Todd Helton had another solid day at the plate yesterday, his third in a row after a somewhat slower start to March. Helton credits the Rockies move to Scottsdale with having a role in his better production thus far this Spring. Said Helton in the linked article to the Denver Post's Jim Armstrong:
"I'm excited to be out there. It feels good to move around and feel good doing it."
The other news for the Rockies isn't so fine on the injury front right now. As was first mentioned a couple of days ago, the team seems more likely to be starting the season with Ian Stewart held back while recovering from lingering knee soreness. Jordan Pacheco still appears to be getting the most attention as a potential replacement on the 25 man roster for Stewart, but as Greg Stanwood pointed out here yesterday, that move would also necessitate a move from the 40 man roster by another player ed- my mistake, carry on. Other candidates that wouldn't need 40 man roster moves include Eric Young, who will be seeing his first 2011 Spring Training game action for the Rockies sometime this weekend and Chris Nelson.
Aaron Cook seems to be drawing a lion's share of the bad injury luck this Spring, the starter broke his right ring finger in a car door after already being shut down with shoulder pain. There's not really any way to construe losing one of a team's five best starters for a month plus as an easy burden to handle, but the Rockies depth at starter does make it a bit easier for them than it would be for other teams. Esmil Rogers had a fairly effective outing on Thursday and is the front-runner to land the early fifth starter spot.
That last link also indicates that Jorge De La Rosa will skip tomorrow's scheduled start with lat soreness, supposedly not serious, but probably worth watching, as losing JDLR would represent a much bigger blow to the team's early season production.
Paul Swydan completed his interview with Tracy Ringolsby at FanGraphs, if you missed the link in the Rockpile the other day, you can find part one here.
Jason Hammel pitched well yesterday and continues to assert that he's primed for the best season of his career. Whether it proves true or not, I like that kind of confidence before the season.
In another sign of their confidence in Pacheco, the Rockies released catcher Chad Moeller.