far. However, just when you think Barmes once again has a decent chance of stringing together a bunch of hits, he goes o-fer a few games in a row. As Dealin' Dan put it, the trade of Matsui was a no-risk, potentially high-reward deal given the dissapearance of Marrero and with the Mets paying Matsui's salary. Barmes cannot afford to look over his shoulder at all, but it seems that his job is by no means secure.
The rox have signed a number of their draft picks over the last few days, including their first pick, and the draft files have been updated to reflect those signings.
Until next time, go rockies!
posted by Todd Nikkel | 1:19 PM
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