I got that call wrong, didn't I? Where'd I miss, hmm, Helton breakout, check. Holliday not hitting much but hitting Eaton hard when he does, check. Brad Hawpe? Eh, not quite, but not far enough off to mess up the prediction.
Okay, I think I found something. How in the world was I supposed to know that Jeff Francis would pitch around and eventually intentionally walk Jesse Freaking Garcia?!!??!? The call to pitch that way to him was clearly made from the bench in that pivotal second inning and even if that wasn't the case, the bench did nothing to step in and say, "hey, don't intentionally walk Jesse Garcia". Not a single pitch came close before Francis just gave in and put him on intentionally with the fourth pitch to supposedly set up the double play for Adam Eaton. This is ludicrous. You don't do that. You try and get Jesse Garcia out, because that's what Jesse Garcia does best, get out. Francis is clearly getting messed up by the coaching staff, as he's never been this far off with his control before. The writing's on the wall friends, the Rockies will be the first team this year to make a change up front.
This was just one example. Aaron Miles is still leading off despite proving himself ineffective in the role. In fact, the lineup is littered with misplacements that wind up leaving runners stranded and our most effective hitters coming up in situations where they do the least damage. Clint Barmes is hitting great, but he's making baserunning errors that show a lack of coaching. I don't know what else to say, Hurdle himself recognizes that he should take some responsibility, yet he doesn't seem to follow through. From the Rocky Mountain News: