Greg Reynolds' MLB debut on Mother's Day tomorrow will set the club mark for the quickest ascent by a pitcher to the big league club from their draft date. It's a mark that figures to get broken later this summer by our 2007 first round pick, Casey Weathers, but it's a great accomplishment for Greg and I'm really excited about watching that game. If he's to win it, he'll have to do it without the bat of Matt Holliday aiding him, as Big Daddy is expected to get Mom's day off. Luckily, thanks to Aaron Cook's performance last night, the Rockies only need to scratch out a win in one of these next two games to get their first series win since the middle of April.

That last linked Troy Renck article also includes Clint Hurdle's insistence that Yorvit's the primero uno catcher on the squad. Torrealba's one for four night last night leaves him ranked #64 in offensive contribution out of the 71 catchers to play in the MLB this year in VORP. As I mentioned earlier this week, Chris Iannetta is the sixth best. What's more, as the four guys he left on base last night kind of indicate, Torrealba has been terrible in the clutch, being the worst on the team in win probability added. Iannetta has been the Rockies best when it comes to coming up with the big hit when we need it. I'm not saying, I'm just saying...

Anyway, with the Padres losing five straight, the Rockies can put serious hurt on their chances of being involved in another play-in game with us this year by winning these next two. Pushing them out of contention will also have some indirect benefits around the trade deadline by adding another seller to the pool. Let's show a killer instinct this weekend, guys. BTW, speaking of the Padres, before our series with them in April, I did a Q & A with Ducksnorts' Geoff Young that I completely spaced linking here in a busy week. Ducksnorts is one of two must-read Padres blogs along with Gaslamp Ball, and probably the best place to learn about our rival. Even though the Q and A was in April, the questions were on general themes so the answers still apply.

Dave Krieger explains why we saw Yorvit Torrealba pinch hit for Scott Podsednik:

Sometimes, National League managers seem to love the double switch so much it becomes an end in itself. With Taveras having run for Iannetta earlier in the inning - a center fielder for a catcher - it was just so symmetrical to hit Torrealba for Podsednik - a catcher for a center fielder - even though Podsednik was hitting 70 points higher than Torrealba.

So much for a symmetrical move working out. A little asymmetry is not going to kill anyone.

The Rockies signed Todd Ritchie to a minor league contract and sent him to extended spring training. He last pitched in the majors during the 2004 season for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It doesn't hurt to see what Ritchie can do, but really? Ritchie's had one good season and that was in the last century. He was a 15-game winner for the Pirates in 1999 with 3.49 ERA that season, his career low. Nice to see a guy attempt a comeback, but at 36 (37 in November) what can we expect out of him? Yes, I already know the responses to that question.

There's also a bit in the last link on Kip Wells, his surgery, and the surgery his daughter recently had.

If Todd Ritchie isn't the solution to the Rockies' pitching woes, maybe the Dragonslayer is? Or Julian Tavarez? Or Rich Harden? Or Joe Blanton? Or Kevin Millwood? The first two names are the most likely candidates to don Rockies uniforms as the club waits for Morales to show improvement, for Reynolds to be ready in a month, and for Hirsh to return from his injury. As O'Dowd says, he's looking for a guy to make a few starts between now and sometime in June. Morales makes his first Triple-A start Sunday in the meantime.

Spilly knew exactly what to say about his at-bat right after he made that phantom catch:

"That was probably my favorite at-bat I've had in my entire life," Spilborghs said.

Cecil Cooper's not getting laughs out of that, having been thrown out of the game during his argument with home plate umpire Rick Reed: "[...] I thought they all blew it. Simple."

Not lost in all of this is the great start Cook had and the effective relief from Fuentes and Corpas. Hopefully Cook's start rubbed off on U-Ball and we'll see something similar out of him today. We want to see the new youngster outduel the at-one-time new youngster for the Rockies in Shawn Chacon. It'll be a "more special start" since all of Colorado will be able to see him pitch against his home state team.

Also found in that last link, we find out that Hurdle wants Morales to work on his move to first base in order to correct his balk problem and that Clint Barmes really is a super utility player as he'd be the emergency catcher if Torrealba and Iannetta both went down in a game. Second, short, third, pitcher, catcher, and he could play the outfield in a pinch. He's a man for all seasons.

The Giants will look to help all-glove, no-bat starting shortstop Brian Bocock by purchasing the contract of the speedy all-glove, no-hit shortstop Emmanuel Burriss. He's certainly off to a better start this year than he was last year in the minors. Probably won't help all that much, and McCovey Chronicles slogan of "All Outs, All Season" will still be true.

In former Rockie players news, Josh Fogg has joined Jeremy Affeldt in the Cincinnati bullpen after Matt Belisle was named as the starter for Monday's game, one Fogg had been schedule to start.

Hey... I kind of remember this feeling. Last September/October, I think it was... although for some reason I kind of remember that these things are best when they last three weeks or so.

As Hunter Pence says, you have to give some credit to Franklin Morales for rebounding from a horrible first inning to squelch the 'Stros, but I think the difference last night was the production up the middle that's been missing. Six hits, including five doubles plus an HBP for the Tulo/Barmes/Ianneta trio qualifies as far and away the best game we've gotten offensively this season from those positions.

It says something when a team's bench players play so well, typically that something is "time to make a different bench." I think Hurdle's going to ride out Barmes' hot streak, and I think Iannetta is already starting to see more time (this was his third start this week) which probably should be expected with guys hitting over .400. For right now, I don't think it's a bad move as long as it's handled well with Nix and Yorvit.

At any rate, just like that we're second in the division and two games out of the Wild Card. Take that all you over-eager pundits that wrote us off too fast. The Rockies are still here.

Between the end of our brief World Series appearance last fall and today, everything that's been said about the moves made by the Rockies should have included a caveat, such as in theory or well, that's what I'm seeing, anyway tagged to the end. Jayson Nix' defense will make us say, "Kaz who?" in theory. Kip Wells will blow chunks. Well, that's what my numbers are seeing, anyway. It could be anything like that, but you get the drift. Before today, it's all speculation. Some of the speculation has more secure footing in data analysis and observation, some of it comes from a horse's backside. As of now, it doesn't really matter, the words are empty and the actions start counting.

While some NL West pundits outside the organization are at least a bit concerned about  us, many still have us on the outside of the division's top trio for 2008. Something of an anomaly that they aren't quite sure how to deal with, yet. That the numbers don't favor us right now, shouldn't be a concern. They didn't last season either, and we know how that worked out. Having the opposition's fanbase be cautiously skeptical beats the situation we were in last season when we were flat out ignored. The Rockies just need to go out now and show that they are the force to be reckoned with that we expect them to be.

I think what we have to pay attention to early this season are the following:

1.  Jason Hirsh's recovery needs to progress smoothly. Mark Redman and Franklin Morales are operating without a net right now, and whether that net becomes Hirsh being ready to come back or if it's Wells unexpectedly showing the command he needs to step up, we need some sign that indicates that our rotational depth is still there.
2.  Similarly, pay close attention to Greg Reynolds and Brandon Hynick in their minor league starts. We probably won't need them to be ready right away, but a progression to being ready by August will be crucial for the stretch run. It should be considered no coincidence that the three teams with the best records in the majors after August 1 last season, the Yankees (Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy) Indians (Aaron Laffey) and Rockies (Morales, Ubaldo Jimenez), had critical contributions from fresh from the farm rookie pitchers.
   
3.  The bottom of the lineup in crucial situations. This ventures into the realm of luck, it's not a skill or predictable at all, but let's face it, luck will have a lot to do with how the season plays out -particularly in a clustered division like ours- and if the breaks don't fall our way, we could be in trouble. If they do, more pressure will be put on our opponents. With that in mind, watch how Torrealba/Iannetta and Nix respond in close and late and RISP situations. If the bounces go our way early, we shouldn't need to pray for another run like last season late in the year.
   
4.  Stadium to stadium performance. I had a post this offseason about measuring team offense that actually surprised me with the normal distribution pattern that appeared in teams' stadium to stadium performances in a given season. One part of what this indicated to me was that early season road trips could be more informative of a team's overall strength than I would have guessed. The Rockies will get one chance to perform in St. Louis this year, taking advantage of it -or not- might be an important sign of what's to come for the team in 2008. Maybe Jeff Francis is right to be nervous. Anyway, I'll be measuring our series in St. Louis and the D-backs go in Cincinnati as important early season barometers of team strength.
   

I'll have more up today about the series and the game thread, obviously, but this should do for now.