Todd Helton is back in the lineup tonight after coming off the 15-day DL with a bad hip. This is the first of 9 for the home trip that will see the Reds (7/27-29), Cards (7/31-8/2) and Giants (8/3-5). It will be the Rockies longest homestand of the season’s “Second Half”.
The team is hoping to win two in a row after another great start by Francis. The Rockies are 8-2 in Francis’ 10 starts since the club signed the veteran left in early June.
Left-hander Drew Pomeranz will be on the mound in tonight’s game. Pomeranz made his Major League debut vs. CIN on 9/11/11 at Coors Field and tossed 5.0 scoreless innings to earn the victory. Pomeranz owns a 3.44 ERA (36.2 ip, 14 er) in 7 career starts at Coors Field.
The Reds will start right-handed pitcher Bronson Arroyo tonight. The veteran is 2-3 with a 5.60 ERA (53.0 ip, 33 er) in 11 career games/9 starts against the Rockies.
Rockies rookie catcher Wilin Rosario has returned to full health after missing three games with a low-grade ankle sprain. On Wednesday he crushed his 16th home run of 2012, a solo shot off Trevor Cahill in the 4th inning. Rosario continues to lead all NL rookies with his 16 home runs, and he is tied with Mike Trout for the MLB lead in home runs among rookies. Roario’s .534 slugging percentage also leads NL rookies and ranks 2nd in the Majors for rookies, again behind only Mike Trout’s .606 mark.
Another Rockies rookie that continues to impress is infielder Josh Rutledge, who went 2-for-4 on Wednesday. The multihit game was already Rutledge’s sixth in 12 career MLB games. Rutledge is batting .356 (16-for-45) with 5 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run and 6 RBI in his first 12 MLB games.
• Rutledge’s 16 hits since his first MLB game (first game after All-Star break, 7/13) are tied for the most hits among NL rookies since the break. Rutledge also has 28 total bases since the All-Star break, which leads all NL rookies since the break, eight more than second place Steve Lombardozzi’s 20 total bases.
ROCKIES LINEUP
FOWLER [CF]
SCUTARO [2B]
CARGO [LF]
CUDDYER [RF]
HELTON [1B]
ROSARIO [CF]
PACHECO [3B]
RUTLEDGE [SS]
POMERANZ [LHP]
- Game Time: 6:10 PM (Root/850KOA)
- First Pitch Weather: 76°F 10% Chance of Participation
I truly believe that Tracy is killing the confidence of these young pitchers. I commented earlier this week concerning the quick hook of Cabrera (Troy Renck also had something to say on this matter as well). Now tonight JT chooses to allow DrewPo to bat in the 5th inn with 2 outs and runners on 2nd & 3rd. Now, I have no problems with that strategy since it was early and the Rox were only down by two. But if you’ll going to do that, why take him out in the next inn. just because he gave up a couple of weak hits? Why not let him get out of his own jam? It’s all part of the learning curve, but JT is oblivious of this.
The problem with the “75″ pitch limit stuff is that when you stretch the pitchers out (with the exception of Francis) is that they are used to pitching only 75 or so pitches. Junk this strategy and we’ll see if these guys can pitch or not.
I’m sure the Rockies will have an excuse why they were shutout tonight. But it’s just an excuse.
My wife commandeered the main TV tonight to watch the Olympics so I kept an eye on the Rockies game on the little TV. The best thing about that was that the sound was off so I didn’t have to listen to Drew and whoever he was with.
The one inning I watched, but did not listen, it seemed that there were two or three Wild Pitches by Pomeranz and/or Ottovino. I guess they were all WP’s but a good defensive catcher could have caught or stopped some or all of them. I love Rosairo’s bat and he has a good arm and I’m willing for him to learn to catch in this lost season. But was he that much of a better defensive catcher in the minors than Pacheco? I didn’t see JP catch in the minors nor in the only game he caught this year so I have no idea. But frankly I don’t trust the opinion of DoD, JT or anybody else in the Rockies brain (I use that term loosely) trust. What do RWO people know?
I love Rosario, but I am amazed they are not looking for alt positions for him. To me he clearly does not have the necessary skills defensively to catch. Not stuff you LEARN. 1B? 3B?
Does anybody know anything about the guy we got for Scutaro? His numbers don’t look that great.
I think this was just a salary dump,though I then don’t know why there was so much chatter about Scutaro on all media sites.Do we really need another middle infielder? IMO this deal just personifies the hopelessness of being the next to last worst team in baseball.
A guy that we will never see in the bigs unless maybe there is an injury. Yet another never to be 2nd baseman to add to the current stockpile of 2nd baseman the Rockies have scattered about under the guise of “super utility” player.
Agreed. Salary dump, although the Giants apparently aren’t even taking on the entire 2 million bucks or so that Scutaro is owed for the rest of 2012. This guy Culberson has a .236/.283/.396 line in the PCL this year, and it’s not like he was any better in AA last year: .259/.293/.382. He’s 23. So at this point he’s way behind a guy like DJ LeMahieu, who is a pretty marginal prospect himself. So we get nothing, which is not really a surprise given how Scutaro has looked (old) this year.
I just wish Todd could return from the DL and be the force Chipper Jones has been since he came off DL before all-star game.Really want to see Todd finish his great career like Chipper,or the “splendid splinter”,with a HR in his final at bat!
Cisco, good comment on how the 75 pitch limit thing is having really bad effects on our young pitchers, and leading to really stupid managerial decisions (like letting Pomeranz hit in what turned out to be THE key game situation last night, only to pull him a couple batters later).
In case folks haven’t noticed, we are now 4.5 games behind the Padres, which is a pretty pathetic result since they basically punted this season back in November 2011. But we ain’t gonna catch Houston for the # 1 pick … they’re on an almost incredibly fast highway to hell, on a pace to lose 107. That would be the worst since the 2004 Dbacks lost 111.
Ag,
I, for one don’t believe the decision to pull DrewPo last night was based on the 75-pitch limit. If it was, it shows the inconsistency in which Tracy is going with this 4-man rotation. I’m on record as being a proponent of this experiment, as long as it is handled properly. With the off days (Thurs & Mon), there’s no reason these pitchers shouldn’t be going to at least 90+ pitches.