Rockies Finally Win Another Game, Manage to Lose As Well

The fun part about split-squad games is that even if one half of your team is winning somewhere, chances are the other half is losing somewhere else. So the Rockies found a way to add another to their win column yesterday, but in the meantime, they cancelled it out with another loss. Let’s look at who stood out, for better or worse.

Dazzling

Chris Nelson had a very good game against the Brewers yesterday, hitting a single and a double in three tries. Maybe I want him at third base to start the season. I certainly don’t want Casey Blake there, as you will see.

Props to Jamie Hoffmann and Ben Paulsen for getting up a little 9th-inning rally. Both doubled and scored en route to a 4-run inning that brought the Rockies to within one of Milwaukee. Of course, it was too little, too late, and they still lost the game, but I’ll always salute those efforts. Especially because last season it always seemed like if we were out if it in the 7th, we were out of it for good.

Pitching in the Milwaukee game wasn’t awful today, but it was mediocre, and combined with some bad defense it led to the loss. Gold star goes to Josh Sullivan for 2 scoreless innings in which he allowed 1 hit and struck out 2.

Finally I can say something good about Marco Scutaro! In three plate appearances against the White Sox yesterday, he walked twice and hit a double. He scored a run. He also made a throwing error, but we’ll overlook that, because this is the kind of game we need from our 2-hole hitter.

Jason Giambi had a terrific day as designated hitter, going 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. He hasn’t had a ton of chances, so let’s not read too much into the batting average this spring, but .600 is nothing to shake a stick at. The guy can still swing a bat. Of all the dead weight we might have riding the bench this season, the Giambino cannot be categorized as such.

I’d like to extend an official apology to Jamie Moyer. It’s more or less the same apology I found myself owing Kevin Millwood after a couple starts last season. Maybe I should more readily throw my support behind the old guys. In any case, Moyer turned in another solid outing yesterday against the Sox, 3 innings allowing just 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 2. He got both those K’s in the 3rd after he gave up back-to-back hits and a run with no outs. We need more guys with that kind of composure. I kind of like this dude.

A nice 1-inning job by Joe Gardner, too, rebounding from a tough outing last week. He walked one but didn’t allow any hits or runs, and he struck out 2.

Not a perfect day for Ramon Hernandez, but he hit an RBI triple, scored a run, and gunned down two guys at 2nd base. Solid.

Disappointing

Dexter Fowler is having a tough spring so far; except for that home run he hit last week, he really hasn’t done much of anything at the plate, and he’s hitting .071. I haven’t seen him play yet so I can’t comment on whether he’s reverted to his old swinging ways, but I hope that’s not the case. We really need him to be productive in the lead-off spot this season.

I hate to say it, but Nolan Arenado really hasn’t impressed with his hitting yet, either. He’s making some great plays in the field, and that’s certainly worth recognizing, but even that isn’t quite polished yet: he made another throwing error yesterday. And if he doesn’t start making better contact I think his chances of getting cut are pretty high. That’s not so alarming; after all, the general consensus has been that he’s not quite major-league ready, and precautions are in place to make sure it’s not a ghost at third base while we wait. However …

… would a ghost be preferable to Casey Blake? Perhaps. Blake was quoted in the offseason as saying that he felt he had something to contribute to this team, but so far all he has contributed is swings and misses. I’m not so sure that it would help if the pitchers suddenly started throwing beach balls. He reached on an error a couple of times today, but his spring average is still .0000000000000. All the more reason for Arenado to get ready. Fast.

Carlos Gonzalez‘s March so far looks a lot like last year’s April. If he doesn’t come out of the gate strong this season, I have a feeling the rest of the team will struggle too. Yesterday he grounded into a double play in the 1st inning, and struck out twice. If he keeps up this pattern of not hitting, starting to hit really well, getting injured, not hitting, his contribution is not going to be what we’re paying for. For our sake, I hope that’s not what happens.

Can we please put an end to the Chad Tracy experiment? I get it, he’s the boss’s son, but as the boss isn’t someone I like all that much, that doesn’t especially recommend the son. So far this spring, he’s 1-for-8 with an RBI, a walk, 2 strikeouts, 1 caught stealing, and an error. It could be worse, but not by a lot.

Florida. Three games postponed yesterday because of rain. Why doesn’t everyone train in Arizona?

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