Michael Cuddyer returns from 3rd DL stint of 2015, more

Cuddyer returns, hopes to keep hammy healthy | rockies.com
Michael Cuddyer homered in his first plate appearance since returning from the disabled list. Unfortunately, it came in what was just his 35th game of the season. As RIRF noted yesterday, that's not going to stop the Rockies from bringing him back and potentially doing so at too steep of a price. Walt Weiss' comments at the end of this article from Tim Healey seem to only add fuel to that fire.

Rockies catch a break on 2015 schedule with no long trips back east - The Denver Post
There's a silver lining in a schedule that again has the Rockies starting and finishing the season on the road, note Patrick Saunders and Nick Groke.

Baseball Prospectus | Moonshot: The Year In Zone Distance, and Next Year in Breakout Candidates
Robert Arthur has a list of potential breakout candidates for 2015 based on the idea of zone distance, which is this:

In brief, each hitter gets thrown his pitches at a certain distance from the center of the zone, which usually ranges from about 12 to 15 inches. As it turns out, this metric correlates very well with the slugging ability of the hitter, and changes in zone distance can be used to predict changes in a hitter’s slugging ability.

Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu is on Arthur's list, though he notes that Ike Davis likely has the best shot of breaking out.

Baseball Prospectus | Minor League Update: Games of Monday, September 8

Asheville's deadly triumvirate of Raimel Tapia, David Dahl and Ryan McMahon lit up Hagerstown in Game 1 of the SAL championship on Monday night. Jeff Moore recaps the stat lines and give a brief summary on each player.

Blogpile

Jorge De La Rosa and Brett Anderson were not traded this summer: Revisiting those decisions - Rox Pile
Hayden Kane revisits the Rockies deadline strategy and still pretty much has the same opinion most folks did: the team blew it by not shipping Brett Anderson while he was healthy. That decision was magnified when the Rockies extended Jorge De La Rosa in a move that will likely signal Anderson's exit from the organization if they can't get him to agree to a much more team-friendly deal.

Projecting Michael McKenry | Rockies Zingers Colorado Rockies Baseball
Ryan Hammon (formerly Gasstation1 here on Purple Row) believes the answer to the Rockies' catching dilemma is right in front of the team's face. Michael McKenry, while lacking in some areas defensively, has had an incredibly solid year at the plate. Hammon discussed that and more with Colorado's backup backstop over the weekend.

Rockies Review - A Colorado Rockies Blog: It is time for Major League Baseball to change their schedule
David Martin believes baseball is wasting its postseason by having it continue into November, which not only presents weather issues for northern cities, but also makes it overshadowed by football season. Martin proposes some changes MLB can make without reducing the number of games played but still being able to end the season a month or so earlier.