Friday’s First Pitch

Leading Off

The biggest news out of Rockiesland yesterday was the acquisition of second baseman Mark Ellis from the Oakland Athletics, along with cash considerations, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Bruce Billings and a player to be named later. This move speaks to the front office’s efforts to bolster the team’s offensive production from the infield and their belief that the Rockies can still contend this season. Read the official press release here and the reaction from our friends at Call to the Pen here.

The Good

Yesterday Aaron Cook didn’t look too shabby. He got a lot of ground ball outs and held the White Sox offense to one run over 6 innings. It was encouraging to see him putting his veteran status to good use as he kept the game under control. Not much good can be said about the offense, but Troy Tulowitzki had an absolutely stellar at-bat in the 1st inning, working Jake Peavy for 12 pitches until he got a fastball he liked and crushed it to center field. Better yet, there were two men on base when it happened.

The Bad

Despite Cook’s strong-ish start, he showed some command issues, particularly in the 2nd inning. He issued 3 walks, hit a batter, and threw a wild pitch. The fact that all of this resulted in only one run is pretty much a miracle. The run scored on the wild pitch, which was actually a lucky break for Cook, because otherwise it would have scored once he issued a bases-loaded walk to Peavy. Cringe. The bullpen certainly wasn’t any better. Rafael Betancourt gave up a solo home run and Matt Lindstrom and Clay Mortensen each allowed a pair of runs. This took the Rockies from a 3-run lead to a 2-run loss.

The Ugly

The offense loaded the bases on 3 different occasions and failed to produce a run. That’s unacceptable. Also, Jim Tracy showed shades of his May self in overmanaging the bullpen. Matt Belisle got ONE PITCH. He made an out on that pitch and then was replaced by Lindstrom in the next inning. We can only guess how different things would have been if Belisle had been left in. But my guess is, very different.

On Deck

Daily Matchup coming soon.