This place is going to be a madhouse as we follow two games at once. Ubaldo Jimenez, Greg Smith, Matt Daley, Matt Reynolds and the king of ragball himself, Matt Belisle, are expected to get work in Tempe, while Jeff Francis, Esmil Rogers, Chaz Roe, Justin Speier and Jimmy Gobble go up against the Giants in Scottsdale.
I'm not expecting much from Francis today, in fact, I'm sort of expecting him to get hit pretty hard as he works the kinks out of his delivery after missing a year. Much as I'd like to beat the Giants, I'm just not sure it's going to happen, especially at half strength, and of course, it doesn't really matter either way. The same's true in Tempe as Jimenez faces the Angels. Getting the win's not nearly as important as getting a read on where the pitchers are at in their preparation for the season.
The Rockies AAA pitching depth also comes into prominence today, Smith and Rogers are two important sixth starter options, with Roe an intriguing wild card in that category, while Reynolds, Speier and Gobble could all potentially appear out of the Rockies bullpen at some point this year. Reynolds in particular merits watching as a potential Randy Flores replacement, or he could take Franklin Morales' projected role should the latter have to take over closing or set-up duties for Huston Street or Rafael Betancourt early in the season if either of the two start April on the DL.