Baseball Games Are Happening!!

It has been a long, long winter. But we’ve finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel, and today is the Rockies’ first official spring training game!

Yesterday, the club split in two for an intrasquad contest that was managed by Jason Giambi and Todd Helton. Giambi’s team, which included Jordan Pacheco and Charlie Blackmon, won the game 6-0. Brendan Harris was the offensive hero, collecting 3 hits and knocking in 3 runs. Jeremy Guthrie, Esmil Rogers, and Chad Bettis each pitched a pair of scoreless innings for Team Giambi.

That’s all well and good, but it’s high time we had some actual games played against actual other teams. And today’s the day. The Rockies are the home team at Salt River Fields with the Diamondbacks “visiting.” Drew Pomeranz will take the mound to start, and other available pitchers include Josh Outman, Rob Scahill, Matt Reynolds, Zach Putnam, and Dustin Molleken.

The Rockies starting lineup is as follows:

CF Dexter Fowler
2B Marco Scutaro
LF Carlos Gonzalez
SS Troy Tulowitzki
RF Michael Cuddyer
DH Tyler Colvin
C Ramon Hernandez
3B Nolan Arenado
1B Ben Paulsen
LHP Drew Pomeranz

In many ways, this batting order reads as a who’s who of major offseason moves. Former free agents Ramon Hernandez and Michael Cuddyer make their debuts with the Rockies, and trade products Marco Scutaro and Tyler Colvin will appear as well. Drew Pomeranz, traded for Ubaldo Jimenez last July, is getting more than just a vote of confidence with today’s start. If his work this spring looks anything like what he accomplished last fall in Denver, he will earn a spot in the rotation, as high as #3 perhaps. It’s important to the front office that he makes a good showing, since the Ubaldo trade was heavily criticized by some. I’m hoping to get a good look at Josh Outman today, as well, since we need either him or Guillermo Moscoso to be great in order to justify the trade of Seth Smith to Oakland.

We’ll have a game recap up here on Rox Pile later, so keep an eye out for that! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter here, here, and here.