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The Rockies offense has shown some signs of revival this past week, but there's still a lingering question of how lasting this uptick will be when the team returns to the road again. At any rate, for now Dexter Fowler and Jordan Pacheco have put footholds on positions that remain somewhat tenuous should they struggle outside Denver again. Chris Nelson has been sent to the DL to rest an injured wrist and might not return to the majors right away if the combination of Pacheco and Eric Young Jr. prove valuable enough.
Jamie Moyer's very presence on the roster seems to be a sticking point for many fans who want to see the Rockies go full on with a youth movement, but as yesterday's start showed, he's not going to give up that slot without a fight. The continued competition should still push the Rockies young pitching to actually prove valuable to the team before sticking on the roster. Christian Friedrich seems to be getting that point, I'm hoping other young pitchers of the team follow suit soon.
Patrick Saunders answers Rockies fan questions in a mailbag, and it seems we'd be mostly in agreement on the three major issues brought up in this go round,
1. The struggles of the team in 2012 are mostly attributable to poor, past decisions by the front office coming back to haunt the Rockies. At least where there is blame to be had you can point it there, as there will always be an element of chance in the standings, especially this early. That said, the attached fan confidence poll suggests the Rockies PR department would be well advised not to have a torch and pitchfork giveaway promotion anytime soon.
2. Pomeranz' loss of FB velocity isn't as big a deal for the pitcher's future as many fans seem to think, as his scouting value isn't as closely tied to it as other pitchers (his FB is rated plus because of movement, not velo,) but it is a big deal for the 2012 Rockies team. I mentioned in February that for him to be a major success at a young age, he'd likely need the heat. Without it, he's going to have to learn a bit more how to pitch. Now where the velocity drop would be a large concern would be if it hasn't bottomed out yet. At 90-ish m.p.h. he could still develop into an ace with his other stuff, it's just going to take longer.
3. The question about the double plays I feel is largely unimportant and tied to not having Aaron Cook or a healthy Jhoulys Chacin, and 4. the question about Tulo's slow starts, while an issue, is answered about as well as I could by Saunders.