Wednesday Morning Rockpile:

The Rockies are now peeved that Ramon Ramirez made good on his threats to give Yorvit Torrealba some high heat, and so like so many comic book fans who sadly think that they too have some inner hulk that's waiting to be let out, they've vowed that this aggression won't stand. And they'll make sure of it by writing a strongly worded letter after leaving Kansas City with another series loss and possible sweep. Mmm hmm, paint me impressed.

Let me be succinct: if a team can't win on the road against other bad teams, they are themselves a bad team. If a team can't win more than four games in a row, they are not going to the playoffs. Fourteen games under .500 with seventeen to go before the All-Star break means we'd have to go I'd say at least 13-4 before then to leave the door to a comeback open, but there's been nothing in the team's performance to date that says the Rockies are capable of such a run this year. Aaron Cook will get four of those starts, so maybe we can go 3-1 or even 4-0 in them. Ubaldo Jimenez has been pitching well lately, so I can even see a 3-1 in his four with a little luck. The other six or seven wins, however, in three starts each by Reynolds, Francis and JDLR, just won't come without an offense that we simply don't seem to have this season.

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It's funny

that management does absolutely nothing to change the losing trajectory of this team, and then when something like this happens, they’re so quick to pull out lines like Hurdle’s from the link, "Maybe (Ramirez) lit a pilot light that we can’t seem to keep lit.” And what has he done to keep the pilot light lit? It’s as if he thinks he has no hand in the matter, so he thinks he must rely on random occurrences and player beefs to achieve what he can’t do himself.

by dogs on Jun 25, 2008 10:19 AM MDT reply actions

You're absolutely right.

These things—poor pitching, horrendous clutch hitting, negligent baserunning—happen and Hurdle acts as though they just randomly affect the Rockies and he’s powerless to do anything about it. Does anybody ever get chewed out? Does anybody, player or coach, fear for his job? Ultimately is anybody at all accountable? Or will these things just continue to happen because nothing is ever done proactively?

by moose14 on Jun 25, 2008 2:45 PM MDT up reply actions

Stats

so I just wasted some time breezing around team-by-team stats and my conclusion:

We aren’t good, as I see it, for 2 overly simplistic reasons: (1) our pitching is awful; and (2) no power or clutch hitting. We actually get on base just fine, plenty of opportunities to score. But no clutch hitting or trots around the bases.

I know this isn’t particularly insightful or new info, but its telling. It underscores to me that the ultimate blame for the season really rests on the players. I’m no big Hurdle fan, but I don’t know what else he could do with this pitching staff that (other than Cook and Buckhholz) has been universally disappointing and in some cases flat awful. And not much he can do to get guys to hit in the clutch. I know, he could move guys around in the order, but its not like Todd is the only guy that isn’t coming through.

So, in short, my conclusion from 30 minutes of wasted time is exactly what I knew before: these guys all need to play better. You’re welcome for this fantastic analysis.

by Teekalong on Jun 25, 2008 12:40 PM MDT reply actions

and yet ...

despite all of this, we’re still just 8 games back of first place and 1.5 games back of third place. .500 is a nice goal, but it might not be necessary to get to .500 to win the West this year :)

We do need to start winning some games, though. Relying on the failures of the rest of the division to keep us in contention isn’t a great plan.

by kosmo99 on Jun 25, 2008 1:25 PM MDT reply actions

We do

lead the majors every year in giving up outs. Bunt mania at its finest.

by DieHardRox on Jun 25, 2008 2:37 PM MDT reply actions

Did Ramon Ramirez thread to give Torrealba some "high heat"?

I hadn’t heard about any threat from Ramirez.

This is just my opinion. I could easily be wrong.

by Scott McKinney on Jun 25, 2008 2:49 PM MDT reply actions

Let's see if they can win 1 when I am there

Going (again tonight) wearing a cut-off “Baseball With an Altitude” shirt and a Black Rockies cap (With the CR part in all white). I am sitting in the section closest to the Rockies Bullpen (By the LF Foul Pole) and I am in the front row.

Die-hard Rockies fan. On the bandwagon since 7/6/93. Not giving up my seat. EVER!

by rockiesfan4ever on Jun 25, 2008 3:52 PM MDT reply actions