In the final installment from this week’s podcast series, we finally get to talk baseball! Spring training is underway, and the Rockies have made some bold moves to sign and extend their core players, and to bring in a couple players to fill some holes. We talk about the Tulo and CarGo signings, and then discuss the new players. We end up with a quick-fire prediction round – what’s YOUR prediction for the Rockies season? Stay tuned for a more in-depth Rockies podcast next week.
The Colorado Rockies are a team of players whose most defining attribute is their inherently natural approach to the game. Brad Hawpe, Carlos Gonzalez, Ubaldo Jimenez and Troy Tulowitzki, the Rockies’ youth core, are very simply a band of gifted naturals.
Sitting at 20-21 and 4 games back in the highly competitive NL West (the Padres, Dodgers and Giants all are within 1.5 games of one another), the Rockies can find some small consolation in knowing the bulk of their home games and divisional schedule remain. But the season is a quarter of the way through and time is running out for this team to find its identity.
Both the Giants and the Rockies did ok, not great. The Giants got the hits with people on base while the Rockies couldn’t find the ball with people on base. Cook had one unlucky inning and one bad inning, and that was enough for the loss. Enough for Zito to work with.
Control was an issue all the way through the 6th inning, but from the 7th on he had firm control of the game. Ubaldo finishes with 7 SO and 6 BB. A no-no with 6 BB is impressive. Even more impressive was the fact that this wasn’t the San Diego Padres. This was the Atlanta Braves. By the end of the season Atlanta team will be a top-ten hitting team. U-Ball crushed a good team today.
On a night when the Rockies were recovering from two of the most dreadful performances this team has seen in a while, Ubaldo Jimenez simply didn’t believe this team was in trouble – even if it meant he had to carry them on his back. And carry them he did Saturday night in Atlanta, striking out 7 on his way to tossing the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies franchise history.
Colorado Rockies closer Huston Street will undergo an MRI to assess the state of his sore shoulder.
The new Rockies promotional commercials are out, and should be on the air soon.
Don’t look now, but I’ve been warning you spring is about to break . And it’s happening – don’t look to stinkin’ Punxatawney Phil, just check the calendar and find the date that pitchers and catchers report to spring training facilities for their first workouts. For the Rockies, that date is February 17 – that’s this coming Wednesday.
In most cases, the term “youth movement” is a sign that a team has fallen from its peak and is ready to rebuild. Not so for the Colorado Rockies. The outfield has gotten even younger with Dexter Fowler looking to patrol centerfield, and breakout sensation Carlos Gonzales penciled in as the probable starting left fielder.
