Spring Training Game 6: Hits, Misses & Foul Tips

Indians 6, Rockies 2 (boxscore)

Hits

Heaven & Helton

This is my 500th post since opening the blog last February. I'm not sure what that says about my social life, but I appreciate all the folks who continue to support the site and make the time and effort worthwhile.

Jason Giambi/Ryan Spilborghs

A couple of hits apiece for the Rockies veteran reserves. That's about the extend of the positives on another uninspiring day of baseball in very early March.

Misses

First Inning

The Rockies started out a little sloppy on Friday afternoon, going down in order offensively in the top and committing two errors in bottom half.

The first error was charged to Jhoulys Chacin for an errant pickoff attempt. It sounded as if it was a play 1B Mike Jacobs could have made, but the error almost always goes on the throw in those situations. The second error went to 2B Chris Nelson, whose rely throw to third on Orlando Cabrera's triple squirted away from Thomas Field. Another play that sounded like it could have been made, but Nelson gets the error.

The Rockies would commit five errors in total. That's completely unacceptable at any level of baseball, at any time of the season. It's hard to dress up sloppy play as anything other than that, even in spring training. But at least those involved here aren't likely to be factors at the big league level. Aside from Chacin, of course.

Mike Jacobs

Jacobs later had a "mental mishap" as it was called by the Indians audiocast, when he failed to cover first base on a chopper that was easily flagged down by Chacin. Things like that bug me.

Foul Tips

Jhoulys Chacin

Sloppy or uneven might be the best words to describe Chacin's outing today (3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 K). Sure the defensive didn't make matters an easier for him, but he did bring trouble on himself by creating traffic the first two frames.

Bottom line, though, he got his work in and his best inning by far was his final one. That's always a good sign in the spring.