Rockies fans get to see Drew Pomeranz make his big league debut today.
The title of this piece is a coincidence and while the Rockies lineup today is a disaster its importance in on our life is nothing compared to what happened 10 years ago today. There is plenty of coverage on the greatest attack on US soil on plenty of websites.
What I want to talk about is how today’s lineup for the Rockies is just unbelievable. There is no way anyone could have predicted that the Rockies would not only be 16.5 games behind the NL West pace on September 11th but that they would be trailing the Arizona Diamondbacks. The DIAMONDBACKS might finish with the second best record in the National League and have left every team in the West in their dust, including the 2010 World Series Champs. And this lineup paints the pathetic picture of the Rockies season.
Eric Young Jr (2B): The good news is EY2 is playing second base. I was in the Philippines for the past two weeks and this is the first time I have seen him at second. Would rather see him here than taking up a power spot in the corner outfield. In checking BR.com he has been at second six times in 2011. The bad news is that Jim Tracy continues to put him at the top of the order, but when looking at the rest of the lineup who else should bat leadoff? Fowler probably. EY2 carries a .321 OBA in 2011 and I guess the good news is that it is slightly higher than his .313 career OBA?
Dexter Fowler (CF): The next two spots in the order are really the only two that look right. Dex in center field is where he has belonged all year and his misuse has been talked about in depth plenty on this site.
Carlos Gonzalez (RF): The only guy in the lineup today that is batting exactly where he should bat. The interesting thing is that Tracy said CarGo would play solely left field in 2011 mainly due to the expansive LF at Coors Field. Not only is he playing right today but right at Coors Field. This is not a new development as he has been playing mostly RF for a month or more now due to injuries and overall team performance – and to get EY2 playing time in the outfield. Shoot me. Did I just write that?
EDIT: CarGo is a late scratch with lower back stiffness. So he is out. Pacheco moves up to the third spot. A guy with an ISO of .100 in AAA at Colorado Springs is batting third and playing first base for the Rockies today. Ty Wigginton replaces CarGo in the outfield so the defense just went from Gold Glove caliber to lead glove caliber in the outfield. Wigginton bats sixth while Pacheco moves up. The lineup is laughable.
Seth Smith (LF): With today’s lineup Smith makes the most sense to hit in the cleanup spot. Maybe you could swap CarGo and Smith but the rest of the lineup is full of names most Rockies fans have never heard of.
Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B): And here is where the disaster really starts. When the Rockies first picked up Kouzmanoff I wrote that he would get an extended look no matter how bad he hits. Where as Ian Stewart received no shot because he is “young” Kouzmanoff would get a long look because he is a “vet”. Kouz is now batting .229/.302/.271 with the Rockies and while it is a small sample size his career line of .225/.300/.418 isn’t anything worth waiting for. As long as Rosario, Pacheco and other youngsters are getting playing time the same should be happening for Stewart.
Jordan Pacheco (1B): In five minor league seasons Pacheco has as many starts at first base as I do. None. At extremely hitter friendly Colorado Springs Pacheco was hitting .277/.343/.377. I know Todd Helton is supposedly hurting and Jason Giambi cannot play two days in a row because he is old, but, man, a kid who slugged .377 with an ISO of .100 at COLORADO SPRINGS playing first base? The Blake Street Bombers are embarrassed.
Wilin Rosario (C): I am guessing Chris Iannetta does not return next year? Two catchers playing today for the Rockies (one of them at first base) and neither is named Chris. I understand Rosario was the Rockies top prospect outside of Tyler Matzek entering 2011 but he didn’t exactly put up the numbers at AA that screamed promotion to AAA much less the majors. His .284 OBA at Tulsa would suggest he should be demoted, not promoted! Yet I am sure he will get more looks with the Rockies over these last few weeks than Stewart. It is getting extremely frustrating to come to the realization that the Rockies just don’t know what they have at the catcher position in Iannetta.
Thomas Field (SS): There are many more people that know more about the Rockies minor league system than I do, but I feel I know a little bit; I have never heard of Thomas Field. A quick check of BR.com says he was the 24th round pick for the Rockies in 2008. He is also a AA-to-MLB player like Juan Nicasio earlier this year and Rosario more recently. He has never hit higher than .300 but he does carry a nice career OBA of .372 in over 1,600 minor league plate appearances. He doesn’t hit for power but most shortstops don’t. I read that Chris Nelson is hurt and so is Tulo but what about Jonathan Herrera? It is the inconsistencies of management that confuse me. Why would Field get PT over Herrera?
Drew Pomeranz (P): Finally we get to see the pitcher that was the key to the Ubaldo trade. It is starts today from guys like Pomeranz that should keep Rockies fans coming to the yard and watching on TV. We get to see what the kid can do today and against a good Cincinnati lineup. The sad thing is that most would have predicted that in mid-September the Rockies would be battling for the division crown and Jorge De La Rosa or Ubaldo Jimenez would have been on the mound, not a kid making his big league debut with a shortstop making his behind him.
There is some young talent playing for the Rockies that is worth watching but for the most part today’s lineup is full of a bunch of players who will be lucky to be part of any big league club next year. Let’s hope many of these guys aren’t on the Rockies Opening Day roster in 2012.
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10 comments
Sean D.
September 11, 2011 at 1:17 PM (UTC -6)
“Why would Field get PT over Herrera?”
Johnny injured his index and pinky fingers and will miss the rest of the season. Just thought you should know.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110906&content_id=24311770&vkey=news_col&fext=.jsp&c_id=col#24311772
Travis Lay
September 11, 2011 at 2:11 PM (UTC -6)
Thanks – I obviously didn’t know that. Who ISN’T hurt for the Rox? I miss a few weeks and half the team is battling an injury of some sort.
Sean D.
September 12, 2011 at 1:15 PM (UTC -6)
Truly. If a player isn’t hurt they’re playing like they might get hurt. The only exceptions to this are Cargo and Tulo. Too much pressure to produce I think has been the main undoing on this season.
Dennis
September 11, 2011 at 5:00 PM (UTC -6)
Rosario is a year away from being a good player. Next year, he will be two years away.
Michael
September 12, 2011 at 12:37 AM (UTC -6)
While I see Thomas Field as a nice organizational player I was told by a Tulsa media source in the past they predicted and believed Field would be a MLB player. Not sure I agree but at least he made it.
As for EY2, he can draw some walks, doesn’t strike out much, can steal bases in bunchs (and at a 90+ percent clip) but just can’t hit enough to be a real force offensively.
Dexter Fowler was his own worst enemy this season, not Jim Tracy, until mid-July, when his game took off. Fowler has been very, very good since.
Rosario and Pacheco don’t yet belong in Denver, which will be proven out on the field but the Rockies were impatient with incumbent players and wanted to test drive the new models and see how the players reacted to the elite competition.
Sean D.
September 12, 2011 at 1:19 PM (UTC -6)
You’re right about Fowler. Dex needed time to get out of first gear this season. He’s showing now what he’s capable of, but it took him too long to get out of the blocks. He needs to stick with whatever regimen he’s on now and continue it for the next 10 years.
I see Pacheco being the long-term solution at third. Kouzmanoff is good, but this is just another stop for him. Pacheco is only scratching the surface of his potential and the fact every game is better than his last is proof of that. He could end up being everything Ian Stewart was expected and failed to be.
Travis Lay
September 12, 2011 at 8:32 PM (UTC -6)
I dont think a guy with an ISO of .100 at Colorado Springs will be everything Stewart was supposed to be. With that little power he probably shouldn’t even be in the big leagues.
Sean D.
September 13, 2011 at 9:31 AM (UTC -6)
I’m liking what I’m seeing out of him at the big league level. There are players in all sports who under-perform in the minors/practice squads/B-teams who rise to the occasion as soon as the competition level is raised. I see Pacheco in that same light. What he did or did not do at the minor league level, however many runs he did or did not score, and whatever mistakes he made at that lower level have any bearing once he step onto Coors Field and plays for the big club. What I’m seeing from him in a Rockies uni these last few games is all that matters and he’s certainly making a name for himself. You can’t tell me a guy who is playing this well this late in the season with nothing more to gain than an invite to spring training next year is showing less heart than Ian “half-hearted-stab-at-a-ground-ball-and-swing-at-everything-in-my-zip-code” Stewart.
And who says a third baseman has to have power? The Rockies can score lots of runs playing small ball because they have the speed to back it up. We need guys who can get any hit they can instead of striking out swinging for the fences.
Michael
September 14, 2011 at 4:02 AM (UTC -6)
Well said – it took Fowler too long to get out of the blocks. Being in Colorado Springs, getting a heart to heart from dad (Jim Tracy) and hard work finally got Fowler going. Like you said, whatever he’s doing he has to keep doing it and hopefully he will for a decade. He has talent. He just has to “juice it” and produce.
Forsythe P Jones
September 12, 2011 at 10:24 PM (UTC -6)
While he probably wouldn’t be playing anyway, Stewart has an injured wrist ( I do believe…I know that he is hurt ). Not that the way he was hitting this year would make such an injury all that noticeable. The ship has sailed. I remember at the trading deadline when it was discussed that Stewart may be shopped, Kevin Goldstein at BP couldn’t fathom who would bother to pick him up.