Rockies' Jorge De La Rosa moved out of starting rotation | Denver Post
News came out yesterday that the Rockies have moved Jorge De La Rosa to the bullpen. Left-handed starter Chris Rusin will take his place in the rotation. Rockies general manager described the move with an air of emotional detachment. It was not a tough decision to move the veteran starter to the bullpen; it was an easy one because De La Rosa has been bad: "It's now two months of struggle," Bridich told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, "whether it's been up here or. . . down in the minors for rehabilitation." He continued: De La Rosa has "had one good game, right? One good game that you could say is representative of what we know about Jorge De La Rosa . . . That's just not good enough right now."
Perhaps most significantly, Bridich framed the move as an effort to help the Rockies win. He simply believes that De La Rosa can best do that as a reliever. I'm not convinced that the transition will be smooth for De La Rosa. He's earned the reputation as a pitcher who does not always manage his emotions on the mound. Sometimes, he channels frustration to fuel success. This is evident when he is visibly angry at himself for missing his spot on a pitch, only to follow that up with crisp fastballs that hit their mark. At other times, however, his frustration derails him. Being a reliever demands different mental preparation. Namely, it requires flexibility and the ability to prepare to enter a game at a moment's notice. He could very well make this transition smoothly, but it might take some time.
Rockies Carlos Gonzalez goes 3-for-4 in loss | MLB.com
Carlos González notched two hits against knuckleballer Steven Wright yesterday. It was the first time the Rockies faced a knuckler since 2012. CarGo has been in a slump lately, but perhaps getting singles off of a difficult pitch to handle might lead to a more relaxed and focused approach at the plate.
Nolan Arenado continues to show why he should be the NL MVP | Mile High Sports
It's not clear whether the title here refers to this or last year. Regardless, one of the most remarkable things that Arenado has done this year is significantly boost his walk rate. Through yesterday's game, he's walked in 9.7 percent of his plate appearances. This has helped pushed his on base percentage up to .364, which is about 40 points higher than it was last year. It's still far behind the .460 OBP Bryce Harper posted in 2015. While Arenado has slowed down as of late, it is clear that he is, at the very least, one of the five best position players in the National League. He's well on his way to get MVP votes, especially if the Rockies can continue to hover around .500 and stay within a reasonable distance of a Wild Card spot.
Baseball Prospectus | Baseball Therapy: Framing the At-Bat
This is one of two excellent pieces about Tony Wolters to come out of national publications recently. Inspired by a question Richard Bergstrom of Rockies Zingers posed, Russell Carleton examined the potential influence a good framing catcher like Wolters might have on a pitching staff. In particular, Carleton considers how many pitches and innings a good framer might save a team by securing extra strikes. He found that a good framing catcher can reduce the number of pitches a pitcher has to throw, which can have an effect on bullpen usage. Limiting these extra pitches is particularly important if they are a product of starting a plate appearance 0-1 instead of 1-0.
Steady hands: Colorado Rockies' Tony Wolters a whiz at pitch-framing - SweetSpot- ESPN
Mark Simon goes into even greater depth about Wolters's framing, as well as the Rockies' staff members instrumental in keeping tabs on Wolters and bringing him in when they had the chance. A lot of the reports on Wolters focus on his infielder experience, and this article does that as well. His "soft hands," everyone from Walt Weiss to Mark Simon indicate, contribute to his excellent framing ability. And that framing ability is truly excellent. Simon shows that Wolters is the best in baseball "at getting strikes on pitches that are not usually strikes -- pitches that have a 0-to-25 percent chance of being called a strike." Simon also covers the other aspects of Wolters's game that make him such a good catcher: he is calm, understands the pitching process, and understands his pitchers. As Tyler Chatwood told Simon: "He never panics. He always makes the [ball] seem like close to where you wanted to throw it. That's huge for a pitcher's confidence."
Nick Hundley remains on the disabled list. He might be inserted back into the every day starter's role when he returns. But if he does, he'll be doing so as the second-best catcher on the team.