Pitching Falters in Rockies’ Loss to Padres

Rockies 6, Padres 10

This game isn’t one I’d like to think too hard on, because you can’t let the Padres score 10 runs, and you can’t have this many pitchers struggle on the same day. So, let’s just take a brief look at it and then move on to bigger and better things.

Dazzling

Jonathan Herrera is the only guy who can really be said to have pulled his weight offensively yesterday. He was 1-for-3 but made his one hit count: a 2-run triple. Then he scored on a sacrifice bunt from DJ LeMahieu. I feel very good about putting Herrera on the 25-man when  the time comes. I don’t feel entirely certain that the coaching staff will agree, but just because Johnny is nothing flashy doesn’t mean he’s not necessary. He’s not streaky like a lot of the other guys on this team. He’s consistent enough that I’d like to have him available.

Josh Outman put in a nice little inning last night, facing 4 hitters and retiring 3 of them, 2 with strikeouts. I like his chances for a bullpen spot, which isn’t to say I want him in relief over anyone else but just that I think he can probably contribute from there.

Disappointing

Carlos Gonzalez hasn’t landed under the disappointing heading too often this spring, because he does deliver clutch hits and drive in runs, but he has been kind of mediocre. His .259 average isn’t going to cut it if he carries that into the regular season. Last night he was 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Surely Jim Tracy’s solution to all this will be to lineup shuffle, though in the case of Cargo, that actually seems to work. With Dexter Fowler phoning it in, maybe we need to start the season with Cargo leading off.

Not a great night for Jhoulys Chacin, but we are used to this by now: he has a brilliant outing, or two, or even three, and then he has one like this. He only lasted 3 innings, and in those innings he put 9 men on and let 3 of them score. So, that’s just not his best work. It’s also not anything to get too alarmed about, because he’s still growing. I’m not sure how much longer we can use that excuse for him, but the flashes of brilliance that we do see are enough that I’m willing to be patient.

And of course, Chacin’s issues were nothing compared to Edgmer Escalona‘s. Escalona entered the game in the 5th and only managed to record 2 outs, in the course of allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 3 hits and 3 walks. The grand slam by Jesus Guzman was obviously the most damaging pitch Escalona threw, but it’s those walks that concern me the most, since I think this pitching staff gave up way too many free runs last season thanks to that. I hope it was just a bad day and not a harbinger of command issues for Escalona.

The Rockies have a day off today, and will play split squad games against San Diego and San Francisco on Thursday.

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