Diamond In the Rox

The season ended on a low note, being swept by the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

After an unintentional and extended hiatus, we here at DITr are determined to finish the season strong and build some momentum for the off-season.

After getting to only one game this season prior to this past weekend, I managed to attend two, Friday and Saturday.

With the season at its virtual mid-point, let’s take a look at the current state of the rockies and some of the reasons for why they are where they are:

• With roughly 60% of the season completed, the rockies are 18 games below .500 and 8.5 games out of first place. Eight and a half games out of first isn’t horrible, but 18 games below .500 is embarrassing. As it’s been well noted, the only reason the rockies aren’t much, much further out of first is the overall mediocrity of the NL West. ESPN reported this morning that this is the first time since 1994 that a division has reached the All-Star break without a team over .500.
• The rockies have had seven losing streaks of at least four games and two streaks of eight losses. Conversely, they’ve had only three streaks consisting of at least four wins.
• The team ERA is 4.95, ranking them 15th in the NL. The starting rotation has collected only 27 wins with 11 of those belonging to Aaron Cook. The ERA of the starting rotation is 5.28, also good for 15th in the NL.
• The offense is hitting .258, ranking 7th in the NL, and has scored 419 runs, ranking 10th. These are disappointing results from a team expected to have a “prolific” offense.
• Key young players struggled early on: Troy Tulowitzki, Manny Corpas and Franklin Morales. Tulowitski tried to play through his struggles until getting injured. Corpas lost the job of closer to former closer Brian Fuentes and Morales ended up in Colorado Springs. Jeff Francis, not a youngster, but key to the rotation, struggled all season until going on the DL July 2nd.
• Despite all this negativity, there have been a few bright spots: Willy Taveras’ proficiency at stealing bases, Aaron Cook’s emergence as the staff ace that the rockies’ have envisioned him for years, and Chris Iannetta’s development into a solid starting catcher.

What’s next? What should the rockies try to accomplish in the remaining 66 games of the 2008 season? The rockies’ chances of playing meaningful games in September have evaporated to almost nothing, their proximity to first place notwithstanding. If they were going to make a move in the division they should have done so by now, so nothing at this point leads me to believe the next 66 games will be much different than what we’ve already witnessed. So, a lot of what the rockies do from here on out should be with an eye to the 2009 season and beyond. How do they do that specifically? I think that largely depends on whether or not they honestly believe they can sign Matt Holliday.

This article in the RMN suggests that Dexter Fowler could be in a rockies uniform much sooner rather than later if the rox trade Taveras. Fowler is considered by many to be the best center field prospect in the game right now. Fowler plays great defense and would add an element of power to the center field position that we haven’t seen at all since Preston Wilson and haven’t seen on a regular basis since Ellis Burks.

Let’s root on the NL in the All-Star game with Clint at the helm. It would be nice to see the NL get into the W column again after going 0-10-1 over the last 11 seasons.

Until next time, go rockies!