As we come out of a tough series, we look ahead to two and a half weeks of interleague play. The Rockies remain the best NL performers in interleague play since 2006, but we have a tough schedule ahead. All four of our remaining AL opponents are over .500, with the Minnesota Twins perhaps signifying the most terrifying opponent for me. I am excited to get a good look at their new stadium, though. After returning from Minnesota next week, the Rockies will face their first of two home campaigns against the Brewers this season, followed up by the much anticipated series against the Red Sox, and wrapping up with the second trip to Anaheim in as many seasons to face the Angels.
First, however, come the Toronto Blue Jays. Though they're currently fourth in their division, their .557 winning percentage would give them a second place slot in any of the other divisions except our own NL West. Interleague play could represent another opportunity for a patterned franchise jumpstart, but our opposition won't make it easy. I'm just thankful we don't have to visit Toronto this year; the astro turf really messed with the players' heads when we last played the Blue Jays in Toronto in 2007.
There's not a lot of important Rockies news going on out there, so I'll just run down the basics.
MLB..com's Joey Nowak previews our interleague series against the Jays.
"Every club has their moments, and I believe ours is still coming." - Jim Tracy
Nowak also provides some team notes, including the news that Rockies head trainer Keith Dugger will join the NL All Star Team's staff this season. Injured closer Huston Street will be working tonight's game for the Sky Sox in Las Vegas, followed by another outing tomorrow. If Street can handle these final two work load assignments, we may at last be seeing Street as soon as the trip to Minnesota. We should not necessarily get our hopes up yet, though, as poor outings from Street may lead to an extended rehab assignment. Jorge de la Rosa and Taylor Buchholz both threw bullpen sessions yesterday, and were pain free.
That's about it at the time of writing. For more Rockies news, I encourage you all to head over to Rox Girl's 2010 Rockies Draft Signing Diary, if you haven't already.
No Earth-shattering minor league news from Baseball America today. For those who missed the updates on Libra, Omar Quintanilla has returned to AAA Colorado Springs. The Rockies also saw several more prospects go down with injuries this past week.
Since it's a slow evening/morning of news browsing, I went ahead an attached a poll.