Rock Solid Recap: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 run innings equal 15 for Rockies!

More times than not you'll wish the offense had saved a few runs when they score 15 for the ace. But given the way this season has gone, given the way Jhoulys Chacin labored, and given the way several key members of the Rockies bullpen have been struggling of late, nobody was saying that after Saturday's blowout win over the Washington Nationals.

Rockies 15, Nationals 7 (boxscore)

This is what you call an offensive onslaught. Colorado scored in five different innings, which is something different, but nice. Four of them result in multiple runs. That's even nicer. But the nicest part? The contributions came from every spot in the order.

Even Jhoulys Chacin had a perfect night at the plate, singling, getting hit, and scoring twice.

Even Ian Stewart reached TWICE... and he didn't enter the game until the 7th inning.

It was just one of those nights for the Rockies offense.

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Rock Solid Recap: The honeymoon continues for Mark Ellis

We're getting a really good look at how dangerous the Colorado Rockies lineup can be with an effecitve hitter slotted into the #2 spot. Of course it's anything but a guarantee that Mark Ellis will continue being that effective hitter, but his first two games give us a lot of hope that he will be a measurable upgrade over those who played before him.

And I'm not just talking about this season. I'm talking about several seasons.

On Saturday, Ellis collected three more hits -- three more doubles to be exact -- making him 6-for-10 with five extra base hits and five runs knocked in through two games as a Rockie. Something tells me he's not going to miss the Oakland Coliseum. Or anything about Oakland for that matter, but especially that graveyard for hitters.

But I think the most important part here is that twice Carlos Gonzalez has been intentionally walked ahead of him, and twice Ellis made the Royals pay with an extra basehit. If Jim Tracy wants to continue hitting Gonzalez lead-off, which I can live with, he absolutely needs a respectable hitter to protect him. Ellis will start earning that respect with a couple more clutch knocks.

Watch Ellis come through

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Rock Solid Recrap: One-run losses piling up

Brewers 3, Rockies 2 (boxscore)

For the third time on this road trip, the Colorado Rockies dropped a one-run decision.

They're now 6-10 in one-run decisions on the season, which is a better mark than I would have guessed, but still far from acceptable. Sometimes you do tip your cap to the competition in these games, as should be the case tonight with how well Shawn Marcum pitched. But when it follows a one-run loss like last night's, it tests your patience as a fan.

Also of concern is the Rockies 2-8 record in their last ten road games. It's not like they're getting run off the field on a nightly basis, or not putting up a fight. It's just a struggle to put nine whole innings together for this team. It's been that way for close to a month. Until that changes the frustrations will keep mounting.

-- Clayton Mortensen continued his excellent work with 6 2/3, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB and 5 K. Pretty similar to the outing of Jason Hammel last night: 6 2/3, 8 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB and 1 K. You'll take that against Milwaukee's excellent offense. Especially in their ballpark when they are very comfortable. Unfortunately, they were wasted outings.

-- Dexter Fowler was caught stealing again. It's sad. So much speed. So much raw athletic ability. Can't steal a base to save his life. At what point do the Rockies invest in someone to work with him? Or do they just let it go and give away outs on the bases and/or via the bunt?

-- Matt Daley has added new life to the bullpen. And by new life I mean he's actually getting people out. Six up, six down in his first two outings. All three via the strikeout tonight.

-- Felipe Paulino has been designated for assignment. Baseball rapture at its finest!

Sounds like Greg Reynolds will get the call in his place. Reynolds will start a game at some point this week. Probably Saturday, but his early arrival could make Tuesday a possibility. We'll see.

-- Jose Lopez has been a train wreck in the field this weekend. Not much better at the dish. He may be next on the DFA hitlist if he can't find traction real soon.

-- Not much else to say after this one since 96% of us didn't get to see it. Hope the Rockies pull it together and head back to Coors Field on a winning note Sunday afternoon. Maybe we'll even get a W from Ubaldo. Would seem fitting the way this week has gone.

Rock Solid Recap: If that's the first one...

Just a real quick recap of today's Game 1.

Rockies 6, Mets 5 (boxscore)

-- Carlos Gonzalez got off the home run schneid with an absolute rope into the right field seats.

Watch CarGo's Clothesline from Hell

-- Troy Tulowitzki followed that with a home run of his own. He now has 21 home runs in his last 37 games. I have nothing to add to that.

Watch Tulo go back-to-back

-- Reynolds was really excellent again today. I can only think of one baseball put in play with any type of authority -- David's Wright double. He had two misjudged flyballs for hits. He had the very definition of a ducksnort RBI single by Scott Hairston. And then there was the slow roller through the spot vacated by Tulowitzki covering second base.

Other than that... nothing. A well deserved win.

-- I'll steal this paragraph from Troy Renck's blog on the Franklin Morales injury.

Franklin Morales can’t escape drama or attention. There are no contrasts with the left-hander. He’s either really good, really bad or involved in a weird play. The latter happened today as Morales injured his right ankle/foot covering first base in the sixth inning of the first game of a doubleheader.

That's exactly how it goes for Morales.

-- But it was a better day for the other Morales... Jose. His first hit as a Rockie was a clutch two-out, two-run double in the 6th. He also had a really solid day behind the plate.

Watch Jose put the Rocks ahead for good

-- Rough day for Huston Street. The good news? It didn't result in a blown save or loss. Matt Lindstrom closed the door!

Watch Lindstrom's heart-stopping final out

-- Was Carlos Gonzalez still attempting to nonchalant a flyball he couldn't even see? Looked like it in the first inning. If so, does it get any more stylish than that?

-- If that's the first one... I'm not sure how much hair I'll have left by the end of day. Dark hair that is.

Rock Solid Recap: New faces produce different results in tough road win

Rockies 6, Pirates 4 (boxscore)

These are exactly the types of games the Colorado Rockies need to win if they plan on winning their first NL West championship. Not just because tonight's game specifically was a nip and tuck, roller coaster type of affair, but because they lost a similar game last night. Often times in the past those types of losses have led to extended struggles, especially away from Coors Field.

You already knew that. What a waste of a paragraph.

We begin with the story of the night: Greg Reynolds.

Reynolds isn't really a "new face" but he's new to giving the Rockies positive results. That counts.

Me on Reynolds seven hours ago:

"I'm willing to give him another chance. I mean what else can I do? He's going out there. I want the Rockies to win, so I'm hoping tonight's the night he finally impresses."

He impressed. Not to the point where I'm going to beg for him to stick in the rotation when Ubaldo Jimenez returns, but credit goes where it's deserved. He did himself proud. I was crossing my fingers and hoping for five decent innings. He gave Colorado six STRONG innings. Hats off to that.

He still doesn't have that putaway pitch, but if the sinker is working as it was this evening, and if the umpire is giving the low strike, Reynolds can be more than credible. Thankfully those factors came together and things worked out.

-- While Reynolds was a hero on the mound, no doubt Ty Wigginton was the man on offense. His two-out, bases clearing double past a diving Pedro Alvarez was as clutch as it gets for Colorado on the road. He's just the type of professional hitter they need, along with Jonathan Herrera, in the lineup to support Gonzalez and Tulowitzki. Just a fantastic piece of hitting.

Watch Wigginton clear the bags

-- Matt Lindstrom earned his first save in Rockies uniform with Huston Street unavailable after his incredible three innings last night. I wouldn't say it was smooth. Pittsburgh timed his fastball pretty well, hitting two on the screws to center. One dropped for a hit, one was flagged down by Fowler. After a Jason Jaramillo bloop hit, Lindstrom made a big pitch inducing a game-ending double play from Steven Pearce.

-- And not to be overlooked, Seth Smith hit a very important home run that momentarily put Reynolds in position to win this game.

Watch Smith's big fly to right

-- Excellent win tonight. Really good chance to steal a the first road series tomorrow with Jhoulys Chacin on the hill.

Ubaldo hits the DL

The Colorado Rockies placed pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez on the 15-day DL this morning.

Smartest thing they could. Eliminate any pressure Jimenez might feel to rush to his recovery to make a start Friday, Sunday, whenever. Get this thing healed.

"It's never good to go on the DL," Jimenez said. "But I need to be able to help the team. It's getting better, but I still feel pain when I grip the ball."

"If (Jimenez) is not ready, then what can that lead to?" manager Jim Tracy said this morning as the Rockies prepared to play the Dodgers this afternoon. "I don't want to be involved in something like that. We need to make sure he is right."

Yes, it's scary to think Jimenez had these issues last season, rested for six months and now they have returned. That concerns me, but obviously this is the worst case he's dealt with. That means the Rockies and Jimenez both need to focus on finding a better solution to the problem. Hopefully that's what this time is used to do.

As far as Greg Reynolds getting the callup. He'll get a couple starts at most (we hope, being optomistic). If I'm the Rockies I make sure both of those come in the upcoming roadtrip against Pittsburgh and New York.

Spring Training Game 26: Hits, Misses & Foul Tips

Dodgers 7, Rockies 5 (boxscore)

Hits

Jonathan Herrera

Two more hits (single, triple), another run and another RBI. Started a very difficult double play that helped get Jhoulys Chacin out of a mess. I've said it before, and I'll say it until I'm blue in the face. The Rockies best possible lineup has Herrera batting second or eighth and playing second. If he's not out there opening day, I'll be very disappointed. He's earned it.

Seth Smith

Pair of hits, pair of runs and an RBI for Smith out of the three spot. His spring has been quiet but very solid, which is ideal for an established veteran.

Ty Wigginton

And speaking of that, Wigginton is another veteran that's quietly getting his work in and playing solid ball. It's going to be difficult for Jim Tracy to resist putting his name on the lineup card 150 times.

Bullpen

Remember when we nervous about the Rockies left-handed options in the bullpen? Well, things seems to have stabilized nicely. Matt Reynolds is slowly rounding into form with another scoreless inning today. Rex Brothers has been dominant since day one. And Eric Stults pitched two scoreless innings, strengthening his case.

All of the sudden the Rockies may have a tough decision to make for the right reasons.

Misses

Jose Lopez

You know, I haven't seen anything from Jose Lopez offensively that would indicate he's going to revert back to his 2009 form that people dream about. I just haven't been impressed. I'm very hopeful it comes together for him, because obviously that makes the Rockies a much better team and gives them a much needed right-handed bat, but I can't say I'm optimistic.

Defensively I give him credit. He's played very well in the field and provides versatility, but I just wonder what the Rockies can honestly expect or hope for. Especially away from Coors Field.

Then again, it sounds like the Rockies may have some trade possibilities involving Lopez to explore as well. If the Rockies really want to find a creative way to get a guy like Jordan Pacheco on the roster, or clear space for Eric Young, this could be a realistic option. We'll see how things play out.

Foul Tips

Jhoulys Chacin

Chacin was constantly dealing with traffic this afternoon. In this four innings, LA put eight runners on base (five hits, three walks), but Chacin was able to exit without allowing a run.

As Troy Renck described it:

@TroyRenck Chacin MacGyver getting out trouble... By my count he's used everything but chicken wire and duct tape to defuse rallies

Chacin will have one more quick tuneup next week before opening his season on April 3rd against Arizona.

Esmil Rogers named 5th starter

What started as a 4-5 horse race quickly narrowed to just one about a week ago. It was just a matter of the Rockies making it official, and now they have. My congratulations to Esmil.

In related news, the Rockies have apparently informed Greg Reynolds he's a candidate for a bullpen spot. Probably not a real serious one at this point, but I mentioned after his last start that I wouldn't mind seeing the Rockies try that with Reynolds. You obviously want to get something out of your former #2 pick, and it looks more and more like it won't be as a starter.

Spring Training Game 22: Hits, Misses & Foul Tips

Rockies 9, Brewers 7 (boxscore)

Hits

Todd Helton

No hits for Helton, but two walks and he scored all the way from first base on a Ty Wigginton first inning double. Things are looking far more positive for him at this point than I anticipated - health wise and offensively - even with the move to Scottsdale easing the spring travel.

Ben Paulsen

Paulsen recaptured the lead for Colorado with a two-run single in the 7th inning. Regardless of the level of pitching he's faced most of the spring, you have to be impressed with his production. He'll be an interesting guy to follow in the minors as the season progresses.

Misses

Greg Reynolds

First three innings: 1 H

Last three innings: 8 H, 6 ER, 2 K

Well, maybe there's a future for Reynolds in long or middle relief. This probably is/was his best chance at cracking the Rockies rotation, and now it's gone.

Esmil Rogers, come on down. John Maine, you're on standby.

Jorge De La Rosa

Continuing the theme of Rockies starters getting clunkers out of the way this week, De La Rosa allowed seven hits, five earned runs, walked one and struck out four in four innings against the Angels High-A squad. Not pretty, but not overly concerning.

Foul Tips

1st Inning

Much like the Greg Reynolds situation for Colorado, injuries to Zack Greinke and Shawn Marcum left the door open for Brewers prospect Wily Peralta to make the opening day roster. That door likely closed today. Peralta recorded 14 less outs than the Brewers were hopeful he would. Within the first eight batters, he allowed five runs, six hits and walked one.

It was brutal for Peralta, but it was good to see a full lineup of main roster Rockies feasting on a nervous young pitcher. Unfortunately, much like we saw several times last season, the offense started hot and then was completely shut down by Tim Dillard and others until the 7th inning.

Matt Reynolds

Reynolds notched his first scoreless inning in 1-2-3 fashion. That has to be quite a feeling of relief... lame pun intended.

Spring Training Game 16: Hits, Misses & Foul Tips

Rockies 5, Diamondbacks 3 (boxscore)

Hits

Ben Paulsen

Another nice game for the impressive 23-year-old. His 6th inning two-run triple (4th this spring) was the difference in tonight's game. His spring average now sits at .474. He's driven in nine. He's playing acceptable defense at first. Just a solid ballplayer that continues to take advantage of his chances to impress.

Dexter Fowler

This will be the last time I list Fowler among the hits. He's having a terrific spring. That's all that needs to be said anymore.

Misses

The FSN Scroll

Seriously? It's annoying, distracting, pointless and useless. Make it go away.

Foul Tips

Greg Reynolds

We saw the good in Greg Reynolds tonight: Five mostly solid innings of two hit, two run ball.

We also saw the bad: Falling behind in counts and an inability to finish out at-bats and innings.

And then the ugly: The complete lapse in concentration that allows Henry Blanco to go deep on you.

While I've been mostly encouraged by what I've seen from Reynolds this spring, it really is troubling that he can't get over some of these hurdles that are holding him back. It makes you wonder if it will ever happen, and that's not a feeling you never want to have (or should have) about a #2 pick.

Spring Training Game 9: Hits, Misses & Foul Tips

Dodgers 7, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

Hits

Ubaldo Jimenez

Thumb infection behind him, Jimenez delivered three very strong (and scoreless) innings, allowing only one hit and walking one. According to scouts in attendance he ranged anywhere from 91-98 on his fastball. And he even stuck around long enough to lay down a sacrifice bunt. That's getting your work in.

Hector Gomez

Gomez finally makes the hit list after spending most of last week in the misses with five errors. No errors today, and he even contributed a single, triple and an RBI at the dish. Good for him.

Misses 

Greg Reynolds

On the positive side, his first three innings were actually pretty solid (1 ER, 3 H, 2 K), but that all important final inning (1/3, 4 R, (3 ER), 1 BB, 1 E-1) was the doozy. I always look/hope for a strong finish to these outings as an indication that a pitcher is getting better/stronger as the game moves along. Reynolds didn't pass that test today, but he's still giving me a reason to feel like he could contribute in some fashion if needed.

Foul Tips

Matt Belisle/Matt Lindstrom

Both were touched up a bit today, but both got their inning in and that's all I'm concerned about with these guys.

No Coverage

Pretty quick recap with no video or audio coverage of today's game available to form further opinions on. Not sure what the status is on that for tomorrow's split squad games with the Cubs & White Sox, but we'll be here again with some more thoughts on both of those.

Spring Training Game 4: Hits, Misses & Foul Tips

Padres 7, Rockies 3, (boxscore)

Hits

Greg Reynolds

Reynolds bounced back solidly from a shaky first spring appearance with three scoreless innings, two hits allowed, and one strikeout. He faced the minimum nine batters and needed only 23 pitches. I'm looking for any glimmer of hope I can with guys like Reynolds and Greg Smith, so hopefully he can build off this outing and attain some consistency moving forward.

Jonathan Herrera

Herrera started a 4-6-3 double play (Renck tweet) that had the San Diego Padres radio broadcast in awe. This kid just never stops impressing every time he steps on the field and he's going to push the issue for playing time at second base.

Troy Tulowitzki

He hit a baseball that, judging by sound, traveled a long damn ways. I love that sound.

Misses

Rafael Betancourt/Matt Reynolds

Sounded like Raffy was hit pretty hard. The triple off Jorge Cantu's bat, plating San Diego's first two runs, sounded especially violent. Ryan Ludwick followed that with an RBI single.

Reynolds had an equally disappointing spring debut, allowing a three-run homer to Will Venable. What concerns you there is Reynolds is being counted on to be the top lefty in the bullpen, and Venable is a left-handed stick. That's an area of concern for a lot of Rockies fans, and today's outing certainly won't ease that discomfort.

That said, both relievers have 30 days to figure out what went wrong.

Foul Tips

San Diego Padres broadcast

This should probably go under misses, since these guys were boring and often annoying, but since it didn't happen on the field and you probably don't care, I'll just list it here.

Spring Training Game 1: Hits, Misses & Foul Tips

Rockies 8, Diamondbacks 7 (boxscore)

Hits

Salt River Fields

I don't think I need to add anything to what you've already seen or heard. It's a magnificent facility/complex. I mean for crying out loud they have a field just for bunting drills. I'm going to think about that field every time I see a failed bunt attempt during the regular season No excuse for that anymore... not that there ever was a good excuse before.

Rockies bunting

Willy Taveras executed the Rockies lone bunt attempt today. The ball was thrown away down the left field line as Arizona catcher John Hester tried to pick off the lead runner. The Rockies ended up plating four runs in that inning.

Moral: Big innings await you when you execute the little things.

Ubaldo Jimenez

Pitching was fine. Even better was the sight of him signing a ton of autographs after his TV interview. Classy young man.

Jordan Pacheco/Charlie Blackmon

Pacheco had a solid single back through the box in his lone AB. Blackmon ended up playing the role of hero with his HR in the 10th. We're going to hear a lot more from these young men before the spring is over. Very impressive.

Mike Jacobs

He's a strong dude. I'll put the over/under on his home run total at Colorado Springs at 35. Of course that's assuming that's where he ends up.

Cole Garner/Jonathan Herrera

Good days at the plate, and teamed up for a really nice 7-4 putout at second when Tony Abreu tried stretching a single to a double.

Anti-wave commercial

So much win! Actually all of the commercials were full of win. Once again a great job by everyone involved in that process.

Misses 

Ian Stewart

Rough afternoon for the Rockies starting 3B. It'll mostly be remembered for his first inning collision with Carlos Gonzalez on a pop foul a little ways down the line. That was definitely a scary moment that saw his knee just miss Cargo's head by mere inches. Add in the one pitch 4-6-3 DP in the second inning and a later strikeout and I guess you could say his performance was as close to disastrous as you can get in February.

Billy Buckner

Not a very smooth inning or impressive debut for Buckner. He's a Triple A roster filler at best.

Adam Jorgenson

You feel bad for a kid when he gets his chance to make an impression and the end result is what we saw today. I doubt he'll get another chance in a big league game this spring.

Foul Tips

Greg Reynolds

Greg's performance doesn't really qualify as a hit or miss, but I just felt the need to comment on him. He made a bad pitch to Kelly Johnson that he was able to extend on and drive to LF. It probably wouldn't be a HR most places, but it's safe to assume it would be a Coors and in Arizona. That's all that counts.

He had another AB in his 2nd inning where he didn't put a batter away after an 0-2 count, but aside from that I was happy with how he looked. He didn't spiral after allowing the HR, which is something we saw in his few ML appearances. Like I said, not really a hit or miss, but worth mentioning.

Wouldn't it be nice if these 11 things happened in '11

Wouldn't it be nice...

... if the Rockies could get through spring training relatively healthy? 

After Sunday's Aaron Cook news, I think we're already down to ten.

... if we could count on Aaron Cook for 25 starts? 

Make that nine.

... if one of the Gregs (Reynolds or Smith) got their act together, stayed healthy for a full season, and contributed at a level higher than Double A?

Not ready to give up on this one... but don't hold your breath.

... if Ian Stewart led the league in RBI in April? 

Not because the stat means everything -- we've had it beaten into our brains that it doesn't -- but because that would very likely indicate the Rockies are scoring a lot of runs and #3 and #4 in the order will get pitched to a lot more.

... if Jim Tracy never used Huston Street four days in a row?

Heck, I'd be happy if he never had to go three days in a row. Mariano Rivera never does. I'm just guessing that's part of the reason he's remained so damn good for so damn long.

... if Todd Helton has one of those seasons that tipped the Hall of Fame scales back in his favor?


... if the Rockies patience (and mine) with Franklin Morales is rewarded?


... if the Rockies hired an old school organist to play walk-up music so we didn't have to hear silly debates over which walk-up song each Rockie selects?

 I means sure, it's all a part of the entertainment package that draws in the casual fan, but most of the guys pick awful songs or don't take it seriously.

And besides that, nothing will ever top Dante Bichette walking up to Sledgehammer. Talk about palpable electricity each time he was due up in a clutch situation late in a ballgame. That was special.

... if the Rockies named someone their regular second baseman, and that someone was Eric Young? 

He has to prove that's what he belongs, but having that speed into the #2 spot is something I'd really like to see. It would also help keep Jim Tracy from going overboard on the tinkering, while giving him his most versatile bench.

... if Dexter Fowler bunted a lot more? 

Just be on base, please. Those bunt singles are almost as good as doubles in most cases. Also, when you're on base, the Rockies have a really, really good chance of scoring run(s) in that particularly inning. That's logistics.

... if the Rockies finally win the NL West?

Please. I want to see one of those neat banners. There's one I want more than that, but just to finally see that a division championship banner would be fantastic. It's a nice to hurdle to get over en route to the biggest hurdle.