Thursday Rockpile: George Frazier talks 2009 Tulsa Drillers

George Frazier did an interview with a Tulsa sports program, in part one talking about the Rockies chances for 2009. He also talks about who the team figured on sending to Tulsa to play with the Drillers this year --mentioning specifically Mike McKenry and Jhoulys Chacin (this was clearly filmed before Chacin's chances at starting in AAA seemed to improve) and then talking cryptically about players being held back without mentioning who. Finally, he talks a little about his favorite Rockies prospect, his son Parker Frazier.

In Part 2 of the interview, he talks about the MLB in general, A-Rod (this was filmed prior to his injury but after the steroid test was leaked) and former Padres announcer/MLB Network talking head, Matt Vasgersian. 

Patrick Saunders talked to Bob Apodaca about Jorge de la Rosa's awful outing on Tuesday, and while I believe it's still too early to label JDLR an "experiment... going horribly wrong", Dac's  words do legitimize that there's certainly concern with where he's at right now. While it's still too early in Spring to be overly agitated, the problem with starters is that there are only so many outings they could have to straighten things out. I think we could all agree that De la Rosa needs to be much sharper in his next start. 

It's clear that they've been reading Purple Row at the Post, also in that the concerns we were bringing up in yesterday's game thread about Troy Tulowitzki's hitting struggles this Spring are quickly answered by the "He's showing great leadership" note. Leadership's great, but is Ryan Spilborghs going to score next time on Ben Francisco's arm because he knows that Tulo's there waiting for him? Are Christian Colonel and Sal Fasano going to hit better to get more of that fist bumping action from Troy? I sure hope so, because if we wind up with two middle infielders who are a drag on offense, we'll need all the help we can get from other parts. I'd much rather have a player that's both a leader and a hitter, but if push comes to shove, I'd rather have the latter than the former at most positions. Still, I don't want to give the impression that this is a huge concern yet. As with JDLR, there's still time for things to turn around and luckily with Tulo there should be more opportunity and AB's for him to do so.

Two more rotation notes from the DP, because of the flu, Greg Smith's being held back from his next start tomorrow, and as with JDLR, his window for showing what he's got is closing. Meanwhile, Ubaldo Jimenez will be taking a rest after his dominant showing in the WBC.

Tracy Ringolsby has five questions with Todd Helton at Inside the Rockies.

Thomas Harding writes that Ryan Speier is making a bid for Taylor Buchholz's high leverage innings with his work thus far this Spring. Jason Grilli's work in the WBC has been just about as impressive, but unfortunately it's been in front of Italian coaches rather than the Rockies staff. Either way, I think we're in fairly capable hands right now.