Rock Solid Recap: Stress Free Jimenez

Rockies 4, Astros 0 (and they barely scored 0)

Winning Player: Ubaldo Jimenez

Apparently the only thing Ubaldo doesn't do well is stay hydrated.

Cramping in both legs limited him to only seven innings... of one hit baseball.

An infield hit.

An infield hit that Ian Stewart misplayed into a hit by going barehand on a slow roller he could have easily gloved for an out. That's all he allowed.

My goodness is this guy good.

Now we just have to hope the cramps were really just that. That nothing was significantly worsened by Jim Tracy's silly decision to leave him in the game. That his arm was able to stay intact despite obvious differences in his mechanics while pitching on two cramping legs.

Yes, Jimenez nights are typically stress free. But with the way things are going for this Rockies sqaud, you know there's always going to be a subplot that makes you hold your breath for awhile.  Thankfully all indications point to us being able to exhale and look forward to Stress Free Jimenez next week at Coors Field.

Read more »

Lineup Card: A Must Win In Houston

Yeah, I went there.  It's a must win tonight.

This team has to show us the ability to overcome adversity.  Jim Tracy will tell you they have because they've hovered around .500 despite the injuries.  I'm telling you Jim Tracy is full of crap.  This team hasn't overcome anything, and if the team is resting on the injury excuse, then we have our explanation for the uninspired baseball we're seeing.

Is there such a thing as a good error?  Of course not, but sometimes you have to overcome one.  That didn't happen last night, and it hasn't happened enough all season.  Just the same, too many errors have happened.

Are the umpires going to blow calls?  Absolutely.  But good teams will overcome that.  The Rockies haven't.

When the offense blows an opportunity, do they battle right back, or disappear 3-4 innings at a time?  More times than not, the offense disappears.  That's giving in to adversity and frustration.

Where's the resilience?

I don't know where it is, but it damn sure better show up in the dugout tonight in Houston.

Read more »

First Quarter Report Card: Pitching

Rotation -- Grade: C+

Without Ubaldo Jimenez, probably a D+.  He's worth a whole letter grade himself.

The last week or so though the rotation would get an A.  It's possible they're hitting their stride heading into June, which would be further aided by Greg Smith's exit from the regular rotation after his emergency start last night.

Then again, it's difficult to be all in on guys like Jeff Francis, Jason Hammel and Jhoulys Chacin at the moment.  Too many ifs involved with each for different reasons.  All we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the best there.

Read more »