The NL West's wild park factor – Sports on Earth
The NL West is home to a variety of different parks that have an effect on the game being played. Three of the teams in the division are located in California. The home parks for the Giants, Padres, and Dodgers are all known for their limited offensive output and usually require a bigger focus on small ball and pitching. This is the exact opposite for the other two teams, the Rockies and Diamondbacks, where a game might be mistaken for a home run derby. There are some interesting notes from this article. AJ Pollock from the Diamondbacks explains that when he plays in Colorado he keeps an eye on fly balls during batting practice to see how they’re travelling in the thin air. Ian Kennedy from the Padres also says that when he pitches in Colorado he aims a bit lower, as the ball doesn’t break as sharply as it does in San Diego.
Rockies Rotation: Rocky & De La Rosa – Fangraphs
I felt this was a good article to link a day after Ryan Freemyer wrote a great in-depth article about Jorge De La Rosa’s success at Coors Field. This article focuses on the Rockies pitchers fantasy value. De La Rosa’s numbers won’t blow you away, but the fact that he has been able to sustain such a solid track record at Coors Field is ground breaking for Rockies pitchers. Richard Baumann also touches on other current Rockies major league pitchers. Besides De La Rosa, the only other pitcher he sees a positive future for is Tyler Matzek, and expects the Rockies farm to eventually fill the other three spots.
Ranking every division in sports – Sports on Earth
Will Leitch ranks every division in major sports, and the NL West is in the middle of the pack, ranking 14 out of the 24 divisions. If the Padres big offseason acquisitions come through, this division will likely need to be ranked higher as it will make them competitive to win the division along with San Francisco and Los Angeles. If the Padres fail to contend, the division will likely fall a few ranks as the competition will be back between just the two teams.
Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort is becoming a restaurateur – Bizjournals.com
Rockies’ owner Dick Monfort is now apparently a part of an investment group who is acquiring Romano’s Macaroni Grill. Two veterans of the restaurant industry partnered up with Monfort to create a new company, Redrock Partners LLC to buy the restaurant chain. Not the most exciting link, but just remember, TWENTY ONE DAYS TILL REAL ROCKIES BASEBALL!