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.