Hey guys,

My Q&A with Dan Boniface happened a little bit late and now that we've moved onto the Cubs, it's somewhat irrelevant for Padres fans. Therefore...

Here is the Q&A that I did with him just in case you'd like it. I apologize if this has appeared on the site already. Enjoy!

The Rockies and Padres are both severely struggling to start off 2008. Is there anything you can put your finger on to describe what's going wrong for the Rox?

In the first couple weeks, it was the lack of clutch hitting that doomed the Rockies. Then there was a four game stretch where they took a lead into the 8th inning in each game and had four consecutive bullpen blow-ups.

But, I think if you’re going to pinpoint one thing, you definitely have to take a long look at the Rockies starting pitching. Going into the season, many had thought the rotation would be a strength with Jeff Francis and Aaron Cook at the top and the two young guns, Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales, blossoming after their postseason experience, and Mark Redman filling in the No. 5 spot for the departed Josh Fogg.

Well, it’s May 11 and Francis is still winless, Morales is in the minors, Ubaldo hasn’t been able to avoid the big inning and Redman was just moved to the pen. Meanwhile, the Rockies are reportedly scrambling to reacquire Fogg from the Reds and have already called up 2006 No. 1 draft pick Greg Reynolds to make his big league debut on Sunday against the Padres. The only bright spot in the rotation has been Cook, who is looking more and more like an absolute ace.

Who has been the biggest disappointment for the Rockies so far?

The biggest disappointment for the casual Rockies fan would probably be the loss of second-year shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to injury. He’s estimated to be out until the All-Star break. However, since the middle infield tandem of Clint Barmes and Omar Quintanilla have been filling in nicely since his departure (they’ve actually been an offensive improvement) that’s not my biggest disappointment.

For me, the biggest disappointment is a toss-up between Francis and Jimenez. I really expected Francis to improve on his 17-win season of a year ago and he has yet to find his groove. Jimenez, who probably has the filthiest stuff in the rotation, has also been a major disappointment as well.

Any hope the Rockies can turn it around this year?

I always have hope until mathematical elimination. It’s a long season and the Rockies were 9 games under .500 on May 21 last season and they still made the World Series. Granted, it took a miracle in the final two weeks to get them there and I’m not so sure they’ll be able to turn it around in quite the same fashion.

The D-backs have been so hot, but are finally falling back to Earth (4-6 in their last 10), and the Dodgers have owned the Rox so far this year. The Rockies will need to find some consistency in the starting rotation in order to turn things around. Whether that means trading for Josh Fogg or relying on the rookies to turn things around, they need to figure it out somehow. I’m pretty sure they’ll keep hitting and hopefully Tulo’s return at midseason will give the club an additional spark.