Rockies Woman Weekly Report – 6/4-6/10

This is the first of my Rockies Woman weekly reports here at RoxPile. These report cards will break down the various elements of the team’s performance over the past seven days, and assign a grade to each one. Then I’ll award an overall grade to the team based on their combined scores and choose two players of the week. Let the quantifying begin!

This week’s record: 5-2

Hitting: B+

I’m really glad that I’m writing my first report this week, because this is (hopefully) the week when the Rockies have really taken a turn for the better. They hit .271 this week, the 4th-best mark in the NL. The only other team in the NL West who hit better was, surprisingly, the Dodgers (.280), against whom the Rockies went 2-0 on the week. The team average in the month of May was .255, so great strides have already been taken. Most importantly, the key hitters in the lineup are finally producing. Carlos Gonzalez hit .333 this week and Troy Tulowitzki hit .379. Compare that to their season batting averages (.268 for both). Seth Smith and Todd Helton, who have been our most reliable hitters anyway, hit .364 and .500 this week respectively. These are very good numbers. More importantly, the hits have been timely. During their current 3-game winning streak, the Rockies have gone 11-for-35 with runners in scoring position. That’s not nearly as good as what they’re capable of, but the fact that they’re reaching base so often and managing clutch hits about a third of the time is solid. Interestingly, as situational hitting has improved, hitting for power has declined a bit. The Rockies hit just 3 home runs this week, 11th most in the National League. They’ve smacked quite a few extra-base hits, so their slugging percentage (.380) is 7th. I think the hitters are very much on the right track, especially now that Jim Tracy has settled on a mostly consistent batting order.

Running: C+

The Rockies only stole 3 bases this week, and they were caught stealing 3 times. I don’t like those numbers very much; I’d like to see twice as many bases stolen and a 75-80% success rate. But they had an abysmal time with their running game in the month of May, so it’s possible they’ve decided to dial down the aggression and work on improving the fundamentals. I can respect that, as long as they start showing more of an effort soon. The key improvement they’ve shown over recent weeks is that they’re making fewer egregious mistakes. The running game was greatly improved by the absence of Dexter Fowler, who had only one plate appearance in the past seven days before being put on the disabled list with an abdomen injury. He has speed but lacks good judgment on the basepaths, so the Rockies are in a little bit better shape without him in the mix. I hope he’ll heal soon and start to work those issues out so that he can contribute again.

Defense: A-

The Rockies remain an excellent defensive team. They committed 2 errors in 7 games this week, a throwing error each for Jose Morales and Chris Nelson. It was Morales’s 2nd error of the season, and he generally handles the ball behind the plate fairly well. Nelson’s error was his first and, while he has struggled to find his stride defensively, he’s also made a couple of spectacular plays that made an out where there should have been a hit. The Rockies have committed only 30 errors on the season, and 8 of those came by players who are no longer with the team. That’s 22 total for the current squad, and the next best defensive team in the majors, the Dodgers, have 29. The Rox turned 4 double plays this week, not their best weekly mark, but most of our infielders can reliably handle the double play ball if it’s hit. And the pitchers recorded 3 pick-offs! Not too shabby. The best news is that Tracy’s lineup tinkering has resulted in the best defensive team on the field every game. 3rd base is still a bit of an issue; neither Ty Wigginton nor Chris Nelson is a perfect defender. But with Eric Young Jr. mostly on the bench and Jose Lopez gone, the team as a whole is very strong defensively.

Starting Pitching: B+

The starting pitchers went 3-1 this week with 5 quality starts out of 7 chances. Jhoulys Chacin recorded a pair of wins while pitching 14 innings and allowing just 1 run on 7 hits and striking out 11. After stepping into the role of number-two starter following Jorge De La Rosa’s injury, Chacin has proven that he is an enormous asset to this rotation. He mixes up his pitches like a much more experienced pitcher, and can throw any of them for strikes. We’re very fortunate to have him. Jason Hammel had an excellent start on Sunday (7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER) that became a no-decision thanks to the bullpen. Clayton Mortensen had possibly his last start of the season on Monday, but it was a good one: 5 hits and 0 earned runs in 6 innings pitched. Ubaldo Jimenez also had a great start on Tuesday (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER) but lost the win to a lackluster offense. Aaron Cook started for the first time since last September on Wednesday. His rustiness showed, but he still gave up only 3 runs on 6 hits in 5 2/3 innings. It remains to be seen whether he’ll be a permanent fixture in the rotation going forward, but it was a good start considering how long it’s been for him. Juan Nicasio had the toughest start of the week, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings pitched on Thursday, but he’s a rookie and he throws some heat. In general, the starters are doing a terrific job going deep into games and giving the offense every chance to earn the win.

Relief Pitching: C

Generally the Rockies’ bullpen is extremely solid, but this week was a little hit-or-miss. They pitched 16 1/3 innings and allowed 9 runs on 17 hits. To be fair, 5 of those runs came last night in the 1 inning that Matt Belisle and Huston Street shared. Still, besides those two Matt Lindstrom, Rafael Betancourt, and Matt Reynolds all had a tough outing this week. It’s unusual for the pen to struggle this much, so I don’t expect this week’s performance to repeat itself. However, as an isolated seven-day stretch, it wasn’t great. A couple of bright spots: Rex Brothers, called up from Triple-A this week and yet to allow a run. And Huston Street recorded 4 saves this week, the total number he managed in the entire month of May.

Intangibles: B

This was the week when things seemed like they started to come together for the Rockies. Granted, only in the past few days have they begun to string wins together, so next week will give us a better vantage point from which to examine whether this was really a turning point. But something changed with the team, either in their confidence or in their teamwork, or maybe they’ve just got their LoDo magic back. Whatever happened, the offense has taken charge and shown that they have every intention of winning games from here on out. They didn’t get swept this week; they lost their series to the Giants but won against the Padres, and are set up for at least a split against the Dodgers. They are so vastly improved this week over their performance in the month of May, there is nothing for we fans to do but celebrate! Good things are coming our way.

Overall Grade: B

Pitcher of the Week: Jhoulys Chacin (2-0, 0.64)

Hitter of the Week: Todd Helton (.500, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 6 BB)