You wouldn’t think a road trip would be cause for optimism, given the Rockies road woes since…well, forever. But with the horrible home stand, that saw the team go 1 – 4, any change in the status-quo would be welcomed…
And speaking of a status-quo change, it looks like Jim Tracy has decided to shake things up. Tulo has been dropped down to fifth in the lineup with Todd Helton hitting sixth. Michael Cuddyer will be hitting cleanup tonight.
The Rockies will make their first visit to Miami this season and their first ever visit to the Marlins new park, the same park that was the talk of baseball when the season opened.
The two teams were “born” at the same time in ’93 and have an almost identical record against each other (79-78), with the splits favoring each team when they are at home (Coors: 49-30, Miami: 29-49).
Here are some “Happy Stats” to help cut through the gloom of the past few weeks:
MLB AVERAGE WITH RISP:
1. Lucroy (.552)
2. Longoria (.550)
3. CarGo (.441)
NL DOUBLES LEADERS:
1. Votto (17)
T2. Alonso (14)
T2. Wright (14)
T4. Cuddyer (13)
T4. Four other players (13)
MOST PINCH HIT HR’S
1. Rockies (4)
T2. Chicago, Texas (3)
HIGHEST PINCH HIT BATTING AVERAGE
1. Rockies (.321)
2. Reds (.319)
3. Padres (.318)
4. Marlins (.311)
5. Rays (.308)
| ROCKIES (13-17) 2B Marco Scutaro 3B Jordan Pacheco LF Carlos Gonzalez RF Michael Cuddyer SS Troy Tulowitzki 1B Todd Helton C Ramon Hernandez CF Dexter Fowler P Jamie Moyer (4.20 ERA) |
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This would be my lineup:
EYJ 2B
Fowler CF
Cargo LF
Giambi 1B
Cuddyer RF
Tulo SS
Hernandez C
Pacheco 3B
BUT IT AINT GONNA HAPPEN!!!! EVER!!!! I am losing interest, or should I say I have lost interest in current lineup. Scutaro is lame!!! Todd looks hurt and old!!! 3rd Base is aweful!!! EYJ/Fowler combo could be fun to watch, Giambi is a cleanup hitter, and Tulo could swing freely and easy from the 6th spot.
I added a new poll to take the pulse of everyone that posts/reads the site…it is based on who (if anyone) should be fired to “wake up the team”, so to speak…
I find both sides of the argument very interesting (no management firings, players fault vs fire the leaders for lack of winning)…
A case that it is the players fault vs the management fault can be made quite successfully every time, in that the players are the ones doing the work on the field so it should be their heads on a plate as opposed to the management not getting the right pieces together (ie. pitching) to give the team a real chance and the players can only do so much without real talent at each key position.
The firing of Clint Hurdle happened in ’09 on May 30th, the anniversary will be in 9 days from today. History shows that the decision worked, the team went on an incredible run and entered the playoffs. At the time he was fired the team was 18-28 and 14 games out of first place.
Did the firing help the team, “wake up and come out of a funk” and start playing up to their potential? Or did Jim Tracy actually come in and “manage” the team to the turnaround? I personally believe that the team, “waking up and realizing our poor play has costs someone their jobs” slightly edged Tracy’s coming in and “stabilizing” the team…that is what i witnessed, but do believe that Tracy did help the team more during those months than he has during the past couple of years…
Now, all of that has lead up to my current thought: The Orlando Magic fired their Coach Stan Van Gundy and their GM Otis Smith today. Gunday was with the team for 5 years and the team had made the playoffs in all five of those years. Smith was there 6 years and the team also went all 6 of his years.
All of the politics with Dwight Howard aside, going to the playoffs in 6 straight seasons is success in anyone’s mind, so firing the GM/Coach with 6 “successful” seasons shows that they put players above management in a blame game…
Ideas?
Hey if you’re gonna suck at least have some fun! My lineup would be
1. Tulo C
2. Rosario 2B
3. Fowler 3B
4. Colvin P
5. Helton SS
6. Cargo 1B
7. Cuddy CF
8. Hernandez LF
9. Scutaro RF
Giambi the first out the bullpen and have Moyer close it out. We’re gonna lose anyway so who cares what the lineup looks like. This is what I’d go with.
I’d actually put Tulo on the mound – he has a rocket arm (well, pre 2012 he did
) and it would be fun to see him pitch…
I’m one of the people who think Pacheco is a keeper at 3rd. (Or somewhere) He can hit and his fielding isn’t horrible. To me Scutaro has been a disappointment. Too many bonehead plays including getting thrown at a third on Friday night and his error yesterday. He shouldn’t thrown the ball. Neither should have Rosario either, but that’s another story. Every since Scutaro hit that homer against the Giants, he’s caught the Clint Barmes disease and tries to hit a homer every time.
I’m all for giving EY,Jr a long trial run at 2nd. Frankly I don’t think he’ll be good enough but at least give him a chance. Didn’t Pacheco come up as a 2nd baseman? If he can play there, move him there when they bring Arrendo (spelling?) up.
As for a cleanup hitter, I don’t think they have one. Tulo is not really the guy and I think he’s been trying too much there, Gonzo would be better but he’s better suited for 3rd or even lead off. Giambi can bat 4th when he is a DH but he can’t play every day.
But none of that matters if continue to get lousy pitching. And lousy fielding, And lousy base-running. And lousy decision making. And that’s a team effort: players, coaches, manager, GM and owners. Other than that it’s been a great year.
Still can’t figure out how to chat. So I’ll just type a few thoughts here. We (and Jim Tracy) should have realized Moyer lost it when Buhrlele hit that shot off the wall.
Dexter’s error had, or shouldn’t had, any bearing on any runs scoring. Moyer just pitched lousy after the 3rd inning. My thought the turning point in the season was when we lost those to games to the Braves when we had big leads early. Like this one.
And I’m tired of Jenny Cavner
Hey Bill, do you see the chat at all? there is a big white box right above the comments that you type your chat in and it scrolls…do you see the rest of us commenting during the game?
Jaredean,I can’t get it to work either and I’ve tried several times.My comments just sit there even if I hit enter.Also won’t let me use my handle-gary-says it is “taken”,yet no gary is chatting! But,like Bill[I believe],I am a senior citizen which probably explains it all.Also I have never been able to get gravatar image[several attempts],or register[several attempts].Maybe because my main PC/email is AOL…..Stop laughing guys!
Felipe Paulino has thrown 6 shutout innings against Yankees.
Yep – it’s interesting (and probably not healthy) following BOTH sides of old trades and/or transactions. Another of note is that after getting off to a slow start and essentially being under the radar, Seth Smith has become very serviceable lately. On the flip side, Ian Stewart is still struggling and Chris Ianetta was also struggling before injury.
Another screw up by front office-should never switched him to bullpen.And another example of a pitcher leaving Rockies to find success.I say again Apodaca should be first sacrificial lamb,but certainly not the last.
just got a message on my phone from ESPN about the Mike Stanton HR that took out a portion of the scoreboard…great, as if a Grand Slam wasn’t enough now we have to see Sportscenter talk about the broken scoreboard thanks to Moyer
It’s worse than that. It made USA Today.
This is beyond embarrassing. I’ve been a season-ticket holder since 1993 and all of us damn sure deserve better than this. Isn’t it about time one of the Monforts speaks to this dismal situation? A full housecleaning is in order but I’m not holding my breath.
Jaredean – it might be time for a new GM/Manager/Coach(es) thread……so we can track the speculation.
I’ve thrown out the name Mike Maddux several times, and wil continue to do so. I’ll also throw this out even though it’s a long, long shot. Lou Piniella. I love the guy. We could use his fire. We need some base throwing, dirt kicking tantrums at Coors about now. And…..it would get his ass away from the Giants!
Ryne Sandburg.Pitching coach Greg Maddox!
Wow. During the 4th inning it was sure easy to predict that the Rockies would not score the rest of the game.
I will bet they fail to score tomorrow.
Its mid-May and the most exciting sports news in Denver is a Peyton Manning practice.
Fire Tracy and O’Dowd seriously my neice realises how bad the rockies are and shes 2 years old, go back to the end of 2011 and this season our record sucks,
go after terry francona its the only solution!!
*niece
45 people have voted in the poll so far, and no one has voted for “nobody”.
Jaredean.. Yes, I see the chat and I log in. I write my comments in the little box. And then I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried to hit the sound scroll button and some of the little buttons but nothing happens. I’m sure it’s easy but if you could let me and Gary and any other old guy how it works, we would appreciate it. Thanks.
You almost have it Bill! There isn’t a “submit” button at all…just type what you want to say in the white chat box and then hit your “Enter” key on your keyboard and they should post above in the chat for all to see…
Go test it here on this page and see if you can get it to post:
http://www.roxwalkoff.com/2012/05/21/tulo-helton-dropped-in-lineup-vs-fish/