MVN - Most Valuable Network

Webb, Snakes sink their teeth into Rockies for the sweep

Could you blame Rockies fans if most weren’t surprised when tonight’s very sexy matchup of two excellent sinkerballers, Aaron Cook and Brandon Webb, turned out to be nothing more than another disappointing chapter in the Rockies’ season thus far?  With the two starters having won 14 straight starts coming into the game, it was apparent that something had to give.  Unfortunately for Colorado, it was Cookie who wilted, allowing a crucial three-run homer to Chris Snyder in the fourth inning to break open a one run game and bury a team that could barely touch Webb.

It’s obvious that the Rockies are sinking faster than a Cook or Webb fastball and there are no obvious solutions anywhere.  The starting pitching has been pretty spotty, with Jeff Francis leading the way in the ineptitude department.  The team is running thin on options if further incompetence persists, as they’ve already dipped in the fountain of youth and called Greg Reynolds up to the big leagues a bit earlier than they probably would have liked to.

The offense has been very disappointing for a lineup that was supposed to be one of the tops in the National League, if not in all of baseball.  Here are the current ranks in the National League of this Rockies offense coming into tonight:

AVG:  .259 (9th)
OBP:  .329 (8th)
SLG:  .391 (11th)
Runs:  176 (9th)

That’s unacceptable for a team with a middle of the order as loaded as the Rox have, not to mention the emergence of Chris Iannetta as an offensive weapon this year.  Even Clint Barmes has gotten in on the act, harnessing the mojo of his April 2005 while replacing the injured Troy Tulowitzki.  Plus, this team plays half their games in Coors Field!  I just can’t seem to understand why the Rockies are hitting so poorly when we’re a month and a half into the season, but there’s little doubt that it’s getting incredibly frustrating as this unit scuffles.

Arizona is now a whopping 11 games ahead of Colorado in the standings, seven of which are directly attributed to the fact that the Snakes are 8-1 in their first nine contests against the Rockies this year.  But it’s not like it’s just Arizona that is beating up on the boys in purple.  In fact, the entire National League West division is having their way, winning 18 of the 24 contests against the “defending” National League champions.  With as little of a fight as these guys are putting up lately, I don’t know if you can call what they’re doing a defense of a title.

Perhaps a bit of American League opposition is precisely what the Rox need to turn things around.  Over the past two seasons, Colorado is 21-12 against the Junior Circuit, and the Twins are coming to town for three games at Coors this weekend.   It’s definitely sad times when even a return home no longer seems like a guarantee for a series win.  It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago that even when the team wasn’t any good, the Rockies were still a lock to put on a dominant show at home the majority of the time.  This year, however, I just don’t see it.  I suppose it’s never too late for the Rox to prove me wrong though, so let’s look to Ubaldo Jimenez to get this nine game homestand started off on the right foot tomorrow.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 10:38 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.