Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Rock Solid Recrap: If You Like Offense, Look Away Right Now

Braves 1, Rockies 0 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Well, the first thing would probably be the Rockies going hitless against Mike Minor until Jordan Pacheco's single leading off the 7th inning. That's obviously a discouraging occurrence for an offense. The second thing would be only adding one more hit after the first hit. Of course they did draw six walks in the game, which is on the plus side, but they couldn't put enough of those together to create one or two measly runs.

On the flip side, Colorado's pitching staff would combine to allow seven walks, which is a disturbing number.  Amazingly, Atlanta only turned that into one run because they also struggled to come up with hits (only four). So basically this was a slow, ugly, and at times difficult to watch baseball game, and the end result didn't make it worthwhile.

Turning Point: As unappealing as it was, this was still an evenly played game throughout. The only play that separated them was Josh Rutledge's 4th inning throwing error as he attempted to turn a rally-killing double play. Rutledge's throw sailed wide of Jordan Pacheco and ended up hitting the fencing in front of the first base dugout. This allowed Chipper Jones to stroll home with the lone run.


Worth mentioning that was Freddie Freeman with the big league takeout slide at second. Sometimes those make all the difference in a tightly contested game.

Alex White's Line: 4 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 0 K, 71 pitches (32 strikes)

That ball-strike ratio is embarrassing. I will argue forever the four-man rotation/pitch count that is now strictly a pitch count is doing no good for the Rockies young pitchers, but it's also past time for Alex White to start throwing strikes consistently. You can't trust a pitcher in any type of role if they aren't throwing strikes. That goes for any level of play.

July & August Player Rankings

Unfortunately (or maybe not) I didn't have a chance to do a thorough review of the Rockies July. I'm also a little pressed for time when it comes to doing a thorough review of August, but I will make some time for my favorite of those reviews (the player rankings). '

The following rankings will cover both July and August. It's based on my opinions only, but I look at several different things (offense, defense, pitching, baserunning, poise, consistency, intelligence and ability to change a game) while formulating it. So here we go... ranking all Rockies who suited up in July and August. Well, aside from those who were traded or made very brief cameos (Tommy Field and Edwar Cabrera).
  1. Adam Ottavino
  2. Wilin Rosario
  3. Josh Rutledge
  4. Eric Young Jr.
  5. Rafael Betancourt
  6. Jordan Pacheco 
  7. Carlos Gonzalez
  8. Josh Roenicke
  9. Dexter Fowler
  10. Tyler Colvin
  11. Matt Belisle
  12. Carlos Torres
  13. Chris Nelson
  14. D.J. LeMahieu
  15. Jeff Francis
  16. Rex Brothers
  17. Tyler Chatwood
  18. Jhoulys Chacin
  19. Michael Cuddyer
  20. Alex White
  21. Todd Helton
  22. Andrew Brown
  23. Guillermo Moscoso
  24. Jonathan Herrera
  25. Drew Pomeranz
  26. Will Harris
  27. Matt Reynolds
  28. Ramon Hernandez
  29. Jason Giambi
  30. Mike Ekstrom
  31. Charlie Blackmon
  32. Christian Friedrich
  33. Matt McBride
  34. Jonathan Sanchez
  35. Edgmer Escalona
Based on workload and production, Ottavino was pretty much a no-brainer in the top spot. He has taken his hybrid role and run with it, making the Rockies front office almost smart in the process. That's tough to do.

The rest of the top 5 was difficult. I went with Rosario second because his development behind the plate has been encouraging, and he's already a game-changer offensively with more room to grow. Josh Rutledge is just a ballplayer, plain and simple. EY2 could have easily taken the #2 slot had he not been injured. He was playing like a man possessed before that. And Rafael Betancourt has remained on point in the 9th inning.

More Rockies thoughts await you if you follow me on Twitter: @Townie813 & @HeavenHelton