The Braves helped the Rockies celebrate their 20th season by coming to town and sweeping the series like it was 1993 again (it took the Rockies 17 games over 2 seasons to finally beat the Braves back in the day). The poor play continued into San Diego where we got our first look of 2012 at Alex White and Christian Friedrich. Here, we discuss pursuing veteran pitching help and what happened in the last week of games.
Should the Rockies try to sign one of the veteran free agent pitchers still available (Roy Oswalt, Brandon Webb, Brad Penny, Rich Harden)?
Brendan: Yes. Any of them. More age on this roster might not be the best idea, but that is how bad the pitching has been lately. However, they are all probably looking for a chance at a ring and I doubt that Colorado is a serious option even if the price is right. I am a supporter of the young arms the Rockies have collected, but throwing them all to the wolves one after another is not going to help in either the short or long term. A veteran or two to eat some innings (calling Jeremy Guthrie!) takes the pressure off the young arms and prevents us from being subjected to 15 more starts by Guillermo Moscoso.
Kevin: Spending a lot of money on a pitcher is not something that typically fits in with the Rockies “plan.” Oswalt might be able to help, but he has back issues, which have a tendency to linger, and he could require a lot of money. It might be worth giving Brandon Webb a workout to see how he looks. Webb just turned 33 on Wednesday, so he might still have some left in the tank, but Webb has made just one appearance in the last three seasons, so any help from Webb is unlikely. The Rockies clearly have rotation issues, but I am not convinced signing a veteran free agent pitcher is their answer. This problem seems to be more of a system problem…
Ned: Absolutely not. These guys are both overpriced and over the hill. You don’t win in Colorado with old, tired guys. Let me give six specific reasons why the Rockies should not go after any one of these guys: Harris, Hurst, Saberhagen, Swift, Neagle and Hampton. Strong, young arms win in Denver. The Rockies should stick with the development of the young pitchers and the rehabilitation of De La Rosa, even though it is painful in the short run.
What was the biggest problem for the Rockies last week?
Brendan: Inconsistency. Pitching and defense are easy targets, but I was most frustrated by the failure to put together a “complete” game. When the offense put up runs the pitching would blow it. When the pitchers would lock it down, the offense could not do anything. Mix in the base running mistakes and atrocious fielding, and it was just a terrible stretch. To top it all off, ex-Rockie Huston Street was hurt and his belt high gofer-ball was not available to blow the two saves for San Diego.
Kevin: This is a team with lots of problems. The offense often struggles on the road. There is the obvious problem of the starting rotation. However, the defense has been abysmal. The Rockies made seven errors last week, including four in one game. As Logan detailed, CarGo is currently the worst fielding left-fielder in baseball. Tulo had a rough patch, but he seems to be over it. Rosario is a terrible receiver, but he is throwing out a good number of guys. Although I love me some Cuddy, his defense is poor. The team’s terrible defense makes the terrible pitching all that much worse.
Ned: Despite the nice outings of Pomeranz, White and Friedrich, the starting pitching continues to be concerning. But the most troubling issues for me over the past week were the play of Dexter Fowler and Troy Tulowitzki. Dex still can’t handle the low and inside pitch, especially from the left side. His average is quickly approaching the Mendoza line. Dex is becoming a two-tool player (speed and glove) with an average arm. Tulo seems to be having head problems. His hitting is way off, and his spectacular defense has become erratic. I am confident Tulo will turn it around, but I can’t express the same confidence in Dex. By the way, maybe Rosario just needs to break in his catching mitt so he can hold onto pitches—the guy still can’t catch cleanly.
Has there been any cause for optimism during the recent tailspin?
Brendan: The first-round three amigos: Pomeranz (2010), White (2009) and Friedrich (2008). Petco Park is an admittedly nice place to make your season debut, but White and Friedrich both pitched very well. Pomeranz also was off to a good start before getting drilled by a line drive. White did a good job keeping the ball down and avoiding the solid contact that plagued him at the end of last season. Friedrich overcame some early bloop hits and defensive miscues to notch 7 Ks in 6 innings en route his first career win. Get used to these guys, because they are the future.
Kevin: Alex White and Christian Friedrich have been reasons for optimism. Bear in mind, however, that they pitched in Petco Park, which is one of the best pitchers parks in baseball. If these two can provide quality innings (I do not mean quality starts, which are not quality), it will be a big boost for this team. Also, Jorge de la Rosa’s rehab is going well. Although his last rehab start wasn’t pretty, the most important things are that he feels good and he reached 94 mph with his fastball. Help might be in the rotation right now, and more help is on the way, especially considering Guillermo Moscoso has been demoted; anyone would be better than Moscoso at this point.
Ned: Baseball fans (except Cubs’ fans) are eternal optimists. The performances of Pomeranz, White and Friedrich this week were very encouraging. Pomeranz seems to be finding the consistency we all have been looking for. White kept the ball down in the zone, and Friedrich showed the ability to strike-out hitters when he really needed to do so. Cargo continued his hot hitting and disciplined approach at the plate which has resulted in a sharp increase in his walks. Cuddyer is the consummate professional at the plate who is turning into an RBI machine—easy to see why DOD paid so much for him.
Have a different take? Let us know in the comments below.
Got an idea for a future 3U3D discussion? Email us at BlakeStBulletin@gmail.com
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11 comments
Kevin Kroh
May 11, 2012 at 10:37 AM (UTC -6)
Good points all-around. The starting rotation is so bad, perhaps we need to re-invent the wheel; namely, signing a couple grey beards to work 3-4 innings each as a starting tandem in the same game. Moyer+Webb one day, Harden+Oswalt the next, followed by the young guns (Nicasio, Pomeranz, White, Friedrich) in an 8-man rotation!
Ah, who am I kidding.
This franchise is so laughable right now; Tulo looks like a psycho killer (“tense and nervous…can’t relax”), as opposed to the pumped-up rookie having fun in the ’07 run, and Dex is his polar opposite — a gangly, loose daydreamer who may never learn to hit that low-and-in pitch, and a group of veterans who will no doubt tire of losing by the all-star break as we watch another losing season go by slowly, painfully.
Sorry, I guess not all baseball fans are optimists.
Simone
May 11, 2012 at 11:31 AM (UTC -6)
Is there a problem with the coaching staff maybe?
What would you think of letting Apodaca go at the end of the season and making Moyer the pitching coach. Also consider making Giambi the hitting coach?
Also, what are the chances Tracy is gone with another losing season this year?
Brendan Giles
May 11, 2012 at 12:00 PM (UTC -6)
You are right on with pointing the finger at the coaching staff. I don’t know why Apodaca still has a job: what has he ever done? Ubaldo, Morales and now Chacin have all lost ‘it” under his supervision. And now the next gerneration of young arms are at his mercy. watch out.
tracy and DOD will continue to keep their jobs. Their bosses are happy with the product (making money and butts in the seats) so there is no pressure to succeed. The only way that I see Tracy losing his job is if DOD is let go, and until the Monforts decide they want to compete rather than just be profitable DOD is the man in charge. Frustrating.
Eric Garcia
May 13, 2012 at 6:23 AM (UTC -6)
I remember last year when the Rockies started losing games after the great start, Tracy said something like, “I didn’t sign up to manage a second place team.” He isn’t, but not in the way he imagined. Despite that statement, he won’t resign. If the Rockies are going to be terrible, I hope they are terrible enough to require a new coaching staff next year (Glenallen Hill can stay, if only because his moon shot out of Wrigley is shown every time the Rockies play the Cubs). I’d like to see them poach Dave Martinez from the Rays rather than hire internally again.
TroyF
May 12, 2012 at 9:39 AM (UTC -6)
Jamie Moyer’s last three games:
15 innings, 28 hits,4 walks, 15 K (huh), 14 earned runs, 36 fly ball outs, 21 ground ball outs. Everyone keeps asking who should go, and nobody wants to face the facts.
White, Friedrich, Nicasio, Pomeranz, and Guthrie. Let them start and let the kids gain experience. Move Moyer to the bullpen where he can get his brains beat in when one of the kids gets rocked early.
Apadacca is a joke and always has been. He doesn’t get held accountable in this organization and it shows year after year.
English Rox
May 12, 2012 at 1:25 PM (UTC -6)
Lots and lots of valid points. However, the one which strikes me as the most damning is the continual and universal recognition of our poor defence (So bad, that at one point during the game against the Dodgers yesterday Dex tried to jump over the fence and run off). Baseball Reference has our ‘A’ line up; Scu, Dex, Cargo, Tulo, Todd, Cuddy, Ramon, Nelson + Pitcher at around -30 runs below replacement level. That is just crippling.
Todd should get a pass, his D has been outstanding this season. Ramon has been steady as well. The rest have been awful, just awful. Rosario… well I reckon Rogers is serving up stuff over the plate because he knows Rosario cant catch anything that is not belt high and straight.
Pete
May 13, 2012 at 10:05 AM (UTC -6)
All of you make some good comments. I know how frustrating it is to be a fan and not have the team work hard to improve like they should. Drew Pomerantz is not a major league pitcher. There, I said it. I watched his game against SD and one of his starts last year against Houston. He is a soft-tossing lefty with location problems and a big curve he hangs every third or fourth time he throws it. The rumour or illusion that he throws 95+ is just that. His fastball in both starts was 87-91 with way more 87s than 91s and he doesn’t have good command of it. He relies entirely on the herky-jerky short-armed delivery that deceives hitters a bit and lets him get through the first three innings. In short, he is a 6’5″, inexperienced version of Jamie Moyer with a deceptive motion. All that being said, he is hardly the Rockies biggest problem and I loved his home run swing, absolute beauty.
TroyF
May 13, 2012 at 10:50 PM (UTC -6)
Pomeranz is a kid. He’s one of 12 starting pitchers who are 23 and under who have started 3 or more games this year. He has all of 30 starts in his entire professional career. (15 starts at high A ball, 6 starts at AA and 9 starts in the MLB)
His fastball average this year is a tick under 90. His strikeout pitch has never been his fastball. This year, he’s really had two problems and they kind of go hand in hand:
1) This year his biggest problem has been command. 23 innings, 15 walks. When he gets behind 2-0 or 3-1, he gets his brains beat in.
2) That causes his second problem, giving up runs with two outs. 7 of his 13 runs have been given up with 2 outs.
Look at his secondary numbers (K/9, HR/9, BABIP, velocity of pitches, etc) and you are looking at Jaime Garcia last year. A vast majority of his problems center around that first problem.
So the question becomes do you think he will command his pitches better? My opinion? Well, in the 25 starts before the five in the majors this year, he walked 44 guys in 123+ innings. I’m going to trust those 25 starts more than I am the five this year. He will cut the walks down and there isn’t a question in my mind the other numbers will drop as a result.
By the way, one last thing. . . the average MLB fastball is around 90 MPH. Right where Pomeranz throws it on average. His average fastball this year has more velocity than:
Tommy Hansen
Ricky Nolasco
Ian Kennedy
Carlos Zambrano
Johan Santana
He’s within a MPH of Lincecome, Cain, Hellickson, Hamels and Halliday.
If he does fail, it isn’t because he’s a soft tossing lefty, it’s because he can’t command the fastball. If he gets that command back, the secondary pitches will likely follow and he’ll be the guy I think he can become. If he doesn’t, he’ll get crushed because he has to bring that league average fastball and put it in places he doesn’t want to.
Tracy, Apadaca and other are really lucky I’m not in charge. I would fire the lot of them. I have no idea how Apa has stayed here this long. He’s a joke.
TroyF
May 13, 2012 at 10:56 AM (UTC -6)
The problem is Rosario is actually starting to hit a little and he seems to be our only power source on the road.
Our vaunted offense is really only vaunted at Coor’s.
Something I missed yesterday is a comment about the age of this roster. We stocked the starting lineup with 4 guys who are 33 years or older. Of the four, only one is playing worth a crap. (Cuddyer) Scutaro has an OPS of 619 and Tracy doesn’t seem to have a problem throwing him at the leadoff spot EVERY FREAKING GAME. He has more plate appearances than any other Rockies starter and is 8th in walks. (Hernandez takes that one)
Helton is not a 5th spot in the lineup guy anymore. I love the key HR’s this year as much as anyone, but he isn’t a middle of the order hitter anymore. It should be painfully obvious.
Hernandez is a decent defensive catcher who has a horrific OBP. He’s not a GREAT defensive catcher, just an average one. (believe it or not, Rosario’s DWAR is better than Hernandez this year)
The old guys simply aren’t cutting it and this organization needs to make a decision. I think the decision is a no brainer one myself. Rebuild. Cut bait with Scutaro, make Hernandez the backup, tell Helton he isn’t going to be an everyday player anymore and when he plays, he certainly doesn’t hit fifth. Go with the young pitchers and let them earn/not earn starts next year.
As for Rosario –
Maybe Rosario is the long term 1B?
Nicasio didn’t seem to have a problem throwing to him last night though.
Brendan Giles
May 14, 2012 at 10:37 AM (UTC -6)
Completely agree with Helton not being a 5 hitter anymore. I have wanted CarGo-Tulo-Cuddy-Helton for weeks and Tracy won’t even try it. Alternating left and right handed hitters is cute, but hitting Tulo and Cuddy back to back is the way to go. Ever hear of a right handed specialist? I sure haven’t. Too many times i have seen teams bring in a lefty to pitch to CarGo, leave him in for Tulo (take their chances and pitch around him), and then get Helton too. I doubt teams would be eager to take their chances with Tulo and Cuddy.
About Rosario, I like his bat, but i don’t think he is ready to handle the everyday catching responsibilities. It is not just about his skills as a receiver, but he is still learning to call a game. I actually like how Tracy has juggled the catching respoinsibilities with Hernandez and Rosario in more of a platoon role than a starter-back up role. If anything, i would like to see the playing time start to match up with the pitchers more consistently so that herandez works with the kids and rosario works with the vets (who already know how they want to attack hitters).
JD
May 14, 2012 at 12:51 PM (UTC -6)
Helton should hit second like he did briefly in 2010. We don’t have anyone else worthy of the spot.