Starter Ubaldo Jimenez tossed the first no-hitter in Rockies history, and that is just one example of his dominant 2010 pitching
- Image by stoleng via Flickr
Pitching & Defense:
Continuing our look at the Colorado Rockies after 20 games, the team’s pitching has run the gamut from tremendous to terrible.
Starters:
The first and last word when it comes to the highlight of the Rockies pitching staff is “U-Ballâ€.
Entering his third full year of big-league play, Ubaldo Jimenez has blossomed into the first true pitching ace in franchise history.
In the 4 games started in 2010, he was won all 4 and, of course, thrown the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies history. He has allowed 3 earned-runs in 28 innings. Â The right-handed fireballer, who routinely touches 98-100mph on the radar gun, has refined his game and is throwing low in the strike zone, inducing more groundballs, and dazzling batters with his off-speed stuff. Â As the season stands, he is the first candidate the Rockies have had for both an All-Star Game starter and a Cy Young Award winner.
The rest of the starting rotation is somewhat of a question mark.
Former ace Jeff Francis remains on the disabled list, and is not projected to return to the team until mid-May.  Aaron Cook has been the definition of inconsistent, with his patented sinker refusing to sink.  His April 24th outing, however, was masterful.  Cook threw a complete game, inducing 19 groundballs.  Aaron Cook returning to form will be crucial now that the Rockies’ “second ace†Jorge De La Rosa has been placed on the DL with a torn flexor band on the middle finger of his pitching hand.
J-Dealer had been 3-1 to start the year, pitching solidly if not spectacularly at times.
Jason Hammel and his dreadful 9.16 ERA & 0-2 record will be joining De La Rosa on the DL. Â Filling the void will be Jhoulys Chacin & Esmil Rogers. Â Both have seen the majors before, but with mixed results. Â The projected pitching depth the Rockies have been hearing about from the pundits prior to the season starting will be put to the test immediately.
Relievers:
The biggest question for the Rockies heading into 2010 has, oddly enough, metastasized as their greatest strength.
The Rockies bullpen has an NL-leading 2.29 ERA and has propped up the inconsistent starting pitching. Â Manny Corpas seems to have returned to 2007 form, throwing 16 innings with a 1.13 ERA.
Situational relievers Matt Daley & Joe Beimel have been dominant.  Set-up man Rafael Betancourt has been steady, putting his spring training woes aside early.  Even the team’s largest question mark, the closer, has been relatively stable.  Franklin Morales has 3 saves. At times showing his trademark wildness, Morales has only really been sidetracked by some bad umpiring calls and errant defense (we’ll get to this in a moment…)
Huston Street remains on the DL and isn’t projected to return until late May, perhaps even as late as June.  Mercifully, it appears that as long as the bullpen isn’t overworked, the team can hold down leads and keep games from getting out of hand.
Team Defense:
As seen in the hitting segment of the review, sometimes there are solid statistics that look great on paper… and sometimes those stats are just misleading numbers.  Nothing proves the point more than watching the Colorado Rockies on the field.
Statistically, the Rockies are pretty solid, only 12 errors on the season.  Oddly enough, almost half of those errors are courtesy of Ian Stewart & Troy Tulowitzki, arguably the team’s defensive cornerstones.
Watching the games, one realizes the play belies the numbers. The Rockies just are not playing sharp infield defense.  Balls that are not recorded as errors but which seem playable (at least compared to the team’s defensive crispness the last 3 years) constitute a hidden statistic that is hurting this team.  No player has been a bigger culprit of this unseemly style of play than Tulo. Balls that were once outs are now clinging to the infield dirt or hitting off his glove, skipping into the outfield or even worse, missed entirely.
This has extended innings at times, adding to Colorado’s starting pitchers’ woes.
Catcher Miguel Olivo has thrown out would-be base-stealers at a reasonable rate, and is the one defensive jewel for the Rockies so far in the young season.  In order to achieve the lofty aspirations expected by this team and their fans, the Rox will need to follow Olivo’s example and sharpen their game with the glove.
