Francis is Celebrating!

Yep, the baseball gods have spoken and today's opener is officially postponed. Let's hope Francis' struggles were just nerves and not indicative of something larger in scope. What concerns me more than the control is the low pitch velocity after walking multiple batters. Still, I predict he'll rebound.

Tomorrow night the Rocks try to maintain their perfect record!

Accuscore can suck it!

Accuscore giving the cards a 57-43 nod for this afternoon's season opener, and as chain lightning once pointed out: they're right about half the time. No matter, all of the baseball analysts and simulators that continue to hate on the Rocks only provide motivation for this baseball club. I extremely hope that the Dodgers shit the bed this year, so everyone can see how not that great of a maganger Joe Torre is (you're the manger?)... the dude's been managing an All-Star team in the bronx for the past 10 years (I could have done that).

Anywho, I predict the Rox to take the West. Come on Super-Francis!!!

Nix in the Mix

Hurdle kept things "Generation R" with the announcement this week that Jayson Nix would take the 2nd baseman's job vacated by KazMat. Though not a spring chicken at 25...a former first round draft pick out of options with the Rockies, Nix earned it and not without some stiff competition from Giles, Barmes, and Baker.
Gotta think Giles was in the fold this spring for some insurance in case Nix struggled, but also as a good source of competition that might have driven Nix to play to his potential? With the spring that Giles had he should catch on somewhere else. Sounds like some teams have shown some interest in Barmes as well.
We'll see how this plays out over the course of the season. Letting Kaz get away was about my least favorite offseason subtraction...

Rockies Spring Training Action on ESPN?

I was a bit floored to learn that the Rockies-Cubs Cactus League game this afternoon was going to be televised not only on FSN, but also in HD on "The Deuce". Whaaahh?? Granted it was against the Cubs, which probably garnered the interest of ESPN programmers in the first place. Still, for a team that was televised on Sunday Night Baseball zero times last year, seeing the Rockies on the World Wide Leader's stage was a bit surreal. Not only that, but the post-game Baseball Tonight crew did an extended analysis on the upcoming Rockies season during their NL West preview. Guess Hurdle's squad has a little clout now, having gone to the Fall Classic. I believe they are only scheduled for one Sunday Night game on ESPN this season, but anything above zero is an improvement.

Although I only caught a bit of the game, it looked like Mark Redman had a good start today. I'm penciling him in to one of the final openings in the starting rotation. He might be a suitable #5 once Hirsh comes back to fill the #4 role. After Morales' struggles yesterday, I think he might be best served by starting the season in the Springs. 9 days to go...

The Rockies Run to the Pennant

For those in the 303, I must recommend you check out an airing of the Rockies Run to the Pennant on FSN. I believe the next show time is Thurs night. Set your tivos. I'd be lying if I said tears weren't welling up at a few moments. Even better, Cactus League action is about to take place on FSN. T minus 15 days....

Mystery At 2nd Base

The regular season starts in a little over 2 weeks and it's still anybody's guess who is going to start at 2nd base for the Rocks. Jason Nix started today and the best he had to show in three plate appearances was getting beamed. His .176 batting average is not hard evidence that his questionable bat is ready to assume the starting role, although I believe he has hit a couple HR's (his only hits?). Giles has been ok, but he's not ripping the cover off the ball either. At this point, I'd have to say the job belongs to Barmes or Baker. Hard to believe it, but Barmes is batting .350 right now. Baker isn't doing too much offensively, but there is little question he would hit over the course of the year and could add power to an already formidable lineup out of the 7 or 8 hole. We didn't get a chance to see him play 2B, from what I've heard, he's been serviceable.

It hasn't been mentioned here yet, but one of the most impressive new recruits we peeped down in Tucson earlier this week was Scott Podsednik, "Super Pods". Seems to have really good speed and a knack for getting on base. Not sure there is room in already crowded outfield, but I'm pulling for the dude.

Sounds like Ubaldo got a bit roughed up today in Cactus league action. Corpas, on the other hand, is still sporting a 0.00 ERA so far. Dude is Bueno.....

Rubbing Elbows With the Big Dogs

It must be a sign of the kind of clout the BTB contributors carry down at Rockies Spring Training. A very wise usher instinctively knew TD should be sent right to the 1st row when I asked if I could go sit in some curiously unoccupied seats at Monday's Cactus League game with the D-Backs. A couple minutes after taking my seat, the Cowboy himself, Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News came down to compare notes with myself on how the game was going and the state of the Rockies in general. Trace obviously recognized me as a peer in the media and said he looked forward to seeing me cover games this summer at Coors. While I might already process the knowledge and insights of mainstream media types covering the Rockies, I have a little ways to go to match the gut the Cowboy has crafted over the years. Hats off (no pun intended), my new friend and colleague. While I might not be in your league yet, if I continue on my 4 large stadium brews per Rockies game pace, I will be giving your belly a run for its money in no time.

It all starts in Tucson

TroutDog and Hurdle unite in Tucson!! Getting this Rockies Only blog starting on an upbeat start with a good shot of the fan and the hero himself. Some good pics taken by both myself and TroutDog over the past few days; probably enough to throw into a post from time to time.

BSB attended 3 games while in AZ (Angles, D-Backs, and the M's). As far as the performance of the Rox for those three games, I'd have to say Ubaldo (even though we missed a lot of his outing), Francis, and Taylor all looked good on the mound (and just about everyone who pitched yesterday); Reynolds, Zambrano, and Towers: not so much. I'd have to say G-Dog provided the most consistent hitting throughout those 3 games. One of the offensive highlights would have to be Ianetta's 3 run dong off the big unit... (did she say that?). Although he only played one of the three games, I thought Nix looked pretty good; even Ian Stewart was doing a solid job off the bench. The town of Tucson seems to be in love with Mr. Dexter Fowler, so I guess we should all be on the lookout for him. TD, I'm sure you have a few takes on the games as well...

All in all, the trip make me pretty antsy for opening day. COME ON SUPER-ROCKIES!!!!