Rockies fans are feeling glum about the season so far, yesterday aside, and that is understandable.  We are about to close out the first month of the season, and Colorado has only pulled out one series win, and that was three weeks ago.  To all you whose mood reflects the gray weather, I say:

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
San Diego's coming to town

That probably seems silly, seeing as how the Padres are far enough ahead that we can't leapfrog them even with a sweep.  But I assure you for this series, I know if they've been bad or good, and we'll be good for goodness sake.

San Diego Padres (10-8, L2, 2nd in NL West) 

Monday-Wednesday : 3-game series at Colorado

The Padres were the surprise team in MLB to start the season, but their slide back to earth has already commenced.  San Diego is losers of five of their last six with their only win being a one-run extra inning affair with the Pirates. 

The most intriguing aspect of this series is complete opposite recipes for wins and losses for Colorado and San Diego.

This not only suggests we need to beat them up early, it leads to an overall interesting conclusion:  With a -10 run differential, the Padres have a worse Pythagorean expected win percentage than the Rockies.  In fact, one would expect the Padres to be fourth in the NL West with the Rockies second.

So are the Pads lucky?  A bit, but a lot of credit must go to Heath Bell, who is doing his best Brad Lidge impression by getting seven saves in seven chances and allowing just three hits and no runs in 7.2 IP. 

Still, San Diego can't sustain a winning record, as their pitching overall is middle of the pack (14th) and their offense is 22nd.  Add to that that 3/5 of their rotation is now on the DL (Shawn Hill, Cha Seung Baek and Walter Silva), and you have a recipe for a team to continue to settle towards the bottom.

San Diego is 4-4 on the road, with all four wins coming on a trip to Philadelphia and New York against teams that struggled out of the gate.

Probable Pitchers:

Today, 6:40pm MDT

Chris Young has been the brightest starter so far for San Diego.  The Padres are 3-1 in his starts this season, with the only loss coming in his best start, when he allowed no runs on two hits in 7.0 IP at San Francisco.  Garrett Atkins is 7-for-25 with 3 HR in his career against Young.

Jason Hammel will make his debut as a Rockies and NL starter tonight.  After a nervous debut out of the pen, he has looked outstanding in allowing no runs on two hits in his last four innings.  Jason Marquis' start yesterday afforded the bullpen rest, so should Hammel falter, a safety net is in place.  Kevin Kouzmanoff is the only Padre to face Hammel, and he collected a double in three ABs.

Tuesday, April 28, 6:40pm MDT

Josh Geer will be making his second start this season.  His debut was a beauty against the World Champs April 19, but he faltered when he relieved injured Shawn Hill against Pittsburgh.  Geer allowed just 3 runs in 10 innings in two appearanced vs Colorado in 2008.

Jorge de la Rosa had a streak of nine straight scoreless innings break in his last start against Arizona, but he is nevertheless coming off of two strong outings despite not having his best stuff.  He allowed 6 runs in 7.1 IP against the Padres last year, with both appearances at Coors Field.

Wednesday, April 29, 1:10pm MDT

Kevin Correia has three starts and all of them very similar: 5-6 IP, 2-3 ER, 2-4 BB, and 3-5 K's on 95-98 pitches.  His game scores have been between 48 and 51, so he has been the model of consistency and mediocrity.  He is 2-1 with a 4.60 ERA since 2006 vs Colorado.  Consistent, mediocre and boring.

We all know about Aaron Cook.  The "Ace" has yet to achieve a game score as high as Correia's worst start despite having two "quality starts."  Cook's "best" starts of the season have come at home, so we'll see.

Adrian Gonzalez was 8-for-22 with 2 HR last week to continue a strong start, while Scott Hairston is 5 for his last 12 with a double and a triple.  Heath Bell pitched another scoreless inning (of course).

Jody Gerut was just 1-for-17 last week while Nick Hundley was 1-for-13.  Kevin Correia, Eulogio de la Cruz, Luis Perdomo, Jake Peavy, Cla Meredith, Josh Geer, and Shawn Hill all had ERAs over 5.00 last week.

Cha Seung Baek, Shawn Hill and Walter Silva are all on the 15-day DL, while Everth Cabrera is out for two months with a broken left hand.  SS Luis Rodriguez was admitted to the hospital with an allergic reaction Saturday, but he has been released and cleared to play.

NL West Report after the jump

Arizona (7-11, 4th, W1)

Last Week: 2-1 vs Rockies, 1-2 vs. Giants.  After rebounding against the struggling Rockies, the D-Backs were nearly swept at home by San Fran before they eeked out a walkoff win in the 12th inning yesterday

This Week: 3 game home series vs. Cubs, 4 game road series at Brewers.  The week's schedule isn't kind for Arizona, but they will have Dan Haren pitching twice, including today.

News:  Terrible news came down Saturday for Diamondbacks fans, as ace Brandon Webb will be forced to miss an additional six weeks with a shoulder injury. 

Brandon Webb

#17 / Pitcher / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 230

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 09, 1979

Missing Webb for well over a third of the season will be a difficult obstacle to overcome - since the start of 2007, Arizona is only 132-141 in games not started by Webb.  Diamondbacks beat writer Nick Piecolo already suspects Arizona might be sellers at the trade deadline.

Shortstop Stephen Drew finally landed on the 15-day DL after the original injury eight days prior.  Drew was completely ineffective in his attempts to return to the lineup Wednesday and Friday.

Arizona called up former Sky Sox IF Josh Wilson to take Drew's place and swapped Doug Slaten for Esmerling Vasquez.

Tom Gordon could also be activated today.

Los Angeles (13-6, 1st, L1)

Last Week: 1-2 at Astros, 2-1 at Rockies.  Los Angeles failed to have a winning week for the first time this season.  The red hot start was clearly cooled by hitting the road as evidenced by nearly getting swept by Houston and being outscored by four at Coors Field.

This Week: 3 game road series at Giants, 4 game home series vs Padres. 

News:  Another NL West Opening Day starter is having trouble in trying to get back to the mound.  Hiroki Kuroda felt increased tightness in his oblique after a bullpen session.

Hiroki Kuroda

#18 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-1

Weight: 210

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Feb 10, 1975

Kuroda wouldn't call it a setback, citing that it felt better the next day, but any lingering tightness could spell future doom.  He is on the DL indefinitely, as he will need several rehab starts once he is finally cleared to start.

Kuroda's absence brightens the limelight on the back of the rotation, James McDonald specifically.  As Eric Stephen points out, McDonald has been fantastic to start games but falls apart after a few innings.  This in part led to speculation that McDonald could slide to the bullpen in favor of Ramon Troncoso, but for now, McDonald remains in the rotation.

This would seem to imply that the Dodgers could sign Pedro Martinez, but

Ned Colletti thinks the price is too high.

San Diego (10-8, 2nd, L2)

Last Week: 0-2 at Giants, 1-2 vs Pirates.  Monday's game at the Phillies was postponed due to weather.

This Week: 3 game series at Rockies, 4 game series at Dodgers.  The fall for grace is likely to complete this week after road series at the win-starved Rockies and division leading Dodgers, who are undefeated at Dodgers Stadium.

News: Everth Cabrera was hit by a pitch and broke a bone in his hand eight days ago.  Cabrera will miss two months, so the Padres shook the foundations of the NL West by reacquiring Chris Burke.

Having three starting pitchers on the disabled list might make some GMs panic into acquiring a pitcher, but Kevin Towers will stick with internal options.  Recently acquired Chad Gaudin will be brought up today, and he is a candidate to fill Thursday's opening in the rotation.

San Francisco (8-9, 3rd, L1)

Last Week: 2-0 vs Padres, 2-1 vs Diamondbacks. The Giants are the NL West's hottest team, having won five of six.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Dodgers, 3 game home series vs Rockies.  The Giants are in a good place, having allowed the third least runs in MLB, surprisingly behind Kansas City and Pittsburgh.  Another good week in the division will go a long way in rebounding from their 2-7 start.

News:   Chris Haft points out that the limit on walks have helped the pitching staff excel so far.  He also features Fred Lewis as a potential All-Star.  He has had a nice season, but seriously, don't pull out the comparison to Barry Bonds.  That's just foolish.

Fred Lewis

#14 / Left Field / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-2

Weight: 200

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Dec 09, 1980

There's a nice article about former Rockie Jeremy Affleldt being the first pro athlete to join Not For Sale, a foundation created to combat human trafficking.