Colorado Rockies Rundown: Jorge De La Rosa, David Dahl, Prospects And More

Sep 16, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies starter J. De La Rosa (29) delivers a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Jorge De La Rosa is great, part one

(via Rockies Zingers)

Jake Shapiro has a nice piece up about Jorge De La Rosa, and how the Colorado Rockies’ ace helped Jake become a baseball fan way back when in one of the unlikeliest of ways.

Some highlights from the piece include:

"“DLR is the most unassuming, quiet guy you’ll ever met. If you walked around town and ran into him you’d easily confuse him for just some other guy in his thirties. He’s so introverted that #RockiesTwitter has learned more about Jorge from his wife’s Twitter than they have from his eight years in Colorado. Jorge is the longest tenured Rockie, yetyou never see De La Rosa jerseys at the ballpark or hear him talked about, ever! Here lies our theme.”"

Yeah, you absolutely don’t see any De La Rosa jerseys out there, which is kind of ridiculous considering he is arguably the greatest pitcher in the history of the Colorado Rockies. (Oh, by the way, more on that below.)

[ Related: Jorge De La Rosa quietly reinvents himself… again ]

Also, there’s this:

"“He is one of only 50 Mexicans to start a MLB game, and he only trails guys like Fernando Valenzuela and Esteban Loaiza for the title of greatest Mexican pitcher of all time. Jorge is not only a great player, he is a trailblazer for his native Monterey who have had less than 10 big leaguers. His heart of a champion attitude continues to battle like a true warrior. He’s been traded three times in his career, and there have been rumors about a possible trade almost every single year since he joined the Rockies. Point here is to stop overlooking JDLR, he’s a stone cold ace that you’ve been overlooking for years. He’s been anchoring a Rockies staff that without him would probably be getting the Rockies the first draft pick every single year. Without question De La was instrumental in the Rockies’ 2009 run.”"

Hey wait a second — about that last part — you mean the Rockies could’ve been better quicker with even higher draft picks had De La Rosa just pitched elsewhere and the Rockies could’ve raced to the bottom of the standings every year?! (Kidding.)

Seriously, JDLR is the best pitcher in Rockies’ history, and… oh yeah… we’re supposed to discuss that on the next slide…

Next: Jorge De La Rosa is great... again