Saturday Links: Rockies News 5/3

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies just keep winning. They followed up a solid series opening victory over the New York Mets with another strong showing on Friday night, winning 7-4. Among other things in that victory, Charlie Blackmon hit yet another home run and Nolan Arenado extended his hitting streak to 22 games.

The only bit of bad news on Friday was that Josh Rutledge was placed on the disabled list with a viral infection. Ryan Wheeler was recalled to take his place. The series continues on Saturday night with Franklin Morales starting for the Rockies opposite Jenrry Mejia for the Mets.

Here’s what else is happening wit the Rockies and around the rest of the league:

From Tracy Ringolsby: Arenado’s hit streak paired with dazzling defense (MLB.com)

"Here’s the amusing part. While he was winning that Gold Glove last year, he was having an OK offensive season (.267, 10 home runs, 52 RBIs in 133 games), but this year he’s reaffirming what the scouts talked about when he was in the Minors.With a seventh-inning single in the Rockies’ 10-3 victory against the Mets at Coors Field on Friday night, Arenado extended his hitting streak to 22 games, matching Vinny Castilla (1997) for the third longest in franchise history. He has hit .352 during the streak, raising his average for the season to .309.”"

From Richard Bergstrom: Knowing Nicasio (Rockies Zingers)

"Nicasio is getting “older” as in, he’s no longer young. He’s reaching the point of being at the two to three year peakof his career before he gets to the “he is what he is” stage of his career. There is something of value there, especially in his ability to navigate Coors Field. Ideally 2014 should be the year the Rockies figure out what the future of their rotation is. So far, though Nicasio hasn’t been perfect every time out, he’s had a decent 2014. Nicasio’s had to deal with quite a bit of adversity as well as a stunted minor league career path. If (yet again, that word) that means he’s finally settling in this year, it’ll be nice to see what a pitcher who has a track record of success at Coors Field is able to do.”"

From Jerry Crasnick: Sizing up the MVP Races (ESPN)

"As a result of his sterling all-around play, Tulowitzki posted a WAR of 3.0 in April. For sake of comparison, Mike Trout didn’t reach 3.0 in WAR for the first time last year until June 26, when he led the majors in the FanGraphs rankings.If history is any indication, Tulowitzki will have to put up some stunning numbers to joinLarry Walker as the second MVP winner in Rockies history. Tulowitzki has a 1.686 OPS in his first 11 games at Coors Field, compared to .895 on the road so far. A disparity of that magnitude tends to get noticed.”"