Arenado, CarGo headed to All-Star Game - Thomas Harding / MLB.com
Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez will both represent the Rockies at the All-Star Game next week. Arenado, who probably should be starting the game, makes the show for the second consecutive year, and Carlos Gonzalez receives the honor for the third time in his career.
For Arenado, it feels like he's on the front end of a run of many All-Star Games; he's still only 25 and the best third baseman in the National League by any legitimate measuring stick. That's the good news. The bad news is that it appears the Rockies are well on their way to wasting the prime of another great player, as they are 83 games under .500 since Arenado made his major league debut in late April of 2013. If things don't turn around fast, I have a hard time seeing Arenado wanting to stay here for his entire career.
Story could be an All-Star via Final Vote - Thomas Harding / MLB.com
It's possible the Rockies could add a third All-Star to the mix in Trevor Story. For the fifth time in the last seven years, a Rockie will be part of the vote for the final spot. (The others were Carlos Gonzalez in 2010, Todd Helton in 2011, Justin Morneau in 2014, and Troy Tulowitzki in 2015.) Story will battle for votes against Brandon Belt of the Giants, Ryan Braun of the Brewers, Starling Marte of the Pirates, and Jake Lamb of the D'backs.
"I don't know what else I can say to push for him -- the numbers speak for themselves," said Nolan Arenado when asked about Story's candidacy.
Unfortunately, the numbers do speak for themselves, and they say that Story has the lowest WAR of any of the five remaining candidates. In reality, Story's the third best shortstop in his own division, and the second best rookie. He's had an extremely solid rookie season, and deserves credit for calming the calamity surrounding the shortstop position this spring, but he's not quite having an All-Star season.
Editor's note: You should vote for Story anyway, because you're reading this so you're most likely a Rockies fan. Use #StoryTime in all of your tweets and/or text N5 to 89269.
The pitching staff got better yesterday as both Tyler Chatwood and Adam Ottavino returned to the mound. To make room for their presence, Eddie Butler was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque and Justin Miller was placed on the DL. I'd call that a pretty solid upgrade.
It also comes at an opportunistic time as the Rockies begin a stretch of games on Thursday where they play 11 of 14 at home, all against teams with losing records. It will likely mark the last run the Rockies make to get back close to .500 before they possibly drift away from that mark for good when they play 29 of 35 games against team who either currently occupy a playoff spot, or are within two games of one.
Brian Griese wants fans to see another side of Troy Tulowitzki - Patrick Saunders / Denver Post
After the Blue Jays visited Coors Field last week, former Broncos quarterback Brian Griese contacted Patrick Saunders and wanted to let him know that while in Denver, Troy Tulowitzki came to him and wrote a $50,000 check for Judi's House. For those unaware, Judi's House is a comforting house and counseling center for children who have lost a parent. It was a wonderful final gift to the Denver community by a great player, but more importantly, a great person.
As good as the last story makes me feel, this one just makes me angry. If you're a Mets fan and you went to Citi Field last night to cheer this guy, not only am I glad your team lost, but also you should ask yourself "why?"
What's perhaps most frustrating though is how Jose Reyes is being rewarded for years of despicable decisions. The trail of destruction this guy's left in his wake (both on and off the field) is really quite remarkable. Obviously what he did to his wife is worse than anything he could ever do on a baseball field, but his record on the diamond is pretty self centered as well.
In the final game of the 2011 season, he bunted for a base hit in his first at bat against a vulnerable defense and then removed himself from the game to ensure he would win the batting title. The act was cowardly and selfish as Reyes was more concerned about backing his way into the batting title (which is highly overrated anyway) than he was about letting Mets fans see him play one last time before he left for top dollar in free agency.
When asked about his decision to pull himself out of that game, Reyes said, "The fans have to understand what's going on. They have to feel happy if I win the batting title."
Isn't it funny that only now after Reyes has made his money and disgraced himself off the field that he wants to play in New York and receive love from the Mets fans he couldn't wait to stop playing in front of when it meant a personal gain for him statistically and monetarily.
This guy has been nothing but self centered, spending years putting his own self interests before his teammates and family members, and now he's playing where he wants, making the money he wants on a team that's competitive. That's disgusting! I hope he goes hitless for weeks and the Mets are forced to cut him.