The Rockies are swimming with youngsters lately and tonight they showed some old school moves, namely that pitching and timely hitting wins games more often then not.
And if the Rockies needed anything it would be a win…
On the cusp of a second sweep, as well as the threat of dropping eight at home, the team put on a good ol’ fashioned show for the 29,659 in attendance.
It all started with pitching. Alex White, called back up today, held the Cardinals to five hits over five and a third while giving up only two earned. Then the Kill B’s came in and shut things down in a hurry. Brothers, Belisle and Betancourt pitched three and two-thirds innings of no-hit ball and looked masterful doing it.
With one half of the equation taken care of, the other half, namely hitting, took over. Going 5-13 with runners in scoring position, Pacheco going 3 for 3 with two RBI’s, Rutledge and Rosario both hitting two-run home runs all led to a very satisfying win.
Especially for Rutledge who’s seventh inning home run was his fourth long ball in as many games, a Rockies record.
After the game White showed he has the confidence to pitch as coors, as he said:
I threw a lot of good-two seam fastballs tonight, but I had all four pitches working…I know I have the stuff to pitch up here.
ROCKIES: 8 CARDINALS: 2
What? Huh? There’s been a horrible mistake.
Missed this game due to the Olympics. The rookies are really the biggest bright spots for this team. I am shocked at the creativity Jim Tracy showed by actually PHing with a catcher! Gasp.
How do we get some pitching for next year and beyond so that the growth of these young bats is not wasted?
Prog, how do we get pitching next year? We get lucky:
- De La Rosa turns out to be a guy who was just slow coming back from TJ surgery. He gives us 25 starts and is reasonably close to the pre-injury guy
- Chacin: turns out he isn’t lazy or done, he actually was hurt. Not a career threatening injury. He gives us 25 starts similar to his rookie year.
- Francis comes back, and is the same old Francis
- Pomeranz manages to hold his velocity over a year, giving us another 25 starts at a pretty good performance level
- one other guy (White? Friedrich?) takes a big step forward and gives us another 25.
- we sign a veteran pitcher who is a solid 4th starter to soak up the other starts.
Not a wildly improbable scenario. Yeah, the chances all of the above come through in the same year isn’t good. But 3 of the above? Sure.
So I say don’t tear the team apart. Yet. This club could turn things around fast. But if by next July it ain’t working – say, DLR doesn’t make it back, Pom has arm trouble (what I fear), Chacin can’t return to form, no other young pitcher steps up – well then I’m ready to go into full rebuilding mode.
Don’t forget nicasio, mr unlucky.
Chacin had a rehab start last night and it wasn’t pretty. He lasted four innings (62 pitches) and he allowed four runs on five hits while striking out two and walking two.
The four runs came via a grand slam.
He will make one more start for Tulsa before moving to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Did the granny follow a BB?
ha! not sure, but wouldn’t be surprised…
I picked a good one to attend. Y’all have touched on the pitching. Gosh, it’s fun to see a rookie tear it up like Josh. And Pacheco, well, all he does is hit. Not home runs, unfortunately, but his defense has really improved and all he does is hit! Refreshing fun game.
To follow up on Agbayani’s post, there could be some reinforcements who could arrive by the second half of next year. I think that Cabrera is leading the pack. I haven’t read much about Bergman at Modesto, but he seems to be putting up great numbers, so if he continues to pitch well at Tulsa next year, he could be in line. And then there’s all of the other guys who we have seen this year: Chatwood, Outman, Moscoso, etc. Maybe one of those guys could turn it around in a year. Whatever happened to Bettis? He was supposed to be a good prospect, but apparantly he has been injured all year. And, of course, there’s the mystery of Matzek. Maybe he finally figures it out. So, if we are looking at best case scenarios, there could be some help on the horizon.