Jason Hammel

When the time comes in the next month or so to predict how the Colorado Rockies will do in 2012, you will hear two frequent answers: 1. This team will come up short because they do not have enough starting pitching. At best they are a 3rd place team. 2. This team is especially difficult to predict – they could finish anywhere from 2nd to 5th in the NL West.  Yes, I realize that neither of these possibilities call for a first ever division title for the franchise. I do not imagine that even the most optimistic projections will have [...]

That is what I had to tell myself when I saw Denver Post beat writer Troy Renck’s tweet in which he projected the Colorado Rockies starting rotation in 2012. The five pitchers he listed were: Jhoulys Chacin, Juan Nicasio, Kevin Millwood, Jason Hammel and Drew Pomeranz. Two names in particular stuck out: Kevin Millwood and Jason Hammel. Panicked, I closed my internet browser. I hoped that I misread Renck’s prediction. I went for a walk to cool off. I took a deep breath and looked again. There it still was. He had to be kidding around or something, right? Once [...]

Jason Hammel is a grinder. All year long he has been lacking his best stuff, but he has kept the Rockies in every game. Last night, in the Florida humidity, Hammel finally put it all together. He had command of his fastball and his off-speed stuff was sharp. Jason’s end result was 6 2/3 innings, 7 hits, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 Ks. So far this season, Hammel has been a different pitcher. He’s striking out fewer hitters, but he has dramatically increased his ground ball percentage. The additional grounders have lowered opposing hitters’ BABIP against Jason and he is [...]

Jason Hammel hasn’t had his best fastball all season, but the results have been decent. In fact, Hammels has done pretty much what we should expect from him. Two of his three starts qualify as “quality starts”. I’m not sure that six innings and three runs should be defined as “quality”, but it does speak to Jason’s ability to compete. When he left last night’s game the Rockies were still in it. In years past, that’s all that was asked of Rockies’ pitchers. However, things have changed. The Rockies starting rotation is off to a torrid start and Jhoulys, Esmil, [...]

Okay Rockies’ fans, the Cubs are in town.  Our Rox are off to the best start in franchise history.  They have the best record in baseball.  They just went 7-1 on the season’s first road trip. They swept four games from the Mets in New York.  Troy Tulowitzki has been playing like Superman since last September.  It is probably the most exciting April home stand in franchise history.  So can we please make sure that Rockies fans outnumber Cubs fans this weekend? Also, if you have the privilege of attending one of this weekend’s games, please be a little hard [...]

The Rox are in the Big Apple tonight for a big four game series with the Mets.  Currently, the Rockies are in the middle of an eight game road trip, having taken three of four in Pittsburgh.  Last year’s road woes are well documented, but it’s worth noting that the team didn’t win a road trip until August.  If they can split with the Mets, they will win the first one of 2011.  In other words, coming out of New York with at least two wins would be a very, very big deal.  Below is a complete preview of this [...]

The first full week of the MLB season begins this week. With the Dodgers traveling to Colorado to face the Rockies, Kenny Shulsen at Lasorda’s Lair and Logan Burdine of the Rox Pile have teamed up to bring you an in-depth look at this brief 2 game division series. We’ll look at the pitching matchups, hot/cold players, an injury report and finish with a 6 pack of questions, 3 from each team. Los Angeles Dodgers 2011 Record: 3–1, 1st in N.L. West Colorado Rockies 2011 Record: 1-1, 3rd in N.L. West (1.0 GB) Pitching Matchups April 5: Clayton Kershaw vs. [...]

The Rockies have been to the playoffs thrice (all via the Wild Card), made it to the Word Series once, but still have never have won their division.

So before we anoint this years Colorado Rockies as one of the league’s best teams, first things first – win the NL West.

I know it’s just spring and we can’t panic over one start, but Jason Hammel looked like crap last night. His pitches were elevated and out over the plate. He gave up eight runs in three innings — three were earned. Hammel himself caused a lot of damage when he air-mailed an Ian Kinsler bunt attempt into right field. Jason said he wasn’t worried about last night’s performance, blaming it on some old habits. All I know is that he can’t pitch like that when the regular season begins. Clipped from: blogs.denverpost.com (share this clip) “Basically I just took a [...]

Esmil Rogers finally stepped up yesterday. He threw five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. He is now the clear favorite to become the team’s fifth starter. This is a very good thing for the Rockies. Rogers is the candidate with the highest ceiling. He’s also just 25. Clipped from: www.denverpost.com (share this clip) “He was brilliant. That’s quite a strong statement.” — Jim Tracy Speaking of the rotation, Jason Hammel believes that 2011 will be his breakout season. Clipped from: www.denverpost.com (share this clip) “I’m definitely looking forward to a good year. I’m not going to put numbers on [...]