Friday, May 6, 2011

Rock Solid Recrap: Worst. Loss. Ever.

Or at least since Tuesday. That one sucked. As did both losses to Pittsburgh over the weekend. And the two in Florida.

You know something? The Rockies haven't been playing good baseball for about two weeks now. Hmm. But I guess that's nothing new for this time of year. Only difference is it'll be much easier to withstand this bad stretch after stacking so many wins in the first half of April. We're not used to that. And then when the Rockies catch fire again later this month or June, they will be starting from a much better position and things stand a really good chance of playing out nicely.

Let's face it. Nobody in the NL West is hitting a lick this season, and, barring a blockbuster trade, I don't see any of them improving dramatically enough to scare me. The Rockies just need to plug along, improve in the money situations, and keep pitching and catching the baseball.

Diamondbacks 3, Rockies 2 (11) (boxscore)

But let's dial it back down to this one game we all had the misfortune of witnessing on Thursday night.

As I hinted at above, the Rockies bats didn't come through at all. Another of those 1-for-somethingteen RISP kinda nights. God, how does that happen?

Well, bad night for CarGo. Bad night for Tulowitzki. Decent night for Helton, but his double was poorly timed. Seth Smith ripped one to the gap early to lead off an inning, but followed with a few head-scratching at-bats. The strikeout in the 11th was a total disaster. Ian Stewart fastball right down the middle? I'll just watch, thank you.

Even Jonathan Herrera had a rough night. He struck out with a runner on 3rd and no outs and then failed to get a hit-and-run in play. Herrera having an unproductive night is a strong hint that a bad result awaits you.

But we did have a couple bright spots in Dexter Fowler (3-for-4, triple, two singles, walk) and Jose Morales (1-for-3, 2 RBI, Sac fly). Just wanted to make sure they get recognized.

-- Jason Hammel is on a serious roll right now. Just look at this tweet from Troy Renck if you don't believe me. Yes, he dealt with traffic again, but the key word there is dealt. As in, he had it and then he made it go away. His bad innings now mostly consist of heavy traffic with no damage or limited damage. Good step forward.

I doubt there are any steps left for Hammel to take forward beyond this. If true, that's fine. He's good right where he is.

-- Of course I jinxed Huston Street. That was easy to see coming, but he was bound to blow one sooner or later. That's kinda how baseball goes.

The people who want to hate Street have their justification tonight. I still think you're all out of your minds, but have at it. This is your day. You've been waiting all year for it. It's your moment. Make it bigger than it really is.

-- I don't know where the hell Ian Stewart was going on that tag up play, but I do admit I LOLed and SMH at the same time. It's possible.


-- Carlos Gonzalez has a large skill set. Included in that skill set is the ability to do things defensively that few can and most wouldn't even dare attempt. Just ask Stephen Drew. Twice.

Watch CarGo's first webgem and second webcam

-- On to San Francisco. I don't know how some fans are going to survive this weekend. I really don't. I pray to the baseball gods for them and I pray for Rockies wins.

3 comments:

Blake said...

Stewart – .088/.184/.302
But, but, but he was raking when he was in Colorado Springs "Getting his timing back." AAAA player at most. Time to cut bait. I'd rather give a rookie, like, Pacheco or Arenado a chance to play everyday. Can't be worse than Lopez and Stewart, and Stew has had chance after chance.

Blake said...

Townie, I've agreed with your analysis mostly 100% for all these years, but even you have to be getting close to being done with Ian Stewart? He can't even get a ball in play for a ground out RBI.

Mark Townsend said...

I admit my patience is wearing thin. It's not just his offensive performance that trouble me, it's his lack of baseball instincts. The baserunning error last night was atrocious. His inability to adjust to the way he's being pitched is concerning. His mental approach to the game is plain awful.

There's so much talent there, but he has no idea how to bring it out. That's derailed just as many careers as physical limitations have, so yeah, I don't know how much longer his leash will be. Maybe just until Wigginton comes back.