Running Thoughts: Cook vs. Zito

I'll start off by mentioning another new lineup look for the Rockies.

EY Jr.s starts in LF and leads off.  Fowler in CF.  Carlos Gonzalez moves up to third and plays RF.  That gives the Rockies an abundance of speed at the top of the order.  Tulowitzki stays in his spot.

Todd Helton drops to fifth.  Interesting idea I suppose.  He's not hitting for power, which isn't unusual for him these days, but he's still maintained his ability to get on base throughout his career.  Maybe this will kickstart him, I'm not sure, I guess I was just liking the dynamic of CarGo providing Tulo with protection and giving the middle of the a little speed boost.

I mean they did score 23 runs in two games with that lineup, so I'm not sure I understand the need for a big change tonight.  Guess we'll see how it works out.

Olivo, Mora (starts for Stewart), Barmes and Cook round out the lineup card.

Read more »

Looking Ahead: Pitch It To Win It

The Rockies open a three game series in San Francisco tonight. In case you haven't heard, the Giants have the best pitching in baseball.

By a mile.

So basically the Rockies are going to have to pitch the baseball with great success themselves if they plan on leaving the bay area with a victory or two.

Aaron Cook vs. Barry Zito

And it starts right off with a bad matchup for the offense. Barry Zito was murder on them in all four starst last season (2-0, 0.95). That's pretty ridiculous.

Speaking of ridiculous... Zito is 3-0 this season with a 1.32 ERA.

Read more »

Confidence Rankings: Struggling Rockies

I have ranked the struggling Rockies in order of my confidence in them to turn it around.

1 Jason Giambi

Giambi is #1 because his main role on the team is to hit. Eventually he will, because that's what professioanl hitters do.

2. Franklin Morales

I read a couple things going off on Morales after Wednesday's game and I just sorta scratched my head. He was hardly the problem in that game. In fact, if you look at how things have played out, Morales could be 5-for-5 in save chances if not for a Tulowitzki error and then an umpire error in Atlanta. So he's not KILLING the team like you might think he is.

Read more »