It seems strange to look at the standings as we approach the end of August. Many of us thought the Rockies would have been over .500 at this point and well on their way to capturing an NL West title or at least in the hunt for the Wild Card. Things didn't turn out that way. But it's not exactly a stretch to say the Rockies are still in it. Both the RMN and the Denver Post see some writing on the wall for it. Given the poor state of the NL West this season, hell, it's so tempting to say it will happen.
The NL West's worst, the Padres, have just taken the first two games of a three-game series against the division-leading D'Backs. They're 7-10 against the D'Backs this season. The Rockies are 2-10 with six games remaining. Let's take a look at the Rockies's records against their remaining opponents:
| Team (series left) |
Record |
| San Diego (2 series) |
6-6 |
| San Francisco (2 1/3 series) |
6-5 |
| Houston (1 series) |
2-1 |
| Atlanta (1 series) |
3-1 |
| Los Angeles (1 series) |
7-8 |
| Arizona (2 series) |
2-10 |
Not wildly encouraging, but the chance is there. Maybe Clint Hurdle has the solution on how to keep this going, which he gave in response to De La Rosa's outing. From the DP story:
"I just stopped watching at one point," manager Clint Hurdle admitted. "But it's a credit to him that he was able to get out it."
If he stops watching there's less of a chance that he'll do something.
Looks like the Rockies are trying to do something about their baserunning gaffes. From the RMN's Rockies Report:
Trenidad Hubbard, the Rockies' organizational baserunning and outfield instructor, is with the team in San Francisco, his first extended look at the major league club this season.
There's no time like the present to correct problems, but then there's also no time like the past in which to correct things so they don't happen in the present. If that makes any sense.
And so we wait in anticipation for Livan Hernandez's start tonight. Or we can place bets on whether Matt Holliday can reach 30-30 this season during the ensuing hours.