Karl Gehring/The Denver Post
Trivia time: Do you know why the most majestic mountain range in North America is called the Rocky Mountains?
It’s because the very granite and other rocks that make up the mountains are eroding, crumbling to the ground, bit by bit, boulder by boulder.
The very same can be said about the Rockies of the MLB.
The once proud and seemingly rock-solid team has crumbled under the pressure of playoff expectations, literally and figuratively.
The injury bug is biting harder than mosquito’s in the Colorado summer, and the Rockies are falling like flies.
Arguably Colorado’s four best players—Jorge De La Rosa, Ubaldo Jimenez, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez—have all missed time on the field with teammates, which has resulted in the Rox plummeting faster than a boulder breaking off of Pikes Peak.
Add to their injuries, the next tier of players—Aaron Cook, Esmil Rogers, Dexter Fowler and, newest to the DL, Charlie Blackmon—have all been hurt this year as well.
In case you missed Thursday’s day game loss to the Braves, Blackmon, the one bright spot among Colorado’s AAA call-ups, fractured his left foot while sliding into third base.
The Rockies lost the game, were swept in four contests in Atlanta and Blackmon went down.
Talk about adding injury to insult.
And injuries are truly telling of a team in Major League Baseball.
Simply stated, the grueling 162-game schedule claims many victims with the relentless repetitive stress put on the bodies of mere human beings. Every team in baseball goes through injuries—the great teams sustain while bad teams’ backs are broken.
The injury list shows more than the current health of the team too though, it also hints at the health of the entire franchise, farm teams included.
At the start of the season, the Rockies looked to be one of the deeper teams in the majors, at the mid-way point in the season, they look shallower than the kiddy pool at Water World.
Sure, Blackmon filled the void well in left by the floundering Fowler, but other call-ups Eric Young Jr., Chris Nelson, Clayton Mortensen and Ian Stewart (as of late) have shown no more than flashes of brilliance while proving they aren’t MLB-caliber, at least as of yet. (Some may never be.)
The Rockies’ farm system has been celebrated by fans and media alike for years, but is it really that fantastic?
Has GM Dan O’Dowd scouted, signed and put in place the young players that will propel Colorado to new heights?
Or, has he been given a free pass by the benefit of over-hyped and undervalued young talent?
Yes, O’Dowd did well to trade for Mark Ellis, and Ty Wigginton has worked well in Denver, but besides small trades for aging middle of the road players, what has O’Dowd done that has wowed fans, let alone ownership?
But beyond O’Dowd, the Rockies players have been working with a lack of confidence in themselves—it can be seen at the plate and even on the basepaths all year—which stems from a lack of confidence from their skipper Jim Tracy.
As my colleague Travis Lay said yesterday, “…the Rockies have had seven different players at second base, seven play third, eight different outfielders, 10 different starting pitchers and even three different starting first basemen.”
How can players gain confidence when their playing time is so inconsistent?
Tracy was at his best when he was considered a player’s coach in 2009. He put confidence in players like Clint Barmes, Ian Stewart and Ryan Spilborghs and they showed him love, literally, when embracing him with huge hugs after wild wins.
Yes, the Rockies went an amazing 74-42 after Tracy took over in 2009, but since the beginning of the 2010 season, Colorado is a less than mediocre 124-126 under Tracy’s tutelage.
So where does the onus lie?
Part of the blame has to go to O’Dowd, who fills the roster with talent, but more of the blame has to fall on Tracy’s shoulders.
Tracy has contact with the team every day, he decides the lineup and he can boost up their confidence by picking his best eight position players and putting them on Coors Field on a consistent basis. Tracy decides the strategy and he picks the coaches that teach hitting, fielding, baserunning and so on.
And when Tracy had to call not one, but two closed team meetings earlier this season, it was a sign that he’s lost the attention, lost the respect of the team.
Can he win them back?
Do these Rockies have another ridiculous run in them, like in 2007 and 2009?
Only time will tell, but at six under .500 and 8.5 games back of first in the NL West, it isn’t looking good for Tracy, or the crumbling Rockies.
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6 comments
Matt
July 8, 2011 at 11:59 AM (UTC -6)
I hate to say it, but we’ll never be consistently good with O’Dowd running the front office. Miracles may happen here and there, but in order to reach championship caliber, you have to spend. And you don’t have to spend in exorbitant amounts like the Yankees and Red Sox; you have to spend properly and in the right areas. For how hyped we were, I NEVER thought our pitching was that great. Outside of Jimenez and De La Rosa, I thought we would be lucky to win 2 out of 3 games when our other three starters took the mound. Now that Jimenez is throwing up pedestrian numbers and De La Rosa is out, our extremely weak bullpen and reserves become the forefront of our losses.
In only 1 out of our last 5 losses did we start with the lead. 3 out of the other 4 games, the opposing team scored in the first inning! That is inexcusable. Sure our hitting is not living up to what we thought it would, but you can’t expect to have our team hit us into a victory EVERY night. We need to waive this season goodbye, and start building for next year(s). We need to add 2 or 3 quality starting pitchers, and one good bat. I hate to say it, but it might be time to go after a Prince Fielder type free agent in the off season and quit being comfortable with mediocre trades to supplement our lack luster farm system. If the Giants can win a World Series with Aubrey Huff, Nate Schierholtz, Andres Tores, and Freddy Sanchez, shouldn’t we be able to win one with CarGo, Tulo, Helton, and any one else if we had good pitching?
Logan Burdine
July 8, 2011 at 12:18 PM (UTC -6)
Extremely weak bullpen? I don’t agree with that at all. It’s interesting that you blame the relievers for all of the losing, then, in the next sentence you point out how they haven’t had a lead in four out of their last five losses. This team’s problem is not their bullpen. They play suspect defense at some important spots, are inconsistent at the plate, and have been bit by the injury bug. I’m not making excuses, but you show me another team in baseball that can win despite losing one of the top lefthanders in the NL and their two best position players.
However, I do agree with what you said regarding the efficient use of money and a highly overrated farm system — at least by the organization and most of the fans.
Rich Kurtzman
July 8, 2011 at 12:36 PM (UTC -6)
Matt,
Thank you very much for the read and comment.
I have to agree with Logan on the bullpen point. The pen has been good, not necessarily great, but good enough to get the Rox some wins.
The biggest pitching problem is with the starters. 10 starting pitchers used at the mid-way point in the season is far too much and there’s a huge lack of consistency.
But really, the problems with the Rox are a combination of it all.
When they hit, they can’t pitch. When the starter pitches well and keeps the opponents’ scoring down, the position players aren’t hitting. And when the starter does well and the bats are hitting just enough, the pen finds a way to lose the game.
The Rockies aren’t doing everything needed to win games all at the same time. They’re highly inconsistent, which can and likely does stem from inconsistency in playing time.
The most frustrating part about it is how well the entire team clicked in April. It seemed so easy, so perfect and we all started dreaming about seeing the Rockies in the World Series again. Maybe the Rockies did the same and lost sight of that very goal by pushing too hard when the going got tough.
Matt
July 8, 2011 at 6:58 PM (UTC -6)
I agree that our Pen is pretty solid, I apologize if I was not more clear, but I was referencing the Starters more so than the bullpen as a whole.
As for a team that can lose their two best position players, and a good pitcher, I again, and hate to do so, refer to the Giants with the loss of Posey, Freddy Sanchez, and Jonathon Sanchez. Granted Jonathon wasn’t at his top game this season, but he was still putting up a good amount of K’s and had a high ground-out rate.
Either way, I think we all agree there is a myriad of reasons that have led to the disappointing season thus far. I still question if fans think we still have a chance of making the playoffs, which essentially looks like it will have to be by winning the division, or if it’s time to look towards next year.
Matt
Rich Kurtzman
July 8, 2011 at 7:07 PM (UTC -6)
Matt,
I see your comparison and I understand, why can’t the Rockies compete like the Giants with their injuries?
Part of it has to be the lack of depth for the Rox, and the fact that the Giants won the WS last year has them on an absolute high confidence-wise and gave them a lot of experience being a team pushing through tough situations when it matters most.
As far as the fans go, I’ve heard many say they’ve given up on the team as of late. That doesn’t speak for all Rockies fans, some are die-hards that learned to believe in miracles a few years ago.
And this is a second half team, they could make a run. It just seems less and less likely the longer they go without making said run.
Logan Burdine
July 8, 2011 at 7:40 PM (UTC -6)
Well said by both of you.