Torrealba and Marquis lead patient Rockies to win in Tracy's first game as Rockies manager
by Rox Girl on May 29, 2009 10:24 PM MDT
in Rockies Game Wraps
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PrintA twist of irony on the night that Clint Hurdle was fired: in their 3-0 win over the Padres, the Rockies drew seven walks, including two by Troy Tulowitzki, who Hurdle benched for impatience two weeks ago, a widely panned move that hastened Hurdle's departure. While the three runs the Rockies scored all got on base via the free pass, they all scored via the bat of Yorvit Torrealba. Torrealba came up with clutch two out single in the second inning to score Todd Helton for the Rockies first run, singled again in the fifth (he had two of the Rockies four hits) and then his sharp sixth inning grounder that was misplayed by Kevin Kouzmanoff for a two base error scored the Rockies last two runs.
Jason Marquis battled through traffic, allowing ten baserunners himself in eight innings: six hits and four walks. However, unlike many Rockies pitchers this season, Marquis found a way to get the third out each inning without letting things blow apart on him. It helped that his sinker was particularly effective with him generating 16 of 18 outs off contact via the groundball to go along with six strikeouts. Huston Street pitched the ninth for his eighth save. The Rockies improve to 19-28 on the season with the win.
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GO ROCKIES
With the Rockies winning and the Nuggets losing I think now is the appropriate time to post this:
“Basketball, hockey and track meets are action heaped upon action, climax upon climax, until the onlooker’s responses become deadened. Baseball is for the leisurely afternoons of summer and for the unchanging dreams.” ~Roger Kahn
Thank goodness for baseball being the only thing that matters for the next 4 months.
"We made too many wrong mistakes." ~Yogi Berra
"The ballplayer who loses his head, who can't keep his cool, is worse than no ballplayer at all." ~Lou Gehrig
JFK
Roger Kahn never rooted for a basketball team in the playoffs.
I can’t say I agree with him or you, man – the Nugs getting drilled tonight was a gut-punch, and I sure wish I could watch that team at least one more time.
Staying on the sunny side of Blake Street since 1993.
The Shawn Chacon Experience - Life as a Rockies fan, one day at a time: Because we're all still recovering from those nine blown saves.
by Franchise26 on May 29, 2009 10:34 PM MDT up reply actions
I'm not a fan of basketball
but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want the Nuggets to win. I want the Denver teams to do well (except the Broncos as I’m a KC fan) but now that it’s over we can focus on baseball (Rockies or not).
"We made too many wrong mistakes." ~Yogi Berra
"The ballplayer who loses his head, who can't keep his cool, is worse than no ballplayer at all." ~Lou Gehrig
JFK
you're missing the point
Matt Murton status: Freed
Garrett Atkins status: Not Traded
Clint Hurdle status: http://tinyurl.com/mo975h
by Andrew Martin on May 30, 2009 9:09 AM MDT up reply actions
19-38
Man, those last 10 losses under Hurdle just kind of flew by – I didn’t even notice them! ;)
"Admirably obsessive." - Uni Watch, March 24th, 2009
NA34 | HK | RMN
Nor I.
Things were far worse than I even knew!
"Don't tell me about the world. Not today. It's springtime and they're knocking baseballs around fields where the grass is damp and green in the morning and the kids are trying to hit the curve ball." -Pete Hamill
Fixed...
now only 13 GB in the West!
Eschew Obfuscation!
by Jeff Aberle on May 29, 2009 10:47 PM MDT up reply actions
All glory to the hypno-Tracy!
You will draw walks… and toughen up with runners on base… and find a way to win a baseball game… and render all your glory upon the hypno-toad… er, hypno-Tracy.
Staying on the sunny side of Blake Street since 1993.
The Shawn Chacon Experience - Life as a Rockies fan, one day at a time: Because we're all still recovering from those nine blown saves.
This is so weird, it's really freaking funny.
"Don't tell me about the world. Not today. It's springtime and they're knocking baseballs around fields where the grass is damp and green in the morning and the kids are trying to hit the curve ball." -Pete Hamill
As my dodger/laker fan friend said to me tonight
“The Nuggets getting smoked is the 2nd worst thing that happened to you today, far behind Jim Tracy becoming your manager.”
Changes
I don’t know that this will make any lasting impact, but the change does one thing – it allows the players to play more relaxed.
It’s simple – the players always felt like they were playing for their manager’s job, so they were always trying to make that one big play. All of them – with the exception of Tulowitzki, who was clearly on the outs with Hurdle – seem to love the guy. Now they know that they don’t have the threat of the manager being fired if they don’t execute, so they can play more relaxed. That could be good, or it could be bad, but it’s a definite by-product.
"Horton is win."
--Horvil Tiki
Did you see Tulo's interview about Hurdle?
He had nothing but good things to say, and there’s no reason for him to just pretend.
by Greg Stanwood on May 30, 2009 12:20 AM MDT up reply actions
Perhaps I didn't word that right
I heard the interview, and I don’t mean to insinuate that Tulo doesn’t like Hurdle. I have no idea. I just think that it’s quite obvious that they weren’t seeing eye to eye when it comes to baseball-related items. Obviously, it’s a shock to his system as a young player to have a managerial change in the middle of the season, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that he wasn’t fully on board with many of the decisions that Hurdle was making.
"Horton is win."
--Horvil Tiki
Agree w/ your 1st statement completely
in fact I saw a post from Redhawk saying many of the players seemed none to disappointed that Hurdle was gone and I don’t see that at all. I think the players really liked Hurdle, maybe too much and the reason for all the pressure they put on themselves as you stated so well above. They might go on a run, then again they might not, but even if they do I don’t think it proves they were happy to see Clint go, just happy to be playing w/ less pressure. The bottom line either way is, the players have to play better or this jolt from a new manager will be very short lived.
I also hope the Rox don’t lose sight of the fact that changes still need to be made. Trades need to be made to press on and give this team a chance to be good in 2010. Marquis was great last night, and that just increases his value, so we need to see what we might be able to get in return. We really need to be looking at hard throwing BP arms in return.
BTW, what about DLR pitching out of the pen when Morales is back and healthy. My bro-in-law pointed out how dominating he can be for a couple innings, and a hard throwing lefty, that could be a huge lift to the BP if he accepts the change.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.
Well now that
Brett Myers is done for the season (I’m pretty sure he’s going for surgery), the Phillies should be all the more desperate…
I don't agree with trading away all the good pieces.
That’s how we got to this point. We traded Holliday and let Fuentes go, assuming we’d be able to replace them from within. Granted, after some early struggles, Street has taken Fuentes’ place, but you’re talking about trading our good pieces for prospects.
I think this is a dilemma that all small market/developing teams face. If you’re a long way from being competitive, you need to move your good pieces for as many prospects as you can get, because one good player can’t deliver a playoff berth. However, at some point you have to stop trading everyone who is above replacement level, and try to put the puzzle pieces together.
The question would be whether Marquis is about to fall off, and isn’t really a good pitcher. In that case, it would be better to trade while his value is high, and an argument could definitely be made that he will soon be crap. But even if he’s just a solid #3, the Rockies will have a need for that. The chances that Francis will be back next year are slim, and a consistent veteran presence could really stabilize a rotation with Morales, DLR, and even Ubaldo. I don’t think we would benefit by trading Marquis for bullpen arms (that vary greatly from year to year) and then replacing him next year by a Glendon Rusch equivalent.
I think what it really comes down to
is if O’Dowd can hustle another team. Regardless of how good Marquis may pitch for us and how much we may need him next year as a solid #3, if we get a sweet offer for the guy we should take it…
I don't think we need to trade away all the good pieces
but we do need to make some trades to get this team over the top. No matter how much we all want to believe it, Holliday would not have made this team a winner. We have had a BP that has been way too inconsistent to win anything this year. Name 1 guy you completely trust out of the pen not named Street. I look at other teams that have pretty good BP’s and they have a lot of hard throwers that can get a strikeout. We don’t have many arms that are almost ready for the big leagues either, other than Weathers and Lindsay. We need to trade away some guys to bring back some arms to bolster the pen for next year.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.
Constantly trading our performers for prospects seems to be the wrong way to go about building a winner.
Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?
Author: Jim Bouton
by pedalpusher on May 30, 2009 10:37 AM MDT up reply actions
I agree that Holliday wouldn't have changed everything
but I think it is shortsighted to trade a solid starter for relievers, unless they have a proven track record for several years and can be dominant. But those guys are typically closers, and wouldn’t be available in trade for Marquis.
I think this is one area where spending on free agents can be productive. To get a good setup guy, you don’t have to pay like you would for a closer, #3 or above starter, or middle of the order hitter. But they can be just as valuable. Look at what the White Sox have done. Sure, everybody agrees that they overspent for Linebrink and Dotel, but you could have gotten similar guys last off season for a song. And when you consider how it can affect your whole team, I think it’s worth $4-5 million a year for a decent bullpen.
It seems that the Rockies’ philosophy is to hope that junk they pick up from other teams’ trash heaps, plus their own pitching prospects that aren’t good enough to start, will be enough for the bullpen. It is not a priority, and I think that is probably the biggest weakness of this year’s team (along with inconsistency on offense).
Of all our problems
closer and LF aren’t near the top of the list
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on May 30, 2009 10:33 AM MDT up reply actions
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