Renck: Road forks for two Rockies - The Denver Post
Troy Renck has some good stuff in his Sunday morning article. Seth Smith is at the top of his list of impressive performances so far this spring for the Rockies. Smith has been working hard to prove that he still deserves to be a starter despite falling flat on his face in the second half of last season. Meanwhile, Aaron Cook is pegged as Renck's biggest disappointment of the spring, even though it may not be entirely his fault and is probably more bad luck than anything (though I'm not real familiar with Cook's conditioning habits, so who knows). Cook hasn't thrown a pitch in a spring training game as of yet, and has probably already been replaced by Felipe Paulino in the rotation - though if Paulino experiences any struggles early in the season and Cook is ready by that point, I don't think Jim Tracy would hesitate to put him back in the rotation. Renck also has some bits on Dexter Fowler and Jordan Pacheco, as well as his pick for the best player he's seen so far this spring.
Renck has more news via Twitter this morning, as the Rockies' minor league pitchers and catchers have reported for their version of spring training, while the position players will arrive next weekend (though Russell Wilson is among a few that are already there). Also, Troy Tulowitzki will be back in the lineup today after missing a couple of games with a bruised heel.
What Rockies learned in first week of spring games | Inside the Colorado Rockies
ITR's Steve Foster chimes with with his observations after one week of spring games. Most of it probably classifies as an overreaction to hideously small sample sizes in meaningless games, but he's still spot on with a couple of things - one of which is that Jonathan Herrera has likely earned himself a spot on the team (if not the startling lineup) with his play. While he's obviously not going to hit over .500 for the entire spring, he has continued to show the ability to play within his skill set and not try to do too much - something that many Rockies players suffered from a year ago, as Dave Krieger explains in a separate article. Also, he is right in mentioning that injuries can put a damper on all of the good feelings that come with this time of year. The Rockies have certainly seen their fair share, though most of them have been minor. However, I'm on the side of "less time for preparation is never a good thing," so here's to hoping that guys like Ian Stewart can get back on the field ASAP.
John Heyman (SI) on Jason Giambi, via Twitter:
Jason giambi, 40, told me he's going to play as long as he can. Not exactly a 10 pm lights out guy. Amazing man.
Heyman also tweeted about how nice SRF@TS is. Look for a piece on the Rockies from Heyman later in the week...