Manager Jim Tracy puts Rockies on notice - The Denver Post
Closed Door Meetings. Putting the team on notice. Calling out slumping players. Before this past week, I can't blame Tracy for shutting the doors and giving the team hell. In fact, I hope it went exactly like this:
This clip cracks me up for any number of reasons. I'm envisioning which of the Rockies would be the guys taking part in the tirade dialogue. I feel like Spilly would be Neal McDonough's character (except he'd say "outfielder" instead of "pitcher") and then Rafael Betancourt would be the guy saying "you can be an [outfielder] and a jackass" and then Herrera piping in with "Si, it's very common." Wigginton would've stopped the sausage with his cleat and...well, I can't think of a veteran-journeyman guy who would talk back to Tracy like that. Meanwhile, Aaron Cook takes up smoking while sitting in the whirlpool.
I do kind of wonder how a Rockies closed door meeting would go. Would someone toss a table? Or is this basically Jim Tracy's way of saying "Look, we're not playing well, and some of your jobs are on the line. Fair warning" while making extended eye contact with Johnny Herrera and Eric Young Jr. I can't see Tracy really throwing a giant tantrum, he just doesn't seem like that kind of guy. But the doors were closed, so who knows? Maybe fits are thrown when the media isn't around.
Meanwhile, some orphan kid tells Luis Perdomo that he has an angel with him right now while waving his arms and Ian Stewart swings right through a screaming 87-mph fastball on the inner half to end the game.
So, irrelevant humor aside, it seems like this most recent episode of "All My Rockies" seems to have stirred things up in a good way, as the Rockies went ahead and beat the Padres and the Tigers in grand bat-awakening fashion. As disappointing as it was that Justin Verlander went ahead and made all of our expectations come through by being really, really good at baseball, taking 2 of 3 before heading on a road trip isn't a terribly shabby way to go.
So speaking of Road Trips to the American League, have you heard of this Jason Giambi guy? He was brought back again this season to be the primary LHB PH, what with Seth Smith being the starting RF, and boy howdy has his impact been felt:
As PH: .133/.263/.133, 8K, 3BB, 19PA.
Well, that can't mean much, right? SSS and all of that good stuff. He'll be playing full time as a DH, and he was great at that last y-
As DH: .226/.294/.387, 7K, 3BB, 34PA.
Oh.
It does stand to reason that as a starter, Giambi might be somewhat more effective than he has been in his PH appearances this season.
As 1B: .294/.400/.824, 7K, 4BB, 40PA.
My immediate thought on THAT line is that it's just hyper-inflated by that 3 homer game against Philadelphia. But his 2 most recent starts at 1B have yielded a 2-for-4 game with a BB and a 1-for-2 game with a HBP. Stupidly small sample, I know, but he has shown life at the plate in a starting role. Given that the Rockies are facing a homer-happy Fausto Carmona and a wild Mitch Talbot, Giambi could at least start out AL play with some relatively favorable matchups.
I'll be honest, I was hoping for at least 1 lefty so that we could toy around with alternate lineups that DIDN'T have Giambi as the DH for some reason - which would pretty much mean that Wigginton DHs and either Herrera or Nelson takes the 3B start for the sake of a non-Wigginton glove at the hot corner. But given the fact that the Rockies seem to be thriving again under consistent playing time (or are they getting consistent playing time because they're thriving?), I wouldn't be surprised to see anything but the same lineup 3 times against Cleveland - POSSIBLY sitting Iannetta and Helton for the 3rd game.
I still maintain that Giambi cracks me up too much to be cut loose, so let's hope he doesn't make us regret his roster spot anymore than we already do. You know, outside of that 3 homer game.