Taking Chances

The Rockies have a talented rotation. Starting with staff ace Ubaldo Jimenez who will be looking to add to his success from last season going 15-12. Aaron Cook will be the number two starter you would think. Then it gets interesting because the Rockies have Jeff Francis who was the staff ace in 2007, but suffered through injuries the last two seasons coming back. Jorge De La Rosa had an outstanding season last year, and one would think that he will be in the mix for that third spot in the rotation along with Francis. Jason Hammel will be a solid fifth starter. The Rockies starting rotation of Jimenez, Cook, De La Rosa, Francis and Hammel will be in my opinion one of the better staffs in the National League.  I did put Francis in the fourth spot of the rotation because we don’t know what to expect quite yet. De La Rosa has earned a top spot in the rotation after his performance a year ago. We all know Jimenez is a hard throwing right-handed pitcher with excellent sink and movement. Cook has one of the more underrated sinkers in baseball, and De La Rosa has an excellent power slider. Francis is a control pitcher with an excellent change-up, and Hammel is a very consistent number five starter. The Depth behind theses guys lies in the hands of some rookie pitchers. Jhoulys Chacin, Samuel Deduno, Esmil Rogers. Greg Smith who was part of the Matt Holliday trade could be in the mix as well. But what I am getting at is this, the Rockies have learned that in order for a pitcher to succeed at Coors Field that pitcher needs to have sharp pitches with movement and sink. As I stated above, Jimenez throws harder than most in baseball and has excellent movement. Cook has a great sinker, De La Rosa a great slider, and Francis a great change-up. Even Hammel has good sink on his pitches. I think that with the talent this team has and being a legitimate threat out west, the Rockies still need to make a move for a starting pitcher. What a better fit then taking a chance on Chien-Ming Wang. Wang is coming off shoulder surgery but was the Yankees ace not to long ago winning 19 games in back-to-back seasons in 2006 and 2007. He isn’t expected to pitch in spring training but if healthy could be useful to a contending team like the Rockies.  He throws hard and has a great sinker if he can regain his form from not too long ago. He fits the Rockies profile because he is a pitcher that keeps the ball down and gets a lot of ground balls. It wouldn’t cost much for the Rockies to sign him to a one year deal with incentives to see how he would do.  I would love to see them pull this move, I think that it could only help them succeed down the stretch of the season.

Galarraga, Burks up for Hall

The Colorado Rockies opened Coors Field in 1995, the ballpark was a hitters dream.  Denver, Colorado known as the Mile High City supported one of the scariest ballparks to play in because no lead was safe. The Rockies were a power house with a line-up that would out score its opponents with the long ball. Coors Field is located off 20th and Blake st. With home runs being hit on a regular basis the Rockies were soon known as the Blake Street Bombers. The line-up consisted of power hitters such as; Larry Walker, Vinny Castilla, Dante Bichette, Andres Galarraga, and Ellis Burks.  When I was growing up I can just remember the announcer introduce each player when it was their turn to bat. Each player had their own walk-up song, and was introduced with a tone from the announcer’s voice that would just put you on the edge of your seat, because you knew something exciting was going to happen when each one of theses players would step to the plate.  Now years later I want to take a look at two of the Blake Street Bombers that are up for the Hall of Fame. Starting with Andres (The Big Cat) Galarraga. The Big Cat was one of my favorite players growing up, he was big, and strong, and quick like a cat. Galarrage led the league in hitting once (1993) with a .370 average, Homers once (1996) with 47, and twice he led the league in RBI’s (1996, 1997) with 150, and 140! Galarrage was a huge part of the Rockies, a fan favorite and a great baseball player. He probably won’t get into the Hall of Fame, playing 19 seasons finishing his career with a .288 average 399 home runs and 1425 runs batted in. A very good career for a first basemen, but not a Hall of Fame career. I’m curious to see how many votes he is going to get but I believe it will be in the bottom percentile. Ellis Burks, was the Rockies outfielder mainly playing center field for the Blake Street Bombers. Burks didn’t have as much power as the other guys but he will be remembered for his great 1996 season with the team putting up  a .344 average 40 home runs 128 RBI’s and an outstanding 142 runs scored! OH yeah Burks also stole 30 bases. Putting him in a class of nine players to hit 40 home runs, and steal 30 bases in a season. Ellis Burks would be standing in the on deck circle timing the pitcher, raising his hand and swinging shoulder-high perfectly level. Nobody else did that like Burks and I remember myself always trying to warm up that way when I was playing but could never seem to do it like he could. Burks too is up for the Hall of Fame with career numbers that might fall short;  .291 average 352 home runs and 1206 RBI’s in 18 seasons. Remembering two of the great Rockies players in the 90′s. Nobody will forget what the Blake Street Bombers did for the Mile High City, I know I wont!