If the Rockies maintain their current winning percentage, they’ll win 105 games this season. Right now, they hold the franchise’s largest NL West lead in sixteen years. Remarkably, they have achieved their success despite playing beneath their capabilities. There are several key contributors that are having very poor seasons.
The dismal starts by Carlos Gonzalez and Ubaldo Jimenez stand out most. Gonzalez, the 2010 NL batting champion, ended the month of April with a .228 batting average and just one homerun. Ubaldo has been a major liability, often burying the team by giving up huge leads early in games. The simple truth is that the Rockies cannot maintain their success with Gonzalez and Jimenez playing so poorly. The good news: it’s very doubtful either player will struggle for much longer.
Ubaldo isn't the only one looking for answers.
CarGo already appears to be breaking out. He entered this past weekend mired in a 0-25 slump. But, on Friday night, after failing to collect a hit in his first three at-bats, CarGo resorted to the old bunt-your–way-out-of-a-slump trick. The strategy worked. He laid down a beautiful Juan Pierre-esque drag-bunt single towards third base. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, he went a combined 3-7 with two laser-beam doubles.
On the other hand, Ubaldo appears more lost than ever. On Sunday, he failed to pitch past the fourth inning and earned his second loss of 2011. His overall line: 4 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 6 Ks, 3 WP. The three wild pitches were a Rockies single game record. On the season he’s 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. What’s more, the Rox have lost all four games in which Jimenez started. They’ve only lost nine overall.
Nevertheless, I’m unconcerned by Ubaldo’s poor start. On Opening Day, his lack of velocity and movement was very alarming, but, since he’s returned from the DL, his nasty stuff is back. The problems with Ubaldo have been command, stamina, and inefficiency, all of which play off each other. Even when he gets hitters out, they take him deep into the count. As a result, he’s often racking up 75 – 80 pitches by the fourth inning. Once the fatigue sets in, he starts making mistakes; big league hitters usually hit 95 MPH mistakes a long way. Honestly, he looks like he’s in spring training shape, which makes sense considering how much crucial time he missed over the last two months.
(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Hidden in the brutal box scores are some glimpses of the old Ubaldo. Last Sunday against the Marlins, he didn’t give up a hit through the first four innings. However, he threw a bunch of pitches to get through those four innings and was out of gas by the fifth. He started that inning by walking three straight hitters. He nearly worked out of the jam after two quick outs, but he made a mistake by elevating a four seam fastball to Omar Infante. Infante’s three-run triple was the only hit Ubaldo surrendered. In all likelihood, if he had kept that pitch down in the zone, everyone would’ve been raving about how great he looked.
Ubaldo’s strikeout rate is another encouraging sign. In his first start of the season, he only struck out one batter in six innings, but, since returning from the DL, he’s been able to overpower hitters, striking out nine batters per every nine innings. That’s actually quite a bit better than his career 8.1 K/9. He wouldn’t be able to mow down hitters like that without good velocity and movement. As he rounds into regular season shape, he will find his control, and when that happens, he’ll once again be a nightmare for opposing hitters. I expect him to finish the season strong. Once he throws a couple of postseason gems, no one will remember what he did in April.
It’s scary to think that Ubaldo and CarGo have been this bad and the Rox are still in first place. When they get hot, the NL West is going to have a tough time keeping pace with Colorado.
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8 comments
The Common Man
May 2, 2011 at 10:31 AM (UTC -6)
Hey, welcome to the SweetSpot Network, fellas. Looking forward to reading more from you. And congrats on the hot start in 2011. I didn’t think de la Rosa would maintain his success, but I’m glad I was wrong.
Logan Burdine
May 2, 2011 at 2:50 PM (UTC -6)
Right now, DLR is certainly earning his $10M a season. If he can throw 200 innings this year, I’ll be ecstatic.
Dennis
May 2, 2011 at 2:38 PM (UTC -6)
Welcome. Great comments. Do you happen to know, or have you seen, reasons why Keith Law thinks that Jim Tracy cost the Rockies the playoffs? I can’t find an e-mail for him to get clarification, but perhaps you can shed some light on this. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think Law is off base, but I would like to see specific reasoning from people smarter than I. Thanks.
Logan Burdine
May 2, 2011 at 2:45 PM (UTC -6)
I’m afraid I can’t be of much help to you there. Try to hit him up on Twitter.
Take two and hit to right
May 3, 2011 at 7:27 AM (UTC -6)
Hello Logan,
I would like to see Ub’o get more ground-ball and pop-up outs and watch those lovely K stats drop almost as fast as his ERA. Do you think he will ever get better control of the movement on his pitches? That seems to be the question on game day, or do you see it differently?
Logan Burdine
May 3, 2011 at 7:33 AM (UTC -6)
No, I totally agree. It’s like he’s a minor leaguer again and can’t harness all that movement. At times, his two seamer has been absolutely filthy, but it’s been so nasty that he can’t get it over the black.
I would love to see that K/9 drop back down. I was just pointing out that his stuff has to be on for him to accumulate strike outs like that.
Slangin'
May 3, 2011 at 8:47 AM (UTC -6)
Can the Rockies beat the Rangers in the World Series?
Logan Burdine
May 3, 2011 at 9:06 AM (UTC -6)
All they have to do is get past the Phillies.
Stay out of my beach front community!