Miguel Olivo has provided a pleasant punch to the bottom half of the lineup after languishing in Kansas City for two years
- Image by Keith Allison via Flickr
Nearing the end of April, the Colorado Rockies are 20 games into the season.
Yet, after 180 innings of baseball, the team and its direction remain an enigma. Â Although currently at 10-10 in the standings (1.5 games behind division-leading San Diego), the Rockies are already feeling the sting of missed opportunities.
The Rox find themselves searching for answers.
We know Colorado is no stranger to slow-starting Rockies teams:
2007: 10-16
2008: 11-17
2009: 8-12
This year is different, however, and the 2010 model judges itself on the quality of the players on the field rather than the optimistic hopes that come each spring. Â Thus far, the Rockies have fallen short.
Hitting:
So far this season, the Rockies have done both good things and bad things at the plate.
The “baseball card†statistics show a team that is hitting. The club average is .265 and the Rox have scored 96 runs, good for middle of the pack in the National League.  Colorado has 305 total bases, 2nd best in the NL.
Inherent power is evident in the lineup; Colorado has hit 24 homeruns (3rd in the NL) and 71 extra-base-hits (5th in the NL, but only 5 XBH’s behind the Brewers).
Lurking underneath, though, are some disturbing numbers.
The Rox have struck-out a frightening 161 times, only 1 K behind league-leader Arizona. Â They have hit into 21 double plays (2nd in the NL). Â The clutch-hitting is woefully absent; Colorado has only scored 18 runs after the 7th inning (last in the NL), and rank 14th out of 16 teams in hitting with 2 outs and runners in scoring position.
Individually, the story is pretty much the same: stellar performances and sputtering starts.
Ian Stewart has clearly grown into himself, limiting strikes-outs and improving his pitch selection while losing none of his fearsome power. Â Miguel Olivo has displaced Chris Iannetta by hitting over .300. Â Brad Hawpe continues his tradition of fast starts, and Carlos Gonzalez is blossoming into a star.
The underside of this lineup is the lack of a defined spot for Clint Barmes, who remains sub-.200.  Dexter Fowler is only now emerging from an early-season slump, and has stolen just two bases.  Seth Smith started off terribly, but more recently last year’s Mr. Clutch is coming around thanks to more playing time.  (Due to minor injuries to Hawpe and CarGo.) Jason Giambi remains a potent weapon off the bench and continues to have solid at-bats as a pinch-hitter. But as a starter, his bat goes quiet and he is an enormous liability defensively.
The offensive cornerstones of the Rockies lineup remain Troy Tulowitzki & Todd Helton.
Tulo seems to be adjusting lately, and his power will come around as a result.  Todd Helton remains an on-base machine with a respectable .274 average and a .357 on-base-percentage.  However, it’s clear his power is waning.  With only 3 extra-base-hits so far and no homeruns, one has to wonder how long it will be before manager Jim Tracy begins to consider Ian Stewart for the 3rd spot in the lineup.
The Rockies clearly have the pieces to put together one of the more formidable lineups in the NL, if not all of Major League Baseball. The question is: can the pieces find a way to fit together before it’s too late?
