Tuesday Links, Things and Another Trade

Dealin' Dan was back in action on Monday, acquiring 32-year-old right-hander Jeremy Guthrie from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Heaven & Helton favorite Jason Hammel - he was a good #4 or #5 start dammit, and that's all I ever asked him to be - and reliever Matt Lindstrom.

The Rockies then avoided arbitration with Guthrie, inking him to a one-year deal worth $8.2 million.

It's another trade that has stirred up quite a bit of debate among Rockies fans and bloggers. The concern, as usual, is whether or not Guthrie - a flyball pitcher - represents a good fit in the hitter friendly Coors Field.

Obviously a high flyball rate is a scary stat to bring with you to Denver, as is the fact that rate has led to at least 23 home runs allowed in each of his first five full seasons. But that hardly predicts impending disaster, or even poor results with a switch to the National League. In fact, I don't think there's any reason to believe the number of home runs he allows will jump significantly, if at all, against the inferior lineups of the National League West, regardless of where he's pitching the majority of his games.

When I look beyond the numbers, I see a tough pitcher that has more than held his own against the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and Blue Jays lineups. When I bring the numbers back into focus, I see a pitcher that posted an ERA under 4.00 in three of those five seasons. He lost a lot more than he won because the offense and defense supporting him were pretty dreadful, but the home run ball never killed him in Baltimore. It won't kill him in Denver, either, as long as he keeps the bases clean.

Unless Guthrie loses his edge, which is certainly possible when you go from facing those lineups four or five times each, to cycling through the Giants, Padres, etc., I think he'll prove to be an unspectacular, but solid #2 starter in the National League.

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Lackluster Recrap: Two too many outs at the plate

Well hello there 2011 season. Nice of you to backhand us across the face with another long, agonizing, but ultimately predictable night of baseball.

Did you ever really feel like the Colorado Rockies were going to win?

Of course you didn't. At least not after Mark Ellis was thrown out at the plate in the first inning trying to score from third on Troy Tulowitzki's groundball. Though I will say this... nine times out of ten the contract play is stupid and drives me crazy. This was actually the one time it doesn't, because with first and third and one out, you want that run across should the infielder attempt for the double play and fail.

All you essentially have to lose are 90 feet... at most.

But regardless of whether or not it's the right play or you like it, the ultimate result is Colorado wasting a scoring opportunity. Two innings later, Ellis would be out at the plate again trying to score on a wild pitch. Of course the game ends with the Rockies losing by one.

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Rock Solid Recap: Pitching holds strong, Tulo steals the W

This is what happens when you put an underachieving team (Rockies) and mediocre team (White Sox) together for a baseball game. A long game full of fans from both sides wondering how their teams is going to blow it, why the other team refuses to win it, and why they're staying up into the late evening hours to witness it.

Rockies fans are glad they did, because it was shown there is one big difference between these teams, and, quite frankly, the two leagues.

The Colorado Rockies have a superstar by the name of Troy Tulowitzki. A superstar who's athletically gifted and can change a game any number of different ways, including with his legs. The Chicago White Sox have no such player. In fact, most American League teams don't.

Watch Troy Tulowitzki steal the baseball game

Now listen to Hawk Harrelson's non-call

And the Jim Tracy drinking game

Rockies 3, White Sox 2 in 13 (boxscore)

That game could have gone on for 20 innings without a resolution if not for Tulowitzki's instincts and hustle, but let's make no mistake about where this game was truly won for the Rockies...

Pitching. Pitching. Pitching.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Can't win if you can't pitch or catch

Had a nice dinner with my dad for his birthday last night. Then I get home and my internet signal was a little choppy, so while I was able to catch most of the major moments in the game, I wasn't watching as intently as usual. Feel free to correct me on any thoughts that seem off.

But I don't think anyone can argue with this point: If you allow Jamey Carroll and Aaron Miles to go a combined 8-for-9 with 4 RBI, you most definitely deserve to lose.

Dodgers 11, Rockies 7 (boxscore)

Jason Hammel: Had a very average outing going for his 5+ innings before exiting with the sore lower back. Makes you wonder if his back was bothering from the get-go. Whatever the case, the injury doesn't sound like a huge problem right now, so we'll cross our fingers and hope for better next time around.

Bullpen: I think we should just demote all of them. What about you? It's just not tolerable for some of these guys to have a rough outing, much less two bad outings in a row like Matt Reynolds. Demote some of them. Release a couple more. Let's start fresh tomorrow with an all new seven.

If you haven't caught on to the sarcasm, this blog isn't for you. The bullpen had a rough night. It happens. Matt Reynolds, Clayton Mortensen, Matt Lindstrom, and even matt Belisle the night before, these guys have all done wonderfully for the Rockies. To get as worked up as some fans I saw on Twitter (when it was actually working) doesn't make sense.

No, Matt Reynolds doesn't need a minor league stint. No, Matt Lindstrom isn't garbage. Calm it down, folks. There's 98 games to go. Those guys are all going to be quietly great a lot more times than they'll be loudly awful over that timeframe.

Defense: Where do I even start?

First of all, as I mentioned in the Lineup Card, poor Jason Hammel was once again stuck with pretty much the worst feasible defensive alignment Jim Tracy could come up with.

Jason Giambi showed once again he is not a good defender or even an average defender. Any other opinion of the matter will not be acknowledged. Plain and simple.

Eric Young in the outfield needs to never happen again until he spends a whole year in the minors learning it. Sheesh his routes are terrible. And PLEASE don't think I'm taking this out on the player. He's just doing what he's told, and what he's being told is really stupid. Of course it's also the only thing keeping him the big leagues at this point, so it's a really, really tough spot for Young. It's a no-win situation for everybody, which should ultimately lead to him being traded if 2B never opens up.

And yet somehow Young looked a lot better than Matt Kemp did in the outfield. What the heck is his deal?

Oh, and yes, the Jonathan Herrera botch in the 9th inning was quite embarrassing for him and actually pretty costly for the team. Generally he's one of the smarter guys on the team, so his not knowing where to go with the ball in that spot shocked the hell out of me.

I didn't even specifically mention Troy Tulowitzki or Ty Wigginton, the two men who were actually charged with their two errors. That kinda shows how terrible this was overall.

Offense: It's back on track right now. Carlos Gonzalez, Jason Giambi, Troy Tulowitzki, Ty Wigginton and Charlie Blackmon all had multi-hit games. The seven runs they were able to produce should have been enough to extend the winning streak to four, but it wasn't.

Seth Smith: Jim Tracy already thinks Charlie Blackmon is a lot better than you! And apparently he thinks Eric Young is too. I don't necessarily disagree on the former, but come on Tracy, Smith needs to just play every single day.

Ryan Spilborghs: Can't even buy a start against a left-hander these days. That really has to suck.

Sunday afternoon: This is a big one for the Rockies and Ubaldo Jimenez. Despite the loss here, the team is taking more steps forward the backward this week. It would be huge to seal up this series victory over a division rival, as well as keeping Ubaldo's momentum going.

Rock Solid Recrap: Was yesterday's score a misprint?

Or maybe it was a fluke.

Read my quick Recap: Rockies win a one-run game!

Giants 2, Rockies 1 (boxscore) 

This is the score I'm used to seeing.

Jason Hammel: I can't tell you how much I respect him. He hasn't made any noise or shown frustration with the lack of run support. He just continues to go out and pitch his ass off. There are some pitchers (see Chicago) that would be mental cases if this kept happening to them, but Jason has been nothing but a pro. Hats off to him. He deserves so much better.

Offense in two words: Cringe worthy.

Chicago White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson doesn't think any team in baseball has wasted more opportunities (ie, bases loaded, no out and runner on third, less than two out) than his Sox have. Boy will he be in for a treat when they visit Coors Field later this month.

With just a LITTLE more offense this Rockies team could be in a special position right now. You expect things to even out. That's why some folks point to bad luck and stats for hope or excuses. But seriously, it can't even out with the poor quality of at-bats this team gives in money situations. That's what makes it cringe worthy.

Speaking of...

From (@TroyRenck) Jim Tracy on what Carlos Gonzalez needs to do to improve after his 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts: "Have a strike zone."

That won't exactly endear player to manager, and I'm not usually a fan of a manager taking veiled or cheap shots at players, but he's absolutely right. Someone needs to get on CarGo's ass about being more disciplined and taking a more professional approach. And that goes for everything. As I've said before, I'm not a fan of the hot-dogging in the outfield either.

Not all praise for Tracy: Matt Reynolds is warming up in the 8th. The score changes, so Jim Tracy sits Reynolds down and makes Rex Brothers try to warm up quick to face the same hitters Reynolds would have faced. Turned out he wasn't needed, but what's the point of that? Now you have two different relievers that have warmed up and neither is used.

You can't do that. That adds up on pitcher's arms. That's why so many Rockies relievers end up with sore arms. When I said treat Brothers like any other reliever, I didn't mean start the process of wearing him out.

Leadoff walks: Not even Matt Lindstrom can overcome them.

Troy Tulowitzki's elbow: I can't believe how many Giants fans were acting like this was a big deal. Tulo's going to go out of his way to try and knock Aubrey Huff out. Yes, that makes so much sense. You're all so classy and smart. But you already proved that with the death threats for Scott Cousins.

Rock Solid Recap: Rockies win a one-run game!

Had a nice time visiting family and celebrating my cousin's college graduation yesterday. I mentioned my travels took me to St. Charles, IL, where Matt Reynolds played his high school ball. Well, while I was there I was updated on another young left-handed pitcher from St. Charles by the name of Wes Benjamin. 

I remember meeting his parents in a previous visit when they were optimistic about his future in baseball. This time around it sounds like he's developed into a legit prospect. He's committed to the University of Kansas, but over the past year he's been contacted by 22 MLB teams. So it wouldn't surprise anyone if his name gets called during the MLB draft this week.

Hey, the Rockies had good success the first time they went to that well. Maybe they'll take another chance on a kid out of St. Charles. Who knows? But whatever happens, I wish him well on his journey.

You can read more about him in this Chicago Tribune piece from Wednesday. Just remember when his day comes: You heard his name there first. You heard it here second.

Rockies 2, Giants 1 (boxscore) 

Looked like the Rockies had a nice time as well on Saturday. I only watched MLB.com's condensed version of the game and looked over the boxscore, so I'll just say a couple things here.

-- A one-run victory! Wooo!

-- It was great to see Troy Tulowitzki take over a game with his bat. Granted it didn't lead to a lot of offense overall, but he made the most of his opportunities, which is a positive sign. Now you want others to start feeding off him.

-- Hard to comment on Jhoulys Chacin without seeing the whole body of work. Results, though, were excellent. Glad he was rewarded with a victory.

-- Matt Lindstrom. Rafael Betancourt. Huston Street. No hits. No nothing. I was beside myself with excitement when I saw that. Especially since it was a one-run game the entire time.

-- Thrilled to hear Rex Brothers finally got the call he and Rockies fans have been waiting for. Jim Tracy says he'll be eased in to duty, but I'll believe that when I see it. He really doesn't need it. He's too talented. Besides that, baseball situations don't often dictate you can ease a pitcher in. Sometimes it'll work, but I say treat him like you would any other reliever and let's see what we have here.

-- Matt Daley hits the DL to open up the spot for Brothers. Daley looked good initially in his callup, but faltered recently when the shoulder soreness flared up. Hopefully there's nothing too serious going on there.

-- Lineup card returns tomorrow.

Player Rankings: 6-2-11

Just a reminder of the guidelines...

Everything is taken into consideration -- offense, defense, pitching, clutchness, baserunning, consistency, awareness, intelligence. My personal evaluation and opinions. Stats used only when I need to break a tie in my mind. No BABIP analysis, focus on Ultimate Zone Ratings, or anything like that.

I'm looking back pretty much at the month of May. Any player that stepped on the field in a Rockies uniform in that dreadful month will be ranked somewhere... even the players who are no longer in the Rockies organization or currently injured.

Away we go...

1. Matt Lindstrom
2. Todd Helton
3. Matt Belisle
4. Carlos Gonzalez
5. Matt Reynolds
6. Troy Tulowitzki
7. Jhoulys Chacin
8. Seth Smith
9. Chris Iannetta
10. Jason Hammel
11. Ryan Spilborghs
12. Jason Giambi
13. Jorge De La Rosa
14. Ty Wigginton
15. Juan Nicasio (1 start gets him this high...)
16. Jonathan Herrera
17. Ubaldo Jimenez
18. Eric Young
19. Clayton Mortensen
20. Dexter Fowler
21. Rafael Betancourt
22. Chris Nelson
23. Greg Reynolds
24. Huston Street
25. Jose Morales
26. Jose Lopez
27. Alfredo Amezaga
28. Bruce Billings
29. Franklin Morales
30. Matt Daley
31. Felipe Paulino
32. Ian Stewart

Player Rankings: 4-21-11

Rock Solid Recrap: Dreadful homestand concludes

The Rockies scored 41 runs on their seven game homestand!!! That's like an average of six runs per game! 

Not bad, huh?

Well, 27 of those came in the TWO wins. The other 14 came in the FIVE losses.

Nope, not bad. More like sad. And absolutely maddening.

Cardinals 4, Rockies 3 (boxscore) 

-- Jhoulys Chacin padded his team lead for home runs allowed when Jon Jay and Colby Rasmus took him yard. That's nine on the season and definitely a problem. Even more so when he walks the guy directly in front of the home run, as he did on Jay's in the first.

The Rasmus solo homer was also frustrating because it came right after the offense pushed across a run with a double, bunt and sacrifice fly. But Chacin still did a nice job of holding the Cardinals in check. That's a great offense and holding them to four with Kyle Lohse opposing you should set you up well.

-- Matt Reynolds, Matt Lindstrom and Rafael Betancourt were nearly untouchable in three innings of scoreless relief. Another day at the office for Reynolds and Lindstrom. Another positive step towards being himself again for Betancourt.

-- Ty Wigginton, Ryan Spilborghs and Chris Iannetta reached base a total of eight times. You would think that would really spark another offensive outburst. Not so much.

-- You know, it would be easy to nitpick Jim Tracy today.

Bases loaded, no outs, down by two in the 7th. Tracy pulls pinch-hitter Seth Smith off the on-deck circle and plays the Jason Giambi card, which obviously means he's looking for the four-run homer. Of course that's not a situation where a grand slam is necessary. A basehit or productive out would be very helpful, which Seth Smith has a better chance of providing, but Tracy has his way of doing things.

Of course Jason Giambi struck out and Eric Young lined into a double play. Rally killed.

Next inning, Tracy allows Ty Wigginton to hit for himself against the St. Louis closer, Fernando Salas, with two on and two out. He struck out on three sliders. May have been a good spot for Smith there as well. Especially when you have Chris Nelson and Jonathan Herrera available to play third.

Then Seth Smith strikes out as the tying run in the ninth, so who knows what the right call is in each situation. I would have definitely set things up differently, but sometimes it just is what it is. And what it is is the players need to have better at-bats.

Especially Carlos Gonzalez in the 9th inning. His entire mindset was to swing away at anything close. Turned himself into an easy final out of the game.

-- Eric Young had another nice game by the way. He knocked in two of the Rockies three runs.

-- Dexter Fowler still struggles with those liners directly at him. Gap-to-gap, he's still terrific. But he needs to read and track those liners a lot better. It's cost him several times.

I linked to Troy Renck's (Rock-Hard decisions at hand) piece earlier. I'll mention it again here. Renck really did a great job with this, but I specifically enjoyed this paragraph...

And finally, end the shock theater with bunts and baserunning. It's alarming how bad the Rockies have been at basic fundamentals, especially since they practice them as much as any team in baseball. Simply put, the Rockies can't win when they don't hit. They have proved incapable of playing small ball.

He had a lot more to say. I'm sure most Rockies fans have read it already. But even non-Rockies fans can get a good feel for the Rockies struggles by reading that piece.

-- Dreadful homestand over. Road trip from Hell now looming. Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego here they come. Nine big games in ten days. I hate to say it at the end of May into early June, but if the Rockies tank this trip (2-7, 1-8), well, any and all optimism would be rightly tossed out the window.

Is it possible they could rebound? Of course. But to expect it or even hope for it would be pretty close to unrealistic.

3-6 or 4-5 would be frustrating, but not totally demoralizing depending on the order they come in. 5-4 or 6-3 would be very encouraging. I would be downright giddy even. Anything better than that isn't going to happen. Sorry. I wouldn't even expect the best Rockies team ever to win seven on this trip. Just hope for a winning one.

Rock Solid Recap: Rockies defeat weather and Cubbies

In the hours leading up to Monday night's game at Wrigley Field, I was certain there would be a delay or two at best, with no baseball likely. But despite the rain that had been falling most of the afternoon into the early evening, the game started on time, with a window opening up just enough to fit in the full nine innings.

That left us with two completely different teams battling on less than ideal field conditions. One of them very good defensively. The other being the Chicago Cubs.

I think you already know how this ends before I type another word.

Rockies 5 (0 errors), Cubs 3 (4 errors) (boxscore)

-- Unfortunately for Chicago's future All-Star Starlin Castro, the baseball kept finding him when the field was probably in its worst condition, the baseball was its slickest, and his self doubt was highest. That was in the top of the second inning, when Castro committed three consecutive errors.

The first came on a routine grounder off the bat of Troy Tulowitzki. I'm putting that one all on Castro, creating a little self doubt after a rough weekend with the glove.

The second was a Jose Lopez chopper that he could never grip. Wet baseball.

The third was the most devastating. Chris Iannetta pulled one deep in the hole at short. Castro attempted to cut down the lead runner at second, his throw sailed way wide of the bag, allowing two runs to score and Iannetta to move all the way to third. Tough play and wet baseball means you can't try to do something spectacular.

The fourth error belonged to pitcher Matt Garza, who airmailed a Jonathan Herrera sacrifice bunt attempt into the Rockies bullpen. That led to the decisive runs crossing the plate.

That left Garza with the unusual looking line of 6 IP, 3 H, 5 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 7 K and 1 Loss

As you can see, the honest truth is the Rockies didn't do a whole lot offensively. But they never once shot themselves in the foot in the field, and they made all four Cubs errors count against them. So credit goes all around once again. Especially to the gloves. That's really quite an accomplishment to play error free tonight.

-- Esmil Rogers had another rough beginning to his outing on Monday, but unlike the last time against San Francisco, he was able to rebound for another 4+ innings of solid work. That was a huge bounce back that had to restore a lot of his confidence and the team's confidence in him. I know mine was wavering quite a bit when he served up the 0-2 home run to Darwin Barney (1st career).

So credit goes to Esmil for hanging tough and showing a lot of mental toughness in the face of doubt, poor performance and really crappy weather. Says a lot for him. Maybe even qualifies as a step forward.

-- I didn't see the Rockies feed but I hope Matt Lindstrom was player of the game. His inning and two-thirds were awesome. He only needed 18 pitches to get five big outs, including getting Rogers out of the 6th inning jam by retiring Castro and then blowing away Jeff Baker. By far the biggest outs of the game.

-- Rafael Betancourt and Huston Street did their jobs once again. You have to really like how the Rockies are able to shorten games to 6-7 innings with Lindstrom, Betancourt and Street throwing so well. Takes a little pressure away from the offense. Yes, you still want them to add on, but there's not that overwhelming doom and gloom feeling if they don't.

At least for right now.

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: Winning road trip? Better believe it.

Hey any non-Rockies fans reading this right now, it's a big deal to us! This road trip through Pittsburgh and New York almost always results in a 1-5 or a 2-6. Doesn't matter who's good or who's bad, so to have a guaranteed winning trip with two still to play is meaningful on a few levels.

Rockies 5, Mets 4 (boxscore)

-- Tonight's heroes: I think they're going to look familiar.

Troy Tulowitzki: Fell a triple shy of the cycle. Had two plate appearances needing only the triple. Struck out the first try in the 7th and was intentionally walked the in the 9th. But by that time Tulo had done all the damage he needed to do. His three-run 5th inning home turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead and the Rockies never looked back.

Watch Tulo's clothesline to the RF seats

Jonathan Herrera: Reached base three more times out of the two-hole. I don't know what else I can say. He never really hits the ball with authority, he just concentrates on finding a pitch he can handle and placing it where it's meant to be placed. His discipline and ability to spoil really tough pitches are what amaze me more than anything. It's a special, unique and immeasurable talent.

And watch Herrera flash some leather again

Ryan Spilborghs: If you're going to have a 1-for-4 night at the plate, might as well make that one your first home run of the season. That run ended up being difference.

Watch (and listen to) Spilly's difference maker

Matt Lindstrom: The Rockies needed a good clean 8th inning tonight in a one run game. They haven't been getting those from Rafael Betancourt in recent days (possibly due to a groin issue), so Lindstrom got the call. And he answered the call with his best inning in a Rockies uniform, sending the Mets down in order.

Huston Street: When Street is locked in and in rhythm, he can as good as there is in the 9th inning. He's pretty locked in right now. It appears that three inning outing in Pittsburgh that I was worried about may have had a very positive affect on him. I'm happy it's working out that way.

-- Esmil Rogers didn't have what you'd call a really solid outing tonight. That said, he was one out away from qualifying for a quality start. Maybe that exposes how flawed the quality start stat is, but he still battled his ass off and kept the team in the game. And once again, your #5 won a start over the opponent's #2. It's a big deal.

Rogers struggled again with finishing off hitters he gets ahead of and with finishing innings where he retired the first two hitters. In the 3rd , 4th and 5th innings Rogers retired the first two batters each time, but ended up having to pitch himself out of a jam.

In the 3rd: He loaded the bases with two walks and a single. 24 extra pitches.

In the 4th: Only 5 extra pitches but he allowed a pair of doubles and a run.

In the 5th: He allowed a triple to Angel Pagan. 10 extra pitches.

As it was he needed 106 pitches to get through 5 2/3. If he finds a way to get over that last hurdle, and can start finishing his innings the way he starts them, you're looking at a pitcher that will get deep into games pretty consistently. There's little doubt in my mind he'll get there, but the Rockies have to stay committed to him and allow him figure it out as he goes.

-- Rockies have a chance to close this road trip out on a special note tomorrow. Even a split in that doubleheader and you've done something exceptional. That said, I want both games. Badly.

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.

Spring Training Game 19: Hits, Misses & Foul Tips

Rockies 4, Cubs 2 (boxscore)

Hits

Esmil Rogers

This has been an excellent few days for Esmil Rogers, and a lot of the good took place before he dominated (5 IP, 1 H, 3 K, 15 batters) a significant portion of the Chicago Cubs opening day lineup this afternoon.

Felipe Paulino was officially moved to the bullpen late last week. That surprised me a little given their situation in the rotation, but the Rockies originally envisioned Paulino as such when they traded for him. They confirmed that assessment when Paulino was strong during the first inning of his last start but faltered after.

Clayton Mortensen was optioned to Triple A today. That trims the 5th starter competition down to Rogers, John Maine and Greg Reynolds.

And then Rogers went out and delivered the Rockies best pitching performance of the spring, so needless to say he's in the driver's seat.

The keys for Rogers is getting over those two big hurdles I mentioned last week: 1) Get ahead in the count. 2) Finish off hitters and innings strongly. At least for today, Rogers was able to accomplish both, and his new approach of working quicker may have assisted. Now it will be interesting to see how he follows up this weekend.

Cubs Broadcaster Len Kasper

Kasper called his 15th straight spring training game today, whether it be TV or MLB.com audio. That's amazing. Can he get my vote for Colorado broadcaster of the year? I've heard him doing more Rockies broadcasts than Drew Goodman.

Misses 

Top of the order

For the most part the Rockies are getting strong production at the top from guys like Dexter Fowler, Willy Taveras, Jordan Pacheco and Seth Smith, but today Taveras, Smith and others combined to go 0-for-9 with five strikeouts and one walk. Similar performances are bound to happen throughout the course of a six month season, but hopefully not too many resemble this one. Icky.

Foul Tips

Bullpen

Matt Belisle, Matt Lindstrom, Huston Street each dealt with some traffic, but did their part in preserving the shutout into the ninth inning. All three seem to be working out the kinks from early in the spring and well on their way to being ready for opening day.

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.

Busy Monday in Colorado

The Colorado Rockies have had a busy off season, and that continued on Monday with another surprising re-signing and a new deal for a reliever they acquired last month.

The Rockies official Twitter feed reported a little after noon that the Rockies were bringing back 1B Jason Giambi on a minor league deal. Jon Heyman added that if Giambi makes the Rockies opening day roster, he'll be guaranteed $1 million.

Before people get too excited, that's a very unlikely scenario. Barring a Todd Helton injury in spring training, this is simply an insurance move and a favor to Giambi, who was nothing short of outstanding in his role as a pinch-hitter and mentor for the Rockies the past season and one month.

However, this move could benefit Colorado a little more if Giambi performs well in the spring and allows them to move him to the American League for a minor piece that helps their 2011 cause or a low-end prospect.

It's really a low risk move with absolutely zero downside. If he doesn't fit (most likely scenario) or doesn't play well, you let him walk and lose nothing.

The other reported signing, a two-year deal with reliever Matt Lindstrom with an option for 2013, has a little more risk involved. Lindstrom was acquired from Houston last month to improve the bullpen depth and give them another experienced late inning option.

The new deal covers Lindstrom's final two arbitration years, along with the option to retain him in his first free agent year.

This is obviously an attempt by the Rockies to achieve stability in their bullpen the next two years. The risk there is the possibility for chaos if one or two of these guys locked in beyond 2011 falter this season.

We'll see what happens in this particular case. Lindstrom is coming off a down year and there a number of concerns surrounding his health and his command.

Who knows, we may have more Rockies news by the end of the day. Stay tuned.