Thursday Rockpile: Did Godot arrive yesterday?

If the Rockies recent history is any guide, and sometimes it can be, we might not see the worst of this season for another week or two, yet pulling out a come from behind victory to beat one of the best pitchers in the league has at least a few commentators (Dave Krieger for one) and the Rockies manager himself wondering if the turning point came a bit early this year. I doubt any of us Rockies fans would have any problem were that the case. While we're waiting around for a few games trying to figure out if this was indeed a turning point or not, it could be a good opportunity to take a look around at the lay of the land.

Last year at this point, the Rockies were 7.5 games behind the Dodgers at 13-18 overall. Then, as now, the team had outscored the opposition en route to that record. In 2007, the Rockies were also five games under .500 on the 12th of May, but at that point, our record was more reflective of the way the team's run production vs their run prevention had stacked up, as the Rockies had been outscored by the opposition. The year in between, the 2008 season in which we seemed too far out of the competitive loop to dream of a comeback, the Rockies were already 8 games under .500 and 8 games behind the division leader.

It's sort of sad to realize it, but 2010 is the Rockies best start since 2006, when the team was 20-16 at this point and tied with the Padres in first place. That 2006 team should be a cautionary tale about not taking certain teams that are unexpectedly doing well too seriously just yet.

Speaking of which, San Diego's hot start this season has done the Rockies and Dodgers one huge favor, their 5-0 record against the Giants so far has kept San Francisco from running out to a huge early lead in the division. Over the full schedule, the Giants probably can't withstand a charge from LA or Colorado, but with their pitching, a large enough early division headstart might have changed that equation. We said all winter that the Padres biggest role in the NL West this season would be as spoilers for one of the other teams, so far it seems that the Giants are at the short end of that stick.

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The Rockies are skipping Jason Hammel's start to keep Eric Young on the roster. EDIT: Other sources indicate that the Rockies are instead putting Melvin Mora on the 15 day DL and activating Hammel.