Friday, April 22, 2016
Will probably be running about 2 games a week. The next post coming up will be the Minor League breakdown of the top 3 prospects in the system. I'll update the minor league team's progress once every five games. For the franchise I'm using TNK/Psychobulk's slider set (latest version but altered to set trading slider at 2 for April with gradual increases as the season progresses). Also using the OSFM 40 man rosters.
After every week I'll round up the trades and acquisitions that happen around the league and give a breakdown of why the teams traded as well as any injuries that occur.
Before the season kicks off with the Dodgers/Padres opening matchup here is a quick run down of the depth chart for the season as it kicks off:
San Diego Padres Depth Chart - 2016
- Catcher
- Derek Norris
- Christian Bethancourt
- First Base
- Wil Myers
- Brett Wallace
- Second Base
- Corey Spangenberg
- Adam Rosales
- Third Base
- Yangervis Solarte
- Shortstop
- Alexi Ramirez
- Alexi Amarista
- Left Field
- Melvin Upton Jr.
- Alex Dickerson
- Center Field
- Jon Jay
- Right Field
- Matt Kemp
- Starting Pitcher
- James Shields
- Tyson Ross
- Andrew Cashner
- Drew Pomeranz
- Robbie Erlin
- Relief Pitcher
- Kevin Quackenbush
- Matt Thornton
- Brandon Maurer
- Carlos Villanueva
- Brad Hand
- Closer
- Fernando Rodney
- Designated Hitter
- Brett Wallace
Decided to make some hard choices to begin the year by leaving all my high prospects in the outfield in the minors. Jabari Blash, Hunter Renfroe, Travis Jankowski, and Manuel Margot are all in AAA or AA to begin the year. I imagine at some point this year I'll trade Jankowski as I'm looking to upgrade the starting pitching and net a few infield prospects or controllable veterans at 3rd and SS.
Starting Pitching is looking good if everyone stays healthy and beasts out with the Padres front office hoping that Shields lives up to the "Big Game James" moniker. Also on the way out this year most likely will be Andrew Cashner as he is a free agent before the season is over and Tyson Ross is arbitration eligible for 2017.
Dodgers and Padres is next and I hope you guys join together with the Padres in their search for an elusive World Series in the 2000's !
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Trade Alert 4/19 The Tigers and Royals have agreed to swap players. The deal is:
Royals- Getting CF Rajai Davis (34 years old, 79 overall, B ) on the Kansas City Royals
Tigers- Getting 1B/DH Kendrys Morales (31 years old, 76 overall, C ) on the Detroit Tigers
This deal went down in the late hours of April 19th with the two AL Central rivals swapping players looking for a way to improve their bench more or less. Morales was having a horrible start to the year for the Royals sitting with a .164 average through the first 2 weeks of the season. He was mainly getting pinch hit AB's as the DH duties had fallen to Erik Kratz who has had a rebirth in KC hitting .250 as a backup catcher/DH on the team. Davis is still speedy and is a true speed threat off the bench or backing up Cain which is why KC made the move.
The Tigers meanwhile had Rajai Davis who was in decline as far as attributes go (everything -1 with Contact R and Vision at -2) to begin the year. That combined with a CF platoon of Gose/Bernard and the contract status of Kendrys Morales (under contract for 1 more year giving them a competent player to use in a rebuild) gave the Tigers that final push to make a deal.
Now on to the games!
Game One: The Padres rolled into town for a 4 game set against the Rockies who were looking to try and build upon the solid performance that was turned out in LA over that 3 game series. Unfortunately it was not to be in Game 1. Ian Kennedy looked like he did in his days as a prospect for the Yankees as he went 8 innings striking out a season high 13 (!!!!) Rockies while scattering only 4 hits and walking 2.
Kyle Kendrick meanwhile was manhandled giving up 8 hits over 6 innings before being relieved by Adam Ottavino who threw a great 3 innings in relief striking out 2 and giving up 0 hits to keep that ERA at 0.00 in these few appearances since coming up from AAA.
| San Diego Padres at Colorado Rockies | ||||||||||||
| Apr 20, 2015 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| San Diego (5-8) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| Colorado (5-6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| W: Kennedy (2-0) L: Kendrick (0-1) | ||||||||||||
Game Notes: Wil Myers extended his hitting streak to 8 games for the Padres with a hit in the 8th inning. Rookie Kyle Parker didn't collect a hit but had a good day going 0-1 while walking 2 times (only walks Kennedy allowed). LeMahieu bobbled a ball in the 5th committing his 6th error already on this young season.
Game Two: The Rockies have so far gotten off to a disappointing start to being the 7 game homestead against San Diego and there was a lot of fear in the air as David Hale took the ball for the Rockies, his 8.59 ERA and all. Surprisingly Hale quieted the haters in the crowd throwing 8 strong innings and having quite a rebound game scattering 4 hits, getting 6 K's while only walking 2.
While Hale performed well so to did his opposite Brandon Morrow. Morrow went 7 innings picking up 8 K's and scattering 4 hits while only walking 2 before turning the game over to his bullpen.
It would take 10 innings before Upton crushed a Eddie Butler fastball in the top frame to give the Padres a 1-0 lead that would stand. Butler took the rare loss this season (and made a rare mistake out of the pen) as Craig "BlitzCraig" Kimbrel closed it out for his 3rd save of the season.
| Padres at Rockies | | |||||||||||||
| Apr 21, 2015 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Extras | R | H | E |
| San Diego (6-8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Colorado (5-8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| W: Kelley (1-0) L: Butler (3-1) S: Kimbrel (3) | |||||||||||||
Game Notes: The Rockies have now not scored a run in 28 innings dating back to the last game of the Dodger/Rockies series. The absence of key offensive figures is absolutely being felt now. Will Myers singled again to push his hitting streak to 9 games. LaTroy Hawkins pitched the 10th after Butler allowed the solo homer. Hawkins has lowered his ERA to exactly 1.00.
Game Three: With the Rockies now mired in a scoreless streak that feels like it's been a lifetime, they turn to their veteran starter Jorge De La Rosa to get the job done and pick up a win in the 3rd game of the series. He went to work right away and delivered an 8 inning gem scattering 4 hits while only surrendering 1 run and getting 6 K's. As good as he was the Rockies had not yet scored going into the bottom half of the 7th and the fear was palpable going up and down the Colorado lineup of suffering yet another shutout. To this point James Shields was firing darts but this would be the inning that pushed him from the game.
Nick Hundley doubled with 1 out and with Shields pitch count nearing 100 Bud Black called Troy Vincent out of the pen to come and deal with the weakened bottom of Colorado's order, assuming that a fresh arm could easilyy dispatch with Parker and Barnes. While Parker struck out swinging on 4 pitches, Brandon Barnes took a 0-2 fastball and launched it into left field giving the Rockies a 2-1 lead. The Rockies faithful were ecstatic and the thin air was blamed (or celebrated) for having obviously caused the homer. Morneau would later drive in Blackmon in the 8th to give the Rockies a 3-1 victory and snap a 3 game losing streak.
| San Diego Padres at Colorado Rockies | ||||||||||||
| Apr 22, 2015 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| San Diego (7-8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Colorado (5-9) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | X | 3 | 9 | 1 |
| W: De La Rosa (1-1) L: Vincent (0-2) S: Axford (5) | ||||||||||||
Game Notes: This was the 2nd straight game that a Colorado starter went 8 innings. Oxford picked up his 5th save and lowered his ERA to 1.92. Will Myers once again went 1-4 and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Game Four: The Rockies sent staff ace (defacto ace really) Jordan Lyles to the mound in the last game of the longest home stand series yet to try and even out the series 2-2. He did ok for himself throwing 7.1 innings while only giving up 1 run on of all things an Andrew Cashner single that scored pinch hitter Will Venable. The Rockies however answered in stile in the bottom of the 8th with back to back up home runs by Tulowitzki and Morneau to make it 2-1 Colorado.
John Axford came out of the pen to try and get his 6th save of the year but would promptly give up a 2 out, 2 run homer to Yangervis Solarte that made the score 3-2 Padres. In would come Craig Kimbrel to try and stave off the Rockies in the bottom half of the inning and he too suffered and struggled. Willin Rosario singled home Brandon Barnes from 3rd to tie this one all up at 3-3 and forcing extras. It would be Drew Stubbs who would hit a sac fly in the 11th that scored Mike McKenry from third to give the Rockies a 4-3 walk off win!
| Padres at Rockies | | |||||||||||||
| Apr 23, 2015 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Extras | R | H | E |
| San Diego (7-9) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 0 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
| Colorado (6-9) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 1 | 4 | 11 | 0 |
| W: Brothers (1-0) L: Kelley (1-1) | |||||||||||||
Game Notes: Rex Brothers came out of the pen to throw the 10th and 11th innings getting the win. He struck out the side in the 10th. Will Myers continued his hitting streak to 11 games now going 1-5 with a single in the 7th. The blown save in the 9th was the first for Kimbrel and the first for Axford this season.
The San Francisco Giants are waiting deck as there is no rest for the weary in this Colorado ball club. The matchups will be:
Game 1: Matzek (1-2, 716 ERA) vs. Hudson (1-0, 2.07 ERA)
Game 2: Kendrick (0-1, 4.67 ERA) vs. Lincecum (0-0, 4.08 ERA)
Game 3: Hale (0-2, 4.11 ERA) vs. Peavy (2-0, 3.26 ERA)
Side Note: After the end of each month I'll update the divisional and wild card standings.
Hope everyone comes out to see the Rockies take on the division leading Giants to end this 7 game home stand and close out the last home series of April!
Monday, July 27, 2015
For the first post though I'll do a quick run down of the key players at each level (AAA/AA/A) and I'll be keeping tabs on them in each installment (if they're not already included as a hot or cold player).
Albuquerque Isotopes
The AAA farm team of the Colorado Rockies does not have that many players that can make a major impact on the parent club as it stands now. That being said there are some who will be able to develop into something hopefully down the road. Those are:
SP Jon Gray (23 years old, 71 overall, B ) 3-0, 1.21 ERA
RP Scott Oberg (25 years old, 59 overall, B ) 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 IP
CP Jairo Diaz (23 years old, 58 overall, B ) 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 IP, 3 Saves in 3 Chances
Gray started the year in AAA to refine his craft and he has done wonders for the rotation winning all 3 of his starts so far in the PCL season. I'd rather he stay down there for a while to see how he develops over his next 5-6 starts before even considering bringing him up to the major league level if the starters continue to struggle at the major league level.
Oberg has done a good job out of the pen so far in the 4 innings that he's been called upon. He so far has a WHIP of 1.50 with 4 K's on the year. There is some concern that he has walked 3 and surrendered 3 hits but he has been working with the pitching coach for the Isotopes (Training) on reducing those
Diaz was somebody who was considered to begin the year at AA New Britain or even in A Modesto in the California League but he showed enough poise in Spring Training to warrant an assignment to Albuquerque. He so far has rewarded that faith through his first 5 innings he's pitched. he currently has a WHIP of only 0.80 allowing 3 hits (1 a home run) and 1 walk while being perfect and picking up the save in all 3 opportunities. He currently sits with a 1.80 ERA
Hot Players: 0
Cold Players:
SS Cristhian Adames (23 years old, 63 overall, C ) .152 Average, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .264 OBP
CF Roger Bernadina (30 years old, 63 overall, D ) .159 Average, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .224 OBP
RF Noel Cuevas (23 years old, 60 overall, C ) .158 Average, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .200 OBP
RF Tyler Massey (25 years old, 55 overall, D ) .187 Average, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .187 OBP
New Britain Rock Cats
The AA farm team for Colorado plays in the Eastern League and does have a few players to keep an eye on but I'll just do a rundown of the top three:
CF Raimel Tapia (21 years old, 62 overall, B ) .342 AVG, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .390 OBP
CF David Dahl (21 years old, 65 overall, B ) .241 AVG, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .313 OBP
SP Gus Schlosser (26 years old, 73 overall, C ) 2-1, 2.05 ERA
Ramiel Tapia has thrived at the AA level so far (he is one of the players on a hot streak for AA right now). His presence in the 2 hole and his ability to work the count and rip pitches into the gaps has translated well for his average and prospects in the farm system
Dahl is also a natural center fielder but is playing left right now and hits leadoff (due to his 77 speed). While not hitting for average at the same level as Tapia he is a home run threat and can work the occasional walk to get on for Tapia behind him. They form a good 1-2 punch at the top of the order.
Scholar has thrived at AA in the first 3 starts going 2-1 while striking out 19 and holding a respectable 2.05 ERA. His WHIP is 1.23 through the early parts of the season. He is being evaluated now for a possible promotion to AAA depending on the out comes of his next 2 starts.
Hot Players:
CF Raimel Tapia (stats above)
1B Jordan Ribera (26 years old, 53 overall, C ) .316 AVG, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .447 OBP
Ribera is underwhelming on the field but has produced consistently enough to make the list. Potentially he could be an unfolding asset moving through the year.
Cold Players:
SS Trevor Story (22 years old, 62 overall, C ) .105 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .244 OBP
2B Juan Ciriaco (24 years old, 57 overall, D ) ..140 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .229 OBP
SS Pat Valaika (22 years old, 57 overall, C ) .214 AVG, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .250 OBP
When you're cold you're cold and Story is cold. That combined with Valaika's cold streak at short as well could wind up having a SS or utility infielder promoted from Modesto if things don't improve by May
Modesto Nuts
Since MLB the Show does not have playable A these will just be the top 3 players assigned to the A level for now and what their training on
SS Brendan Rogers (19 years old, 63 overall, A ) Fielding Drills (Fielding and Reaction)
3B Ryan McMahon (20 years old, 54 overall, B ) Hitting Coach Session (Vision, Discipline, Clutch)
C Dom Nunez (20 years old, 54 overall, B ) Fielding Drills (Fielding, Reaction, and Blocking)
All 3 players at Modesto are considered big players in the future for this Colorado ball club and will no doubt be featured here at higher levels. Rogers could be a natural successor to Tulo when he either retires or is traded down the road (I signed Rogers to keep things consistent with this years draft)
McMahon is working hard with the hitting coach at Modesto to improve his vision and plate presence for a potential call up to AA at some point in the year
Nunez is already a better fielder and hitter than the backup catcher at AA and with a bit more training behind the plate there is no doubt that by next year at the latest he can be the starting catcher at AA
TRADE ALERT 4/15 The Rays and the White Sox have agreed to swap players. The transaction details are below:
White Sox- GETTING: SP Grayson Garvin (25 years old. 64 overall (C)) Assigned to AAA Charlotte Knights
Rays- GETTING: C Geovany Soto (32 years old. 73 overall (C)) Backup catcher on Tampa Bay Rays.
This is a fairly good deal for both teams. The Rays needed a backup catcher as John Jaso went down this week with a broken hand he suffered during this weeks series against the Jays. He'll be down for 1-2 months and Soto/Rivera platoon is serviceable until he gets back.
The White Sox had both Flowers and George Kottaras as a catcher on the major league team so Soto was the odd man out in Chicago so there was no major loss on that front. Garvin fills in nicely at the back end of the their AAA team's rotation and takes over for a struggling Kyle Drabek. Garvin could be used potentially as a reliever also on the major league level should Chicago choose to go that route or just release him without much loss as he is only making 60K this year.
Onward now to the games!
Game One: The Rockies had off on Thursday and took the time to recuperate and figure out ways to end this 6 game losing streak. The Dodgers got the scoring started on a Yasmani Grandal solo shot to left in the 2nd which put them up 1-0. The Rockies though would answer scoring runs in the 4th and 5th thanks to an RBI single by Justin Morneau and an RBI double by rookie Kyle Parker that made the score 2-1.
De La Rosa would load the bases in the 6th but escape giving up only 1 run and left with the score knotted up at 2-2. The Rockies would push across the winning run in the 8th on a long fly ball by Drew Stubbs who was pinch hitting for Brandon Barnes (who was 0-3 on the day and had a 0.76 average) with runners on 2nd and 1st. Puig tracked the ball and got under it for the final out but then inexplicably dropped the ball and was charged with an error which allowed Nick Hundley to score from 2nd and make it 3-2 in favor of Colorado.
| Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers | ||||||||||||
| Apr 17, | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Colorado (3-6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Los Angeles (7-2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| W: Butler (3-0) L: Hatcher (0-1) S: Axford (3) | ||||||||||||
Game Notes: Eddie Butler once again came to the rescue out of the bullpen for the Rockies throwing 1.2 and struck out 2 while yielding 2 hits. Kyle Parker went 1-4 with the RBI double to extend his hitting streak to 4 games. Nick "Heavy Hittin'" Hundley went 2-4 with 2 runs scored to raise his average to .428 on the young season.
Game Two: Fresh off a win in the first game of the series the Rockies look to make it 2 in a row here at Chavez Ravine. Jordan Lyles took the mound and it was not a happy game for the usually strong starter. Lyles would only last 4+ innings giving up 5 runs and 8 hits. His ERA swelled to 4.11 as a result of the startling start. The Rockies though would not go down. Colorado scored 5 runs through the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings thanks to home runs by Blackmon, Tulo, and Rosario. With the game tied 6-6 going in the 10th the Rockies catcher Mike McKenry came through again launching a solo homer, his 2nd of the year into left field at Dodger Stadium to make it 7-6 Rockies. John Axford pitched the bottom half of the frame for his 4th save of the year and the Rockies won their second in a row!
| Rockies at Dodgers | | |||||||||||||
| Apr 18, | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Extras | R | H | E |
| Colorado (4-6) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 1 |
| Los Angeles (7-3) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
| W: Hawkins (1-1) L: Rodriguez (0-1) S: Axford (4) | |||||||||||||
Game Notes: Clayton Kershaw had everything going for him until the 8th inning when Kyle Parker drove in 2 runs which came on Rosario having homered the inning before and made this good start a mess. He finished with 7.2, 4 runs scored, 3 walks, and 7 K's. Casey Jansen blew his first save of the year after Tulo homered in the 9th. Kyle Parker went 1-3 with a walk, double, and 2 RBI's on the day to push his average to .305 and his hitting streak to 5 games.
Game Three: The Rockies entered this game hoping for a sweep of their divisional rival from LA but left with a realization that the team was really out performing these past 2 games. Matzek surrendered 3 runs over 6 innings while walking 2 and striking out 4. That was not a good enough line as Zack Greinke was on the mound for the Dodgers and was he masterful as ever. Greinke threw a complete game scattering 6 hits and striking out 6 while walking only 1 (Kyle Parker) for his 3rd win of the year.
| Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers | ||||||||||||
| Apr 19, | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Colorado (5-6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Los Angeles (7-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| W: Greinke (3-0) L: Matzek (1-2) | ||||||||||||
Game Notes: Greinke now has lowered his ERA to an astounding 0.33 on the season through his first 3 starts. Tulowitzki was given the day off but did pinch hit in the 9th grounding out for the final out. Kyle Parker was inserted into the 5 hole in the lineup due to injuries/scheduled days off. It did not suit him as he went 0-3 with a walk which snapped his hitting streak at 5 games.
Up next on the docket are the San Diego Padres as the Rockies head home to Coors Field for a 4 game set against the Padres and then a 3 game set against the Giants. Here are the matchup's for the series against San Diego:
Game 1: Kendrick (0-0, 3.97 ERA) vs. Kennedy (1-0, 2.08 ERA)
Game 2: Hale (0-2, 8.59 ERA) vs. Morrow (1-1, 7.71 ERA)
Game 3: De La Rosa (0-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. Shields (1-1, 5.71 ERA)
Game 4: Lyles (0-1, 4.12 ERA) vs. Cashner (0-2, 10.80 ERA)
Hope all of you stay tuned as we take on the friars next and coming up at some point today will be an update on the first few games and progress of the Minor Leagues for the Rockies!
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Posted on July 25, 2015 at 07:10 PM.
Hey everyone. The Rockies are officially here and ready to begin this six game road trip through California and are ready to kick off this 3 game set against the Giants to get the ball rolling. Game One: Game one did not go at all as the Rockies planned. While managing to score 2 runs in the Top of the 3rd off Tim Hudson thanks to a run single by Corey Dickerson (which boosted his average to a healthy .307), Tyler Matzek completely coughed up the lead in the bottom half of the inning surrendering 4 runs. To add injury to insult Corey Dickerson went down gripping his shoulder in pain after throwing a ball to home plate to try and save a run on a hard hit single by Buster Posey. Rockies medical staff said that while he did not tear anything he did have a case of shoulder inflammation and was put on the 15 day disabled list with a return time of late April.
The rest of the game did not go well for the Rockies. The Giants would tack on a few more runs to wind up winning the game 8-4 and taking the first of this 3 game set in the Bay Area.
| Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants | ||||||||||||
| Apr 13, | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Colorado (3-3) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 0 |
| San Francisco (2-5) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 8 | 12 | 0 |
| W: Hudson (1-0) L: Matzek (1-1) S: Casilla (3) | ||||||||||||
Game Notes: After the injury to Dickerson, Drew Stubbs was put in to play LF and will platoon there with Brandon Barnes for the duration of Dickerson's DL stint. Rosell Herrera was called up from AAA Albuquerque Isotopes to provide depth on the bench. Eddie Butler once again was called on to pitch in relief in a game and performed well again. He pitched 2 innings in relief of Matzek giving up 1 hit and striking out 2. He lowered his ERA to 0.87.
Game Two: With that disastrous game 1 loss to the Giants now behind them and seeking to break the 4 game losing streak, the Rockies handed the ball to Kyle Kendrick in the hopes that the streak would end here in the Bay. The Rockies got off to a nice start in the first inning as D.J LeMahieu singled, reached second on a grounder after he was put into motion to avoid a DP, and scored on a hit by Nick "Heavy Hittin'" Hundley who drove him in with a double.
Kendrick would cough that lead right up in the bottom half of the inning as Nori Aoki and Angel Pagan both came around to score. The Giants tacked on another in the bottom half of the 4th to push the score line to 3-1 in San Fran's favor. However the rookie Kyle Parker did nicely filling in for Carlos Gonzalez in this one by driving in 3 runs on a double in the 5th inning to give Colorado a 4-3 advantage. Kendrick would go into the 7th and all seemed well until the bottom of that inning when Rex Brothers came on in relief with only 1 more out to get in the inning for a tired Kyle Kendrick (he gave up a single to Nori Aoki which prompted his removal from the game and he had almost 0 energy left). An Angel Pagan triple later and the score was tied 4-4 with Brother's visibly upset at his performance.
San Francisco would tack on 1 more in the bottom of the 9th to walk off with a 5-4 win in a game that felt like it was robbed from the Rockies.
| Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants | ||||||||||||
| Apr 14, | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Colorado (3-4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 5 |
| San Francisco (3-5) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| W: Petit (1-0) L: Hawkins (0-1) | ||||||||||||
Game Notes: One bright spot in the losing effort was rookie Kyle Parker who began the year with the parent club due to the injury to Carlos Gonzalez that he suffered in spring training. With the 3 RBI double that Parker ripped in the 5th he finished the game 2-4 with 3 RBI. He now has a .320 average, 1 HR, and 9 RBI to begin the young season. Rex Brothers suffered his first blown save on the year. The Rockies committed an unprecedented 5 errors on the field in the game. D.J LeMahieu committed a whopping 4 of them at second base and Morneau committed 1 at first.
Game Three: David Hale took the mound for the Rockies as they try to stave off elimination in the series finale of this 3 game set. He also is trying to dispel the belief that he should be demoted after the 1.1 inning performance in the Opening Day disaster that had many in the organization looking at Jon Gray as a potential early call up if Hale can't right the ship. However he did prove he can compete at this level. Hale went 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs, while striking out 5 Giants. He managed to keep the Rockies in it to win it with the score at 2-1 thanks to a sac fly by Brandon Barnes who brought in Kyle Parker from third after he hit a triple leading off the 5th inning.
It was not to be though as the Giants scored again in the 8th and finished up the series with a sweep taking the third game 3-1 from Colorado.
| Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants | ||||||||||||
| Apr 15, | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Colorado (3-5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| San Francisco (4-5) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Peavy (2-0) L: Hale (0-2) | ||||||||||||
Game Notes: David Hale did lower his ERA from being over 33 to now at 8.59 on the season, still though a disgusting number to look at. Kyle Parker now has a 3 game hitting streak after he went 1-4 with a triple in the losing effort. Troy Tulowitzki could not have had a worse day. Besides going 0-4 he also went 0-3 with RISP which undoubtedly led to the Rockies dropping another game that felt like it was absolutely winnable.
Even though the series with the Giants did not go as planned there is still half a road trip left and the Rockies are determined not to make many of the same mistakes as they did in the series in San Fran. Here are the matchups for the 3 game series against the Dodgers:
Game 1: De La Rosa (0-1, 1.50 ERA) vs. Wieland (0-0, 5.40 ERA)
Game 2: Lyles (0-1, 2.30 ERA) vs. Kershaw (2-0, 2.12 ERA)
Game 3: Matzek (1-1, 8.71 ERA) vs. Greinke (2-0, 0.50 ERA)
Hope you all follow along as the Rockies continue onward to the City of Angels and the dangerous Los Angeles Dodgers!
Thursday, July 23, 2015
The Rockies found themselves down 8-1 after 5 innings with the only run coming off the bat of first baseman Justin Morneau. The Rockies rallied though scoring 4 in the 6th and then getting another 2 in the bottom of the 7th off the bat of Nolan Arnado who hit a 2 run homer, his first of the year. The Rockies managed to pull within 2 at that point but that would be the end of the scoring and wind up being the final line score.
| Chicago Cubs at Colorado Rockies | ||||||||||||
| Apr 10, 2015 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago () | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 0 |
| Colorado () | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Hammel L: Hale S: Rondon | ||||||||||||
Notes: Morneau continues to rake as he went 2-3 with 2 walks and the RBI double in the first inning. Solid anchor in the lineup that I'm not sure what the Rockies would do without
Game 2: The Rockies hoped to rebound from the typical Coors Field shootout that happened on Opening Day and Jorge De La Rosa stepped up his game big time. Over 6 innings the veteran managed to strike out 9 while giving up only 1 run on 2 hits while walking 3. His control was iffy sometimes (as evedinced by the 3 base on balls) but when it counted he bore down and got the job done.
The same could not be said for the Rockies offense. Wada took the ball for the Cubs and pitched 7.2 innings of masterful baseball. He scattered 3 hits over the innings while not allowing a walk and struck out 3. The Cubs lone run came on a Dexter Fowler single to left that scored Montero in the 3rd but it was all that Wada would need.
| Chicago Cubs at Colorado Rockies | ||||||||||||
| Apr 11, 2015 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago () | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Colorado () | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| W: Wada L: De La Rosa | ||||||||||||
Game Notes: No regular player in the Rockies lineup got a hit. Drew Stubbs and Michael McKenry (the road warrior) picked up the only hits for the Rockies with Stubbs going 1-4 and McKenry going 2-3 with a double
Game 3: Manager Walt Weiss turned to Jordan Lyles, the de facto staff ace, to turn this series around and send the paying customers home happy. And my did he give it the old college try. Lyles went 8.1 and took a no-hitter into the 9th inning before Anthony Rizzo crushed a mistake location fastball over the wall in right center. Lyles would leave the game and Christian Friedrich would surrender a single and then homer to Miguel Montero (who scored the Cubbies only run a game ago) to put this one on ice and give the Cubs a 4-0 unexpected win.
Jon Lester meanwhile threw a complete game and matched his Colorado opponent pitch for pitch, albeit giving up 5 hits along the way. Either way he picked up his first win of the year and lowered his ERA down to 2.45.
| Chicago Cubs at Colorado Rockies | ||||||||||||
| Apr 12, 2015 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago () | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Colorado () | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| W: Lester L: Lyles | ||||||||||||
Game Notes: Lyles has now thrown 15.2 innings over his 2 starts and gone deeper in both games (the 8th in Milwaukee and 9th here at home) than any other Colorado starter has so far to this point. Hopefully this troubling stat turns around as Lyles cannot carry the world on his arm. However I was extremely impressed at his ability to keep the Cubs off balance and am excited for what the rest of his year holds for him!
Up next the Rockies will travel to the Golden State for a 6 game road trip against the Giants in San Fran and then the Dodgers in the City of Angels. The matches for the Giants series will be:
Game 1: Matzek (1-0, 4.26 ERA) vs. Hudson (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game 2: Kendrick (0-0, 7.75 ERA) vs. Lincecum (0-0, 2.57 ERA)
Game 3: Hale (0-1, 33.75 ERA) vs. Peavy (1-0, 6.35 ERA)
Hope you all continue along as we take Cold Brewed Ball on the road to bask in the sunshine of the Golden State! See ya'll soon!
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Posted on July 22, 2015 at 06:05 PM.
Hey everyone, decided to make a few changes to the Colorado franchise I'm making. Instead of updating every 10 games I'm going to update every series that the Rockies play that we it's a bit more involved. I will however make the peek into the MiLB (Henceforth known as Cold Brewed Light) every 10 games to see how the prospects are doing. That being said onwards to the first batch of games!Game 1- Colorado VS. Milwaukee: 5-4 Rockies Win! (13 innings)
Opening Day came and went and then everyone just stayed at the ballpark a little while extra (but who doesn't want opening day to be longer than advertised?) as the Rockies edged the Brew Crew in 13 to win it 5-4. Jordan Lyles took to the mound and pitched 7.1 innings in a great performance. 2 earned runs allowed with 3 K's over that time frame ensured that he showed that the #1 spot in the rotation is in safe hands.
Kyle Lohse for the Brewers put up pretty similar numbers also going 7.1 while striking out 5 and allowing 0 runs to cross the plate. That did not mean though that the Rockies did not pester him constantly. 8 hits and 2 walks resulted in his exit from the game in favor of Jonathan Broxton who struck out the last 2 in the 8th to hand it over to K-Rod in the 9th hoping for a Brew Crew win at home.
K-Rod promptly ran up against the wall of Tulo and Morneau who singled in 2 runs in the 9th to tie the score at 2. The Rockie rally was started by backup catcher Michael McHenry who doubled as a PH batting for LaTroy Hawkins. Going to extra's was a perfect chance to allow new rookie Kyle Parker some chance to show what he's made of. A 3 run homer by the rookie in the top of the 13th frame pushed the Rockies to a 5-2 lead (he would finish the day 2-6 with 3 RBI). Axford had some trouble handling things out of the pen in the bottom of the frame but after allowing 2 runs and putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, Axford buckled down and struck out the next 2 batters on 95 MPH fastballs out of the zone to end Opening Day.
Game Notes: Justin Morneau finished the day 3-5 with an RBI. Eddie Butler was masterfully coming out of the bullpen in long relief throwing 4 innings. He struck out 4, walked 1, and was responsible for 1 of the 2 runs Axford gave up.
Game 2- Colorado VS. Milwaukee: 7-3 Rockies Win!
The second part of the law firm of Lyles and Matzek took the mound in game 2 of this young season. Matzek threw 6.1 innings and struck out 5 but also surrendered 3 runs, 3 walks, and 8 hits. While not giving up any homers a couple of pitches were taken deep to the warning track. Hopefully those were just opening week jitters and not something indicative of an issue with his command.
Thankfully though the Brewers seemed to have no idea what was going on game wise and imploded. Nelson, Thornburg, and Smith combined to give up all 7 runs, 10 hits, and the Brewers dreams of winning over the 7 innings they pitched. Justin Morneau continued to mash hitting a 3 run homer while Blackmon and Hundley added triples of their own
Game Notes: Tulo went 2-4 and drove in a run. Nick Hundley went full "Heavy Hitting Hundley" mode and went 2-3 with a walk and increased his batting average to .438 through these first 2 games. Axford picked up his 2nd save of the year and 2nd in 2 games.
Game 3- Colorado VS. Milwaukee: 5-4 Rockies Win!
The Rockies finished off a 3 game sweep to open the year with a 5-4 win over the Brew Crew in Milwaukee. Colorado was down 4-0 going into the 8th inning but rallied in epic fashion off Matt Garza and the Brewers bullpen in those final 2 frames. Charlie Blackmon and the rookie Kyle Parker (again his name is in lights!) drove in 3 runs in the Top of 8th and Michael McHenry once again was called off the bench to provide offensive support in the 9th inning. With K-Rod already the owner of 1 blown save this year McHenry provided the 2nd after he homered with Nolan Arenado on first. That came 1 pitch after K-Rod threw a fastball up high and tight near his head making the homer not only the go ahead runs but also a perfect revenge hit.
Game Notes: Once more into the breach Eddie Butler, once more he answers the call to arms. Butler came on in the 5th inning and finished the game out in the 9th going 4.1 with 3 K's. He lowered his ERA to 1.08 and wound up with the win. He's now 2-0 through only 2 appearances this year so far
That's a wrap on the first series, will the Rockies go 162-0? Tune in for the next post and find out as we face the Chicago Cubs and the beloved Joe Maddon for the home opener at Coors Field in Colorado. The matches will look like this:
Friday April 10th: David Hale vs. Jason Hammel
Saturday April 11th: Jorge de la Rosa vs. Tsuyoshi Wada
Sunday April 12th: Jordan Lyles (0-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. Jon Lester (0-1, 6.35 ERA)
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
) I'll be updating this every 10 games for the Rockies and will take a look at the AAA & AA level once a month and let you guys know how they are progressing and any rookies are really laying it all out at the lower levels.
(Side note: I'll be playing this franchise with TNK's sliders version 2.0 and OSFM Rosters Update 1)
First things first an Injury report:
Lost Carlos Gonzalez during the Spring to a torn hamstring with an estimated time of 2-3 months on the DL. Silver lining here is that he was injured in the early spring so the Rockies are expecting him to be back by mid-May/late-May at the latest. As a result rookie prospect Kyle Parker was called up and he'll be playing RF for a while in a platoon with Brandon Barnes (who had an excellent spring with 14 XB hits)
Beyond that everyone else is healthy, including Tulo, so it shouldnt be a bad year. The rotation will shape up to be this:
Jordan Lyles
Tyler Matzek
Kyle Kendrick
David Hale
Jorge de la Rosa
Matzek and Lyles will essentially have to be the anchors at the top of the rotation because I'm unsure how the rest of the rotation will fare across the year (especially de la Rosa who finished spring training with an inflated ERA of 7.50).
Hope you guys enjoy this and onward we go to Milwaukee for the first series of the year!
Monday, August 25, 2014
The Minnesota Twins entered the 2014 season with little hope to actually be a great contender in the AL Central. The entire team was constructed around the now converted catcher turned first baseman Joe Mauer. At first the goal for the 2014 season was to actually just reach .500 with the lineup we had but going into May it is a whole new ball game. As of May 9th 2014 the AL Central standings are:
| MLB Standings - Updated: May 9, 2014 | |||
| AL CENTRAL | W | L | GB |
| Kansas City Royals | 22 | 14 | - |
| Chicago White Sox | 17 | 20 | 5.5 |
| Minnesota Twins | 16 | 19 | 5.5 |
| Cleveland Indians | 16 | 21 | 6.5 |
| Detroit Tigers | 13 | 21 | 8.0 |
So far the Twins are tied with the White Sox in a division that looks to be the Royals for now in the early part of this season. However that could all change. The Twins have made it to a 2 game winning streak getting back to back wins against the Indians and the slumping Tigers.
It is truly a shock that the Detroit Tigers have made next to 0 impact in the 2014 season. The Twins on the other hand are still just barely trudging along after a brutal 4 game losing streak.Coming up next for the Twins are 2 more games against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on the 10th and the 11th.
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