Monday Rockpile: It's Opening Day!

Despite the snow falling outside my window this morning suggesting otherwise, this especially long winter is over and baseball is only hours away from returning in earnest. The first pitch of the Rockies' game today will be thrown just after 5 p.m. MT.

If you're new here, please read the "Welcome to Purple Row" post Jeff made over the weekend. It will really help you utilize the site more efficiently and get the most out of our Rockies coverage.

Nolan Arenado showed everyone what he could do on defense last season, but this year, he wants to have a positive impact on the club in all aspects of the game. If he hits his ceiling, the Rockies may have the best left side of the infield in baseball.

As reported last night, Tyler Chatwood is likely to start the season on the disabled list leaving two of the Rockies big four pitchers who they need to stay healthy on the shelf before the season even breaks from the starting gate. The only reason why it's not panic button time is because neither this, nor the Jhoulys Chacin injury looks to be a particularly long stay on the DL, and if all goes well, the Rockies could have their desired rotation of Chacin, Jorge De La Rosa, Tyler Chatwood, Brett Anderson, and Juan Nicasio but the end of April.

Chatwood has not officially been put on the DL yet, but if it happens, you can be sure it will be reflected here at rockiesroster.com. If you're not familiar with Rockies Roster run by our own Greg Stanwood, it's the place to go to track all the roster moves, and it's going to be especially important this season as the Rockies depth really does extend beyond 25 players. Also, I can guarantee you it will stay more accurate and up to date than any other site involving this team's roster. If you haven't already, bookmark it now. This department will be busy this season.

The news is not new, but here's a bit more detail involving Ryan Spilborghs taking over Tracy Ringolsby's role in the ROOT Sports coverage.

We'll have significantly more coverage of the Rockies farm system here at Purple Row throughout the season, but here's a quick-hitting top ten list from Patrick Saunders.

If you missed last night's domestic opener between the Dodgers and Padres, well, shame on you. It was a sight to behold! Brain Wilson entered the game in the eighth inning with the Dodgers leading 1-0 and single-handedly lost it for LA. After a long cold winter, I was just happy to be watching any baseball at all, but that's about as good as it gets early in the season.

Once the games get underway today, they will be going for a solid 12 hours. Here's the complete schedule. Also, Grant Brisbee tells you which ones to watch.

New Rockies hitting coach Blake Doyle hopes to make an impact this season. Ideally, this new voice will really ring true with our young hitters.

This piece form Thomas Harding is from Friday, but it's a good note on how Opening Day starter Jorge De La Rosa needs to channel his emotions into a positive and not let bad innings spiral out of control. He's made tremendous improvements in this area during his time with the Rockies, but he still feels there's another level he can reach.

Speaking of opening say starters, this is a fun link from baseball reference where you can find all sorts of interesting stats on Colorado Opening Day starters from all positions. I'll highlight a few that I think are interesting.

Jorge De La Rosa is the 16th different pitcher to start for the Rockies on Opening Day in just 22 seasons, and no pitcher has started on Opening Day for the Rockies more than twice.

However, that's not even the position that's seen the most turbulence over the years. When DJ LeMahieu takes the field tonight, he will be the 17th different man to do so for the Rockies on Opening Day. In fact, the club has not seen someone start at second on back to back Opening Days since Mike Lansing did it in 2000. Compare this to first base which has only seen two men (Andres Galarraga and Todd Helton) ever take the position on Opening Day -- that, of course, will change tonight, but it's been one heck of a run.

Finally, Troy Tulowitzki will make his eighth consecutive Opening Day start at shortstop tonight for the Rockies and that will move him into second place alone in terms of most starts for the Rockies on Opening Day all time. (He had previously been tied with Larry Walker in this category) Tulo's got a long way to get to catch the man at the top of this list however, as Todd Helton made 16 Opening Day starts in purple pinstripes. If we're sitting here nine years from now and he breaks that records though, it probably means goods things have happened to this franchise, so it's something to root for.

Anyway, it's Opening Day!

Baseball is back baby!

Woot!!!