Breaking News

The Rockies have pitching. It must be true. I read it on the internet.


I know, for those of you who have followed the Rockies and/or paid any attention at all, this is like breaking into the middle of CSI to announce that we've put a man on the moon. However, for the majority of the national media and baseball "experts", this is about as earth-shattering an idea as Sal Fasano possessing speed. Also news, but not headline material, is that the Rockies hit a little and play a decent defense. You kind of expect so-called "experts" to actually cover the entire league during the course of a season, not just a few select teams, but unfortunately that isn't the case. You also expect analysts that proclaim a non-bias to spend at least five minutes doing some research and performing some analysis rather than making blanket statements that have no merit or evidence to support them. The fact of the matter is that the Rox had the best team ERA in the NL since the All-Star break and better than six of the other seven playoff teams. This fact has been well-documented over the last couple of weeks, so if the "experts" don't know that it's their own blasted fault. Now they suddenly are forced to realize we have a team in Denver and they do actually play a 162-game schedule (except this season, 163) like every other MLB team. Dave Krieger's column in the Saturday RMN was amazingly right on the money. This just proves that even a blind squirrel gets a nut every now and then, as much of the local media has only recently discovered the truth themselves.

As with any late-September push resulting in a playoff berth, there are tough decisions to make in regards to forming your roster for a series such as was just completed. Invariably, there will be individuals who contributed to the team getting into the playoffs that won't be part of the roster for the playoffs. The Rockies may be faced with an even tougher decision heading into the NLCS. For a few weeks now, pitchers Aaron Cook and Jason Hirsch have proclaimed they would be healthy and ready to play in the event the Rox should make the playoffs and then advance to the NLCS. Well, here we are and both are indicating they could very well be healthy and in adequate game shape to be added to the roster for the series. It's one thing to make roster choices amongst players who have been a part of the stretch run. It's another to swap a player for someone who was injured and unable to contribute down the stretch. That said, a healthy Cook would be an improvement on the pitching staff, assuming the #4 spot in the rotation and allowing Fogg to pitch exclusively out of the bullpen, which he did effectively, earning the win, in Game 2 but was a possibility to start in a Game 4 if necessary. Cook's roster spot would be at the expense of Mark Redman, who, for the most part, pitched well when called upon, but is not an adequate replacement for Cook if Aaron is able to pitch effectively. Hirsch, on the other hand, is a different story. Hirsch's roster spot would come at the expense of another member of the bullpen, which, argued by many and agreed by many, has truly been the rock amidst this streak of the ages. Whom, of the bullpen, would Hurdle remove and replace with Hirsch? Julio is "hurt" and already off the roster. The rest of the members of the pen have been steady and reliable when called upon. My opinion is to replace Redman's roster spot with Cook and leave Hirsch off the roster. Why tinker too much with something that has worked brilliantly 17 of the last 18 times?

Until next time, Go Rockies!