In a Sunday article from Jim Armstrong, the contributions of Ty Wigginton are brought into question a bit. The article is a pretty honest look at Wigginton's "versatility" and basically makes the comparison to Clint Barmes: the Rockies are willing to trade defense for offense this season as far as Wigginton goes. His positional versatility basically means that he's going to be facing the right direction when he plays an unfamiliar position.

It should be noted that Wigginton recognizes the amount of work he has ahead of him. He plans on attempting to keep it simple, just do his best to get to the balls he can and not overcomplicate things. Armstrong responds to the challenge from the constant positional jumping: "Please. It's what he does."

On the upside, when playing 3B, he'll have Troy Tulowitzki to pick up some slack (which will probably give Tulo some flashbacks to 2007) and in RF, Dexter Fowler might have to man a bit more of that gap than he'd originally hoped. Shouldn't be anything new though, given the time he roamed CF with Brad Hawpe in RF.

Maybe.

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The Strand Rate: Currently, 91.7% of baserunners allowed by Ubaldo Jimenez are left on the basepaths.

A point you'll see brought up by somebody in any conversation on the Internet about Jimenez is the "ridiculous" or "extremely lucky" strand rate, that is to say the amount of runners he leaves on base (it's listed under LOB% at most sites, including FanGraphs). The theory behind these statements is that strand rates are completely out of a pitcher's control and while they'll fluctuate around the league average (right around 72%) they'll try to find their way back to that home.

For this statement to be completely true, we would expect the league leaders in LOB% in any given year to be a random mix of pitchers, with a few elite guys and a few bottom of the rotation surprises popping in to your standard mix of #3's and #4's. The problem is that the leaderboards are almost all elites or very good pitchers, with a few J.A. Happ types popping in to mix it up a little.

2009:

1. J.A. Happ 85.6%
2. Matt Cain 81.6%
3. Adam Wainwright 80.4%
4. Chris Carpenter 79.5%

2008:

1. Johan Santana 82.6%
2. Jake Peavy 82.2%
3. Daisuke Matsuzaka 80.6%
4. John Lackey 80.2%

2007: 

1. Cole Hamels 78.7%
2. Johan Santana 78.3%
3. Jake Peavy 78.3%
4. Erik Bedard 77.7%

Others of note:

• 2000 Pedro Martinez 86.6%
• 1997 Randy Johnson 84.5% (2002 83.0%)
• 1995 Greg Maddux 82.2% (1994 78.8%)
• 1985 Dwight Gooden 86.9%

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Alright, it's a really slow period of the off season and before I get into a piece about how thoroughly amazing Carlos Gonzalez, Ian Stewart and Troy Tulowitzki are going to be for the Rockies in 2010, I thought I'd start by dipping my toes into a touchier subject: Juan Rincon.

Why Rincon? Well, you can see why by doing a search of the site here using the word "Rincon". The guy just doesn't get any affection at all from Rockies fans, and I think that is somewhat of an injustice. A minor one, sure, but still, the guy simply isn't as bad for the team as many of you are under the impression of and this post will hopefully help you figure that out. Now you might think I'm biting off more than I can chew by defending a pitcher with a 7.52 ERA for the Rockies, but hear me out.

Let me start with the main impetus of this post, well, besides the fact that you guys just don't seem to appreciate him, which would be this.

That's right, Rincon was the only significant Rockies reliever to not allow any of his inherited runners to score, and not only that, he led the National League by having the most inherited runners without allowing any to touch home plate (fair disclosure: as a Tiger early in the season, Rincon did allow his one inherited runner to score, but that doesn't count in the NL stats). Let me just reiterate, when it came to helping out his fellow Rockies pitchers not get their ERA inflated by having those 19 runners they were responsible for letting get on base score, Rincon was perfect. 

The combined run expectancies for the situations Rincon came in for the Rockies with runners on base was about 7.3 runs. This is what they could expect had they gone to any Joe Average NL reliever instead of the guy that was money in the bank when it came to watching their backs. That's seven plus runs that could have gone on somebody's permanent record, but didn't and that's all thanks to Juan Rincon. 

Now, as a low leverage reliever, Rincon was no saint, and he left his share of baserunners as well. In fact, he left messes adding up to 7.86 expected runs with just 14 baserunners. This is where I think  a lot of the ire from Rockies fans comes in. Seeing him hand the ball over to Jim Tracy with the bases loaded and nobody out isn't the best way to make an impression on fans. Here's the thing though, while Rincon would come into messy situations and help his fellow pitchers out, other Rockies bullpen pitchers apparently didn't feel much inclined to assist Rincon. Opponents didn't just score the expected eight runs off the Rockies in those situations, instead 11 of the 14 baserunners that Rincon had left ended up crossing home plate. Countryman Franklin Morales was especially unkind, twice coming in after Rincon left the bases loaded and twice allowing all three runners to score (note to Tracy: Morales and bases loaded situations = very bad). 

Compared to the average NL pitcher, Rincon saved other Rockies pitchers around seven runs. He got screwed over by them for just over three. If you were somehow able to take that combined 10 from his 22 total allowed, his ERA would be 4.10; not too shabby for a middle guy. But no, Rincon's the schmuck that takes the fall for everybody else while saving their tails at the same time. 

Despite being signed to a minor league contract with a NRI, I think as long as he's healthy and as decent as he has been for most of his career, I believe it's somewhat inevitable that Juan Rincon sees time in a Rockies uniform in 2010. My hope is that we don't get quite so many groans and FanPosts lamenting the coming apocalypse, but instead can be a little more level-headed. One more Rincon fact to consider before I get off the high horse:

In 2009, the ERA's of 24 of the top 25 pitchers (20 IP or more) when it came to batting average against ranged from Mike Adams' 0.73 to Edinson Volquez's 4.35. In general, when pitchers don't allow a lot of hits, they don't allow a lot of runs. You probably already know who the exception was. The two ways to take that are 1) Rincon's ERA in 2009 probably should have been a lot lower, or 2) his BAA in 2010 will probably be a lot higher. One's very true, two's probably at least somewhat true also, though. I'm not going into 2010 with a lot of expectations for Rincon other than to say that he's a solid add to our bullpen depth, and not the pariah that many make him out to be.

via graphics8.nytimes.com

Jabberwocky:

According to 9 News, there will be no postseason baseball in Colorado today. Game 3 will instead be played tomorrow night at 8:07 MDT with Game 4 happening at a time TBA on Monday.

Official MLB Press Release

Tickets to tonight's game will be accepted tomorrow and game 4 tickets will be good on Monday. If it is necessary, game 5 will still be played in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Looking outside my window and seeing a blanket of snow covering the ground, I'm not surprised in the least.

This is bad news in my opinion for the Rockies, who instead of an ineffective Pedro Martinez might now face lefty J.A. Happ in game 3 and game 1 winner Cliff Lee in game 4 at Coors.

/Jabberwocky 

Sad puma:

via ugliesttattoos.com

A fresh thread filled with Rockies goodness. Some links too:

The Phllies are entertaining, anyway. On Thursday, the only Philadelphian we knew for sure was ready to deliver was Heidi Hamels.

Mike Lopresti from the next link down

Phillies head to Colorado with pitching in doubt for Game 3 - USATODAY.com

Related:

Bob Ford: Manuel's move could be costly | Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/08/2009

***********************

America not tuned in for Rockies-Phillies game 1 - Philadelphia Business Journal:

The Rockies/Phils may have been a ratings clunker for TBS, but we got a press release from FSN Rocky Mountain that says they're trending up and broke some viewership records during the regular season:

The success and popularity of the Colorado Rockies in 2009 translated into record viewership on the team's exclusive regional television partner, FSN Rocky Mountain. The cable sports network recorded strong ratings throughout the season, posting the all-time highest season average rating with a 4.2 (151 games), and the highest-rated Rockies single-game telecast (10.1) this past Saturday night when the West Division title was on the line for the Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ratings for 151 Rockies game telecasts in 2009 were 27 percent higher than the average for 126 games on the network in 2008. The next highest-rated season on FSN Rocky Mountain was a 3.9 average during both the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

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Oh Man. We're less than 16 hours away from the NLDS. Oh Man.

And because we haven't inundated the front page with enough articles yet, I have yet another one for you.

I exchanged questions with Peter Baker (WholeCamels) of The Good Phight, SBNation's Phillies blog.

Let's listen!

1. Who has been the biggest surprise for you on a team that's been relatively stable in terms of personnel for the past few years?

Probably Jimmy Rollins.  Even though he had a much better second half (.642 OPS pre-ASB; .801 OPS post-ASB), he was shockingly, eye-wateringly awful for the first three months of the season.  We're fortunate that the lineup is so deep and powerful, and that Raul Ibanez spent the first two months of the year hitting like Albert Pujols, otherwise the team would have really struggled to score runs with Rollins struggling.

2. Madson or Lidge?

Madson.  Look, he's not a dead-solid lock the way Brad Lidge was last year, but with Ryan Madson, you can reasonably hope for a clean inning.  With Lidge, all season, it's been nearly hopeless.  He isn't perfect, but Madson is the best we've got.

3. What name, event, or concept do you anticipate being the most sick of hearing about come the end of this series?

"In this park, NO lead is safe!" -- apply liberally to Coors Field and Citizens Bank Park.  I'm sick of opposing announcers giving the impression that CBP is somehow not legitimate.  Well, guess what, two straight NL champs, two hitters' parks.  Shove that up your Turner Field.  Particularly frustrating because both the Phillies and the Rockies are solid pitching clubs.

4.  Which Phillies player needs to step up for them to defeat the Rockies?

Cliff Lee.  Something in between the Unhittable Pitching Robot of his first five Phillies starts, and the Hittable Pitching Machine of most of his recent outings, ought to get the job done.  Lee is on track to start two games in the Series.  If the Phillies can win those starts, they probably win the Series.

5.  Which Rockies player worries you the most in a short series?

Todd Helton, a Phillie-destroying beast.  1.143 career OPS vs. Philadelphia in 335 plate appearances, so we have an appreciable sample.  The only saving grace here for the Phillies is a pronounced platoon split (.986/.741) in 2009, but all it takes is one grooved fastball from some righty jerk in the bullpen to make it all for naught.

6.  Series outcome prediction.

Phillies in 4.  Phillies claim the first two in Philadelphia, then win Game Four behind lefty J.A. Happ.

Wow! What an interview! Thanks for your time, Peter, and here's to absolutely embarrassing your purchased ace Cliff Lee, and here's to hoping that he singlehandedly extinguishes the whole "WELL HE'S GOING TO THE NATIONAL LEAGUE THAT MEANS HE'LL BE BETTER" myth!

Because really, isn't that the more important thing? The furthering of NL awesomeness? 

WHO IS GOING TO WIN: 

The Rockies

WHO IS GOING TO PLAY WELL: 

Jimmy Rollins

GUY WHO WILL BE SURPRISINGLY DISAPPOINTING:

Jayson Werth

ADVICE FROM MY MOTHER:

Wear a sweater

COME ON, THIS PREVIEW'S WORTHLESS SO FAR, TELL ME HOW MANY GAMES THE ROCKIES WILL WIN IN, MY LIFE SAVINGS IS RIDING ON THIS THING:

FOUR (BUT REALLY, GO GET SOME HELP, MAN)

I'M A &*$^ING PHILLIES FAN, WHY THE $&#* DO YOU SAY THAT JAYSON "AWESOME *^$#@ING" WERTH WILL SUCK? HE'S %^!@ING AWESOME!!!:

READ AND LEARN

THERE'S NO SWEARING ON THIS BLOG?:

Yes, and not because we don't like swearing, it's just to exclude you (and ELGee and Lawrence Davis) and tick you guys off while we do it. We just don't like you.

HOW COME THAT PHILLIES FAN USED A FIVE LETTER SWEAR IN DESCRIBING JAYSON WERTH THE FIRST TIME? I'M UNFAMILIAR WITH THAT, WHAT DID HE REALLY SAY?:

Seriously, do you really want to delve deeply into the deranged minds of Philadelphia fans? This is road that cannot end well, my friend, think about it like a David Lynch film only with more cream cheese.

IS THERE MORE AFTER THE JUMP?:

Yes

IS IT AT LEAST MILDLY MORE ENTERTAINING/INFORMATIVE THAN WHAT'S BEFORE THE JUMP, BECAUSE THIS IS PRETTY SKETCHY SO FAR AND I REALLY WANT TO KNOW IF IT'S WORTH MY TIME TO CLICK THROUGH AND READ THE REST:

Ouch, good question. I can't promise you anything.

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