The Rockies have completed four series thus far, winning one, tying one, and losing two. After a sweep punctuated by an embarrassing loss Sunday, a return to play Arizona in the desert might be just what Colorado needs. Did I just say that? Forget the past - that's history. What matters is right now, and the Rockies will be playing the coldest team in the majors, and the one team they have beaten in a series this year to boot.
Arizona Diamondbacks (4-8, L1, t-4th in NL West)
Monday-Wednesday : 3-game series at Colorado
As bitter as it tastes to be a Rockies fan after this past week, it's far worse being a D-Backs fan right now. Check it out:
- Arizona managed just TWO runs in their weekend set at AT&T.
- Despite allowing just four runs in three starts, Dan Haren is 0-3 - one total run of support will do that to you.
- At one point last week, not a single D-Back crossed home plate for 20 innings.
- Their run differential is -22, dead last in the majors (even the 1-10 Nats)
- Six losses in eight games.
- Rankings at the bottom of the barrel all around:
| Team Stat | MLB Rank | Amt |
| wOBA | 28th | .293 |
| OPS | 26th | .680 |
| Average | 28th | .227 |
| Runs For | 27th | 40 |
| ERA | 20th | 5.18 |
| Runs Against | 20th | 62 |
| K's For | 25th | 70 |
For perspective, their team wOBA is worse than Willy Taveras was last season. And those pitching stats aren't even misleading - their staff has allowed the 7th lowest BABIP in the bigs. Quite frankly, Arizona is performing like everyone thought San Diego would. DbacksSkins has issued advice to himself and his brethren. Jim McLennan at the 'Pit has 10 reasons to be fearful for Arizona fans.
Colorado faced the hottest team in the majors this weekend on the road, and now it's time to take on arguably the coldest. It will be a great opportunity to rebound while simultaneously returning the favor of sending Arizona spiralling downward in April.
Probable Pitchers:
Today, 7:40pm MDT
Battle of the new veterans:
Jason Marquis looks like the better veteran rotation addition so far. Anything close to his two previous starts should be a streak-breaker. Jon Garland has never faced the Rockies in his career. Marquis is 2-3 with a 3.82 ERA vs Arizona since 2006.
Tuesday, April 21, 1:40pm MDT
Battle of the pseudo-5th starters:
Yusmeiro Petit filled in the fifth spot in the rotation when Brandon Webb landed on the DL and struggled, while Franklin Morales returns to the fifth spot in the Rockies rotation after a scoreless outing in AAA. The Petit Unit has allowed two runs in seven innings in his career vs Colorado; Morales is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA vs Arizona in three career starts.
Wednesday, April 22, 1:40pm MDT
Battle of the unfairly winless:
Dan Haren leads MLB with three losses, but he has been the victim of historically minimal run support. Jorge de la Rosa allowed no runs in his last start, but a blown save foiled his chance for his first win. Haren is 3-2 with a 2.85 ERA vs. Colorado since 2006, and DLR is 1-1 with a 3.92 ERA vs the Snakes.
Lineup:
What follows is what was considered the best line-up Arizona had to start the season, but as is evident, the struggling offense will breed a lineup shuffle in order and personnel.
| Player | Avg | HR | RBI |
| Lopez | .370 | 2 | 4 |
| Young | .238 | 1 | 3 |
| Drew | .222 | 1 | 5 |
| Jackson | .200 | 1 | 7 |
| Tracy | .290 | 1 | 6 |
| Upton | .185 | 0 | 1 |
| Reynolds |
.257 | 2 | 5 |
| Snyder | .100 | 0 | 1 |
It's a bad sign when your best player is 0-3. Dan Haren (0-3, 1.89 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 17 K) has allowed just four runs in his three starts but lost all three of them. Felipe Lopez stayed hot after his historic Opening Day. He hit .462 last week in 26 ABs.
How about the rest of the lineup? Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson, Eric Byrnes, Chris Snyder and Chris Young all failed to record as many hits last week as Ian Kinsler did Wednesday alone. The entire offense frozen, especially with runners in scoring position.
Stephen Drew left Friday's game with a left hamstring injury. He is day to day but has not played since Friday. Augie Ojeda has taken his place in the line-up, hitting leadoff and pushing the hot-hitting Lopez to the three-hole.
NL West Report after the jump
NL West Report |
Arizona (4-8, t-4th, L1)
Last Week: 1-2 vs Cardinals, 1-2 at Giants. Arizona has lost every series this season, three of them at home. Getting buried early while
This Week: 3 game home series vs. Rockies, 3 game home series vs Giants
News: Brandon Webb threw a flat-ground bullpen session yesterday, and will throw off the mound tomorrow. Jim McLennan says it "doesn't seem he'll be back soon." The course of action Arizona will take with Webb is entirely dependent on his performance tomorrow.
Stephen Drew left Friday's game with a hamstring injury and has not played since, and Mark Reynolds missed Sunday's game with a left quadriceps strain.
D-Backs fans can at least take refuge in the fact that their AAA team is going strong. Until the Sky Sox won yesterday, the Visalia Rawhide were undefeated. 2008 Minor League Player of the Year Josh Whitesell is on fire, so perhaps he could see some playing time soon over struggling Tony Clark.
Los Angeles (10-3, 2nd, W8)
Last Week: 3-0 vs Giants, 3-0 vs Rockies. The Dodgers have the greatest run differential in the majors at +42. That eclipses 11-1 Florida by 11.
This Week: 3 game road series at Giants, 3 game road series at Rockies. Los Angeles owns MLB's longest win streak this season, though all but two of those games came at home. Los Angeles will hit the road for their next nine games, so hopefully they will slow down away from Chavez Ravine.
News: The Dodgers are one of three teams rumored to be interested in Mark Mulder. The former Athletic and Cardinal is still a few weeks away from being ready to pitch.
Signed LHP Chuck Tiffany to a minor league contract and will be assigned to extended spring training. Tiffany was traded to Tampa Bay in the Danys Baez deal in 2006 and was released by the Rays last month.
The Dodgers traded OF Delwyn Young to the Pirates Wednesday for two PTBNL's. Young was out of options and injured.
Los Angeles is on a tear to start the season, but it can't last forever. Sky Kalkman ran the CHONE projections again Saturday for the remaining games, and the Dodgers finished just two games north of .500. If after the weekend sweep you want to see more bad press on the Dodgers, check out GM Ned Colletti's all-time team of players he gave up on.
San Diego (9-4, 2nd, W4)
Last Week: 2-1 at Mets, 2-1 at Phillies. Despite facing the top two NL East favorites on the road, the Padres continue to roll. A blown save yesterday by Edwin Moreno prevented a 5-1 week. Heath Bell, who leads MLB with 7 saves (3 more than anyone else), was unavailable due to multiple recent appearances.
This Week: 1 game to finish 4 game series at Phillies, 2 game road series at Giants, 3 game home series vs Pirates.
News: 2B Trivis Denker was claimed off waivers by the Red Sox last Tuesday.
Paul DePodesta answers questions regarding Denker, the sporadic use of Eulogio de la Cruz, and why the Friars carry 13 pitchers.
The Padres have surprised so far this season with their 9-4 record. If they remain in contention, they have the payroll flexibility to add a piece in a push for the playoffs.
Walter Silva strained his forearm and will head to the DL.
San Francisco (4-8, t-4th, W1)
Last Week: 0-3 at Los Angeles, 2-1 vs Arizona. It is hard to gauge San Francisco, as they faced the division's hottest and coldest teams in the same week.
This Week: 2 game home series vs Padres, 3 game road series at Arizona.
News: GM Brian Sabean is reportedly back-tracking on another bad contract. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday that the Giants are trying to unload Aaron Rowand, with the White Sox as a possibility.
For any trade to take place, San Francisco would have to eat a large portion of his contract. Such a trade would hurt former Rockie Scott Podsednik's chance to make a contribution in Chicago.
El Lefty Malo notes that many fans are pointing to 2010 as the year the Giants will compete. He isn't so sure.
Poll
How many games will Colorado take from Arizona this series?
0 - This team is in such disarray, even another struggling team will sweep them (10 votes)
1 - That's the most you can hope for with the bottom three of the rotation in the queue (27 votes)
2 - Arizona has lost every series this season and is ice cold. The Rox are struggling too much to expect a sweep, but a series win is in the bag. (54 votes)
3 - We might be struggling, but Arizona is worse off than when we took two in the desert two weeks ago. The Snakes are banished to the cellar (25 votes)
116 total votes
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