MVN - Most Valuable Network

That’s Our Fifth Starter, Folks

Both the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks can’t be feeling too confident about the back end of their respective rotations after today’s Spring Training game between the two teams. Josh Fogg (newly anointed fifth starter for the Rox) and Dana Eveland (in the running for the interim fifth starter job for Arizona) both got absolutely bombed in what looked more like a batting practice session than an actual game. Check out their pitching lines:

Name	IP	H	ER	R	BB	K	HR
Josh Fogg	3.2	13	11	10	3	2	4
Dana Eveland	4.0	11	9	9	1	4	1

Yikes! That’s 28 combined baserunners in a span of 23 outs.  I think it’s safe to say that Eveland probably just pitched himself out of a job, but the same can’t be said about Fogg.  Is it just me or is it slightly concerning that Josh got destroyed in his first outing since winning the final rotation spot from Byung-Hyun Kim?  Maybe I’m just a bit too anti-Fogg and I’m overreacting to one outing here.  He could have just let off the gas a little bit, knowing that he had a spot locked up.  However, if that mindset continues in the regular season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him out of the rotation by the end of May.  The Rox are going to need their entire back end of the rotation (Lopez, Hirsh, and Fogg) to snap out of this Spring funk that they’re in and get ready for the season or else they will find Ubaldo Jimenez, the only fifth starter candidate who actually pitched worth a darn this Spring, breathing down their necks.  

On the offensive side, three of the four homers that Fogg allowed today were to the slugging behemoth Scott Hairston, who has 13 career long balls.  I also found it interesting that Fogg managed to allow the cycle to the first four Arizona hitters in the fourth inning (Snyder single, Clark homer, Drew triple, Byrnes double).  On the Rockies side of the ball, Chris Iannetta put together a tremendous day, reaching base in all five of his at-bats via a double, two singles, and two walks.  He was also 2 for 2 in gunning down would-be basestealers.  I cannot wait to see what Iannetta can do during the season because his on-base skills are tremendous and he should be a lot of fun to watch.  Matt Holliday added a two run homer (to go along with three strikeouts) and Fogg chipped in with two RBI doubles.  Perhaps he is being kept on the roster as the primary pinch hitter and Ryan Spilborghs, John Mabry, and Alexis Gomez are secretly competing for the fifth starter spot.  Knowing Clint Hurdle and his sometimes random decisions, I wouldn’t be surprised.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 at 4:38 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.