Last Year Was A Fluke! (David’s View)

Ok, so they can hit.  But as has been shown time and time again you need more than hitting to win a championship.  They came close last year with a staff that ranked 8th in the NL, but it took that incredible hot streak at then end when they won 20 of 21 games to snag the Wild Card.   Does that give them something to build on? Or was it a fluke.

You only need to glance at the pitching stats from last year to realize that the Rockies only had one pitcher who won more than 10 games during the regular season.   So after Jeff Francis where’s the pitching?  In the bullpen?  No, definitely not there as most of last year’s top stoppers have moved on via free agency.

That leaves me pondering just how real this Rockies team can really be?  Outside of Francis they have no proven starters, no proven bullpen, and a young offense which was outstanding last year but begs the question of if they simply overachieved.  After all, right now 16 games into the season Troy Tulowitzki is batting .154 Jason Nix .161, Brad  Hawpe .220, Yorvit Torrealba .229 Todd Helton .264 and leadoff hitter Willy Tavaras just .250.

So, you can only conclude that last year’s Rockies were the convergence of a deep bullpen, hot hitting and decent starting pitching.  You can’t conclude that this 2008 team is that good, or will even be in the top three in their division when the season comes to a close.

Are You Kidding Me - They Are For Real! (Jonathan’s view)

This is one of the best young offenses in the game today.  This team ranked 2nd in the National League in terms of runs scored and they didn’t do it on the backs of overachieving hitters, but good young batters who now and again are bound to struggle.    Basing anything on the statistics of just 14 games is absurd, especially when you include guys like Todd Helton in your list of underachiever the hitting will rebound as the season matures and the Rockies will have the most feared offense in the West.

As to the pitching, well I admit I’m a bit concerned but hey, when I analyzed last year’s Rockies squad I was so concerned that I picked them to finish fourth ahead of only the Giants.  They cobbled together a pitching staff around cornerstone player Jeff Francis and scored the knockout when they brought up another of their young players to the big show the seemingly unstoppable Ubaldo Jimenez.

Am I surprised that Jimenez hasn’t been as much of a lights out pitcher so far?  No, this is his second time around and hitters have learned to adjust to him somewhat, and over then next few weeks he’ll learn to adjust to them.  When that happens he’ll still be a far better than average pitcher at Coors Field.

But to dismiss this team out of hand isn’t putting credit where it’s due and as much credit as you can give to the guys in the field you can give even more to GM Dan O’Dowd and manager Clint Hurdle who have been building a team capable of winning despite playing 81 games per season in the rarified air of Coors Field.

Give the air a little time to warm up in Colorado and when it does so will these Rockies.

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