Rockies Woman Weekly Report – 6/11-6/17

This week’s record: 3-3

Hitting: A

The Rockies had an excellent week offensively. Their team batting average was a stunning .339; the next best team, Boston, hit .318. They scored 47 runs on 84 hits and slugged .524. All those figures are in the top 3 in the majors. I think it’s safe to say the bats have awakened. A great deal of credit for the offensive resurgence goes to rookie Charlie Blackmon. He made his debut on June 7th, but has accelerated from newbie to rock star at the plate. He had two 4-hit games this week and drove in a total of 6 runs. He’s still not hitting the ball out of the park, but that’s not really what we need from him right now. We have power hitters. We needed somebody to jumpstart the lineup and make it both deeper and more productive. Blackmon has done that. Another thing I love about him is that he can get wood on just about any pitch he sees. He only has 1 strikeout on the week, despite drawing zero walks. That’s a kid who can make contact. His call-up may be the best thing that has happened to the team this season! Carlos Gonzalez also had a heck of a week; the lead-off spot really seems to agree with him. He hit .385 with 2 home runs and a team-leading 7 RBIs. Troy Tulowitzki is still quietly making a comeback: he hit .320, and many outs he made would have been hits if they hadn’t screamed right into the glove of a fielder. The Rockies finally seem to have found their ability to work together and push runs across the plate. Very little room for improvement here.

Running: B

Again, a tip of the cap goes to Blackmon. He’s stole 5 bases this week and wasn’t caught once. He’s averaging a stolen base about once every 2 games; the player with the most stolen bases, Carlos Gonzalez, is averaging about once every 7 games. Blackmon’s aggression on the basepaths seems to have rubbed off on his teammates, too. As a team, the Rockies stole 11 bases this week, tied with the Mets for best in the National League (and let’s face it, they have Jose Reyes). The Rockies’ success rate was 79%, which is perfectly acceptable. The only reason I can’t give an A grade for this category is because some of the club’s best players are still making dumb mistakes with the running game. Tulo runs when he should stay put almost daily. (Search #nightlybaserunningerror on Twitter for proof of this!) For the aggression, the team gets an A+. The area where they’re lacking is finesse.

Defense: B

The Rockies lost a little bit of ground defensively this week thanks to the presence of Ty Wigginton and Jose Morales. Morales had a particularly tough game on Wednesday when he committed a throwing error and interfered with a hitter’s swing which allowed the hitter to reach base. He also had a passed ball, and he made an error in Sunday’s game too. However, on Wednesday he broke his thumb and is now on the 60-day disabled list, so the Rockies will be in good defensive hands with Chris Iannetta and Matt Pagnozzi for now. (Obviously, I am not glad Morales was injured and wish him a speedy recovery!) Wigginton also committed a couple of errors this week, one of which resulted in 5 unearned runs. His bat has been very consistent, so I understand why he needs to be in the lineup every day, but his glove still leaves something to be desired. He really isn’t defensively sound at any position. On Saturday, Tulo was charged with a throwing error because he threw to 1st in an attempt to turn a double play and nobody was there to receive it. That play was Jason Giambi’s fault, though. He threw low to Tulo, who almost fell over catching it, and then he didn’t go back to his base to wait for the return throw. Just bad judgment. In total, the Rockies committed 7 errors this week: far too many for a club this good in the field.

Starting Pitching: B-

The starting pitchers went 3-3 this week with 2 quality starts. Neither of those belonged to Jason Hammel, who didn’t make it through the 7th inning in either of his 2 starts, and gave up 9 runs on 15 hits and 8 walks. He really has a tough time around the 2nd and 3rd innings, but if he can get through those without too much damage, he turns into a very good pitcher. Last night he gave up a grand slam in the 6th, so there are exceptions to every rule. Ubaldo Jimenez had a very rough start on Sunday. He gave up 7 runs in 5 1/3 innings pitched. Only 2 of those runs were earned because of  a Wigginton error that otherwise would have been a double play ball, but Jimenez is still showing a lot of mental shakiness right now. Yes, the error was unfortunate, but a great pitcher would keep himself under control and refrain from giving up a grand slam after it occurred. Jimenez gave up that grand slam, and it was more than the difference in the game. Aaron Cook very nearly had a quality start on Monday; he gave up 2 runs on 5 hits in 5 2/3 innings pitched. Sadly, that was the one day this week that the Rockies’ offense failed to show up, so Cook took the loss anyway. Juan Nicasio had the best start by far this week: 2 runs on 6 hits and NINE strikeouts in 6 innings pitched on Tuesday. He looked absolutely stellar, and better yet, his off-speed pitches are finally working for him. Jhoulys Chacin was a close second, giving up just 1 run on 3 hits and striking out 7 in 6 innings pitched on Wednesday. The popular belief in Colorado is that he’s making a bid for the All-Star game, and he more than deserves it based on his last few outings. So in general, it was hit-or-miss for the starting pitchers this week.

Relief Pitching: C

The best news for the bullpen is in the above starting pitching stat: the starters went 3-3, so no relievers took a loss this week. That’s about the only improvement for them over last week. Otherwise, tough innings abounded. Huston Street, Rex Brothers, Rafael Betancourt, and Matt Lindstrom each posted an ERA over 6.00 this week (Lindstrom’s was 19.29). Together, the bullpen gave up 13 runs in 19 2/3 innings. They were generally lucky that the Rockies’ hot bats prevented them from blowing any leads, but we’re at a point in the season when we can’t afford this kind of inconsistency. Lindstrom in particular has been so very good that I can’t understand what’s gone wrong with him. I’m hoping that he’s just having a tough week, and that we’ll see him return to form soon. The bright spot in the pen this week was Matt Belisle. He appeared in 3 games for a total of  4 2/3 innings, and didn’t allow one run. His K/9 rate (7.71) is average for the team, but he only walked 1 and he controlled the game well enough each time to strand any runners he allowed. Well done Matt.

Intangibles: B

The Rockies put together some very big innings this week, and, as that has been their bread and butter, that’s not a bad thing at all. They finally figured out a way to string together key hits and drive in runs. In Wednesday’s game, they hit 7 singles in one inning. All together, they scored 3 or more runs in 8 different innings over the course of the week. That’s a major improvement for a team who was struggling to eke out one at a time in May. Charlie Blackmon certainly has brought some much-needed spark to the team. The bullpen lost a bit of its shine this week, and I’m hoping we aren’t headed for a month-long collective slump with them like we had with the offense. In general, I feel that the Rockies are starting to play like contenders again, and that’s worth a lot.

Overall Grade: B

Hitter of the Week: Charlie Blackmon (duh) (.542, 6 RBI, 5 SB)

Pitcher of the Week: Matt Belisle (4 2/3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB)