MEDIA CLIPS – May 8, 2018

Inbox: When will Tapia rejoin Rockies in bigs? Beat reporter Thomas Harding answers fans' questions

Thomas Harding / MLB.com | May 7, 2018ng_at_mlb

DENVER -- The Rockies have won five straight because of standout starting pitching, but the offense, which hasn't found its groove, generates questions for this week's Inbox.

Let's take a look at some of your questions:

Thomas Harding

@harding_at_mlb

Let's try this again. Send me your #Rockies questions and I will answer in a story before tosay's finale with #Cubs

Adam Arias

@Adi2zz6le

How come we have not seen tapia up yet ? And is there a chance we trade Desmond, cargo and parra? We could clear room to resign DJ

Raimel Tapia homered four times in the first seven games with -A Albuquerque this season, but he was struggling with -- 15 in his first 11 games. He has been far better over his past 18 games -- .346 with 18 runs scored, one homer, seven doubles and two triples. Now it's just simply a matter of finding a place for him. He's in that tough position of having to force the organization's hand, or at least stay hot until an injury occurs.

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Despite the shouting about the slow starts of Ian Desmond and Carlos Gonzalez (Gerardo Parra has been respectable with a .263 average and a .327 on-base percentage), teams don't drop veterans they've invested in after a bad month.

And with Desmond, who's owed a good chunk of money in the second year of a five-year contract, and Gonzalez struggling, it's not like there is huge grade value.

Thomas Harding

@harding_at_mlb

Taking your #Rockies questions for today's @EdwardJones Beat Reporter's Inbox. Please tweet me questions now.

Judd Miller

@MyPurpleFamily

What adjustments has Dezee made; what adjustments is Cargo making?

It's a lot easier to pinpoint with Desmond. He tried to change his swing during the offseason, then abandoned that project.

The lesson: Commit to something, whether it's the old swing or a change. Desmond has recommitted to his old swing.

Gonzalez is a little harder to figure . It looked as if he was finding some rhythm during a late-April road trip, but he injured his right hamstring, missed nine games and is 1-for-12 since. In Chicago after coming back, the rollover ground balls were a bad sign, and I thought CarGo wasn't moving well. He didn't start two of the games on the trip, and the

Rockies had Monday off. The hope is that the rest has helped and he'll find rhythm at home -- where the Rockies must find their offense.

Matt Swartz

@swartzie6

@harding_at_mlb Do you think the #Rockies keep Castro up and send Valaika down for a spell once DJ is healthy?

@EdwardJones

DJ LeMahieu, the Rockies' standout , is eligible to return from the 10-day disabled list Tuesday, so we can find out sooner than later. 2

First, give general manager Jeff Bridich credit for making some good roster management signings. Daniel Castro and righty reliever Brooks Pounders had been to the Majors with other teams. But the Rockies signed them to non-roster deals, knowing they each still have a Minor League option. So the club isn't stuck if it sends either of them down.

Castro would have some value on Colorado's bench for his ability to put balls in play. He has done so all 16 of his Major

League plate appearances. It's a small sample size, and a .188 average isn't burning up the diamond. But you can see

Castro moving a runner or dropping a or performing a -and- in a clutch moment.

Things being equal, Pat Valaika has more pop, as he demonstrated last year. But with a .103 average, 16 strikeouts and five walks in 64 plate appearances, it's been a rough go. The Rockies will have to decide whether Valaika will need regular playing time in Triple-A or if they'll function better once LeMahieu returns and the roster is finally somewhat normal.

B.A. Friesen

@bafriesen

@harding_at_mlb the Mets DFA Harvey. Any chance #Rockies take a chance to pick him up? Need a more veteran presence in rotation.

I have heard of no intention on the Rockies' part. The disagreements with manager Mickey Callaway and pitching coach

Dave Eiland would give me pause, especially after some rifts when ran the Mets.

The team that would take a flyer on Harvey would be one that built a relationship with him before the 2010 MLB Draft, when the Mets took him seventh overall, and believes it can make a connection that wasn't made with the Mets. I have no knowledge of any scouts, front-office members or coaches with the Rockies who have made that kind of connection.

Thomas Harding

@harding_at_mlb

#Rockies fans, please send me your questions for today's @EdwardJones Beat Reporter's Inbox.

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Hot Stove Stats

@HotStoveStats

Do you think will get into the Hall of Fame, and if so, will it be during eligibility or through the modern era committee?

There is a warming to Larry Walker's credentials, as his 34.1 percent finish last year suggests. But that's a long way from the 75 percent needed. I'm thinking any enshrinement will come after he is off the Baseball Writers' Association of

America ballot.

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NY native Ottavino talks pitching in Big Apple

Bill Ladson / MLB.com | May 7, 2018

Rockies right-hander Adam Ottavino is one of the best setup men in baseball this season. He has allowed just one run in

19 , while striking out 35.

MLB.com caught up with the Brooklyn native after he defeated his nephew, Davis, in a chess match at . He had a lot to say during a 20-question interview.

MLB.com: You pitched against the Mets this weekend. Describe the feeling you have when you in New York.

Ottavino: Right now, I try to treat it like it is normal, like nothing is different. I think the first couple of times, it was definitely different, just aware that people I knew were watching me. Not a lot of people watch Rockies games in New York. I'm definitely a little more nervous than [I probably should be]. Right now, I try to think of it as the same.

MLB.com: As a kid, did you ever dream about playing in New York?

Ottavino: Definitely. Going to games at Shea Stadium and , I always wanted to be out there. The first time

I played [in New York as a professional was in 2012]. It meant a lot to me.

MLB.com: Did you grow up a Mets fan or a Yankees fan?

Ottavino: I grew up a Yankees fan. I was a little bit of a front-runner. At that time, they were so good. They were good at everything. I loved watching them play. I love baseball history, so they are a team with a lot of it, so I followed it.

MLB.com: You hear Billy Joel say, "I'm in a New York state of mind." When you are in New York, what's on your mind?

Ottavino: I don't know. That's a tough question. I just feel comfortable here. I grew up in the city. Until I started traveling for baseball, I thought the whole world was a giant city. I didn't know anything else. It feels natural to me to walk around, take the train, see the different culture. I just always felt comfortable here.

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MLB.com: What was it like growing up in Brooklyn?

Ottavino: It was great. Being an only child, you would think I would be lonely, but being that there are so many people around, so many kids, I thought I had a huge family in my neighborhood. I had a ton of great friends. I was always doing activities.

MLB.com: This might sound like a strange question, but being from Brooklyn, did you ever say, "Man, I wish I could have seen the Dodgers play in Brooklyn?"

Ottavino: Absolutely, 100 percent. My grandmother told me she went to and how special it was. I lived pretty close to where it would have been. A lot of the old-timers that I knew growing up were Dodgers fans, and their hearts were ripped out when they left.

MLB.com: Let's talk about the Rockies. In the past, they had a tough time winning on the road. The past two years have been a different story. Why?

Ottavino: Our pitching has done a really great job. Hitting-wise, we have guys with more experience when it comes to the difference between Coors Field and outside of Coors Field. Our guys, who have been around the altitude longer, have made better adjustments this year and have been able to manufacture some runs.

MLB.com: The pitching is outstanding this year. It didn't matter who was pitching, say, 10 years ago. The road was bad for the Rockies.

Ottavino: No disrespect to the guys 10 years ago, but we have a lot of good now. Our pitching is really strong across the board. We don't throw out any bad pitchers. It's as simple as that. We have a lot of talent.

MLB.com: The starting pitching has been awesome and you add you and Wade Davis to the back end of the , and it's even better. What's turned this thing around?

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Ottavino: It's the pitching, because we didn't have enough of it -- even two years ago. Last year, we saw the young guys really make an impact on our starting rotation. That was huge, and we have more of a veteran bullpen. I think it was a good strategy. We drafted well for young pitchers. We have a lot more overall depth. It's kind of a secret to the regular season.

MLB.com: The Rockies signed Davis before the season started. How much has he helped you?

Ottavino: I enjoy just really having him around. He is a professional. He closed out the . He pitched seventh, eighth and ninth innings. He started. We knew each other a decade ago in the Minor Leagues when we were starters. I always admired him, but I didn't know how he thought about the game. I'm super excited that he knows the game the way he does. We can talk a little details. He sees things I don't even see. Just from that standpoint of being a student of the game, it's been a treat to have him as a teammate.

MLB.com: What did Davis teach you that you did not see?

Ottavino: Just some stuff with hitters. It's what he looks at when he is deciding what to throw. You can get stuck in one way of thinking. He looked at some things differently than I did. He opened my mind up to different possibilities.

MLB.com: I read where you reinvented yourself. I understand your father-in-law played a role in your turnaround.

Ottavino: Out of desperation. I pitched really poorly last season, so I knew I had to make changes. In the game, you can't just sit around and wait for things to happen. You have to be proactive. So I was. Luckily, my father-in-law had the space where I could go in the lab and do some scientific stuff and figure out what I needed to do.

MLB.com: What did you fix?

Ottavino: It was, like, five different things at once. It was my delivery was out of whack. My stride was in the wrong direction. I fixed that. My mentality wasn't good as it needed to be -- my mental focus pitch to pitch. I wanted to add another pitch to my arsenal. I wanted to be a little stronger physically.

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MLB.com: It's worked so far.

Ottavino: I'm happy so far, but it's a long season, and I'm trying to keep going as far as what I'm doing.

MLB.com: Prior to this year, your career has been up and down. How good is it that the Rockies still believe in you?

Ottavino: It's great. I have zero complaints with the Rockies. They took me off waivers when I was struggling with St.

Louis. I needed a new home. I came here seven years ago, and I got an opportunity. They believed in me from Day 1. I haven't looked back. Even when I struggled and got hurt, they still stuck with me. I really appreciate it. They were always honest with me with everything. That's all you can ask for as a baseball player.

MLB.com: You have been with the Rockies for seven years. Is it hard to believe it has been that long?

Ottavino: Definitely. In this game, you are trying to scrap for the next year. You look back on it and you say, "Wow, I've been on this one team for seven years." I have a lot of pride in that, especially pitching for the Rockies. Not a lot of people have had the longevity. It means a little bit extra for me.

MLB.com: You and many of the current pitchers on the roster haven't allowed the altitude in Colorado to bother you. Why is that the case?

Ottavino: You have to be tough. You have to have [guts]. It's not easy. I will not sit here and say I'm an altitude denier. I think it's real. You have to adjust and learn about it. You have to learn how to combat it. It's an adjustment for every . I embraced it from Day 1 because it was my opportunity to play in the big leagues or I was going to be home. It's just been good. We've gotten better at communicating with the new pitchers about how it is. The guys have made the necessary adjustments. The talent certainly helps.

MLB.com: How far can this team go?

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Ottavino: Far. We stuck in there last year, and anything can happen in the playoffs. We can go far. We have the talent.

We have good pitching. We have to stay healthy, especially with our position players. We'll try to stay in the mix and get on a run.

MLB.com: All these years, I used to see the Rockies rely heavily on hitting. Now, they are relying on pitching.

Ottavino: The Rockies adjusted. They learned [that relying just on hitting] really didn't work. Even in my first couple of years, the Rockies had unbelievable offense, but it just kills the team if you are allowing eight runs every night. The

Rockies made the adjustment, and we are seeing that it is paying off in terms of being consistent.

MLB.com: How much does chess help your game?

Ottavino: I think it helps because it's about seeing things ahead of time, which is what is happening in pitching. In terms of focus, I'm a believer in focus when you are on the mound. Anything I could do to practice my focus muscle -- if you will -- I will.

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Saunders vs. Kiz: Has Chad Bettis or Adam Ottavino been the happier early season surprise for the Rockies? Ottavino has been Ottomatic, but Bettis has reinvented himself as a pitcher

Patrick Saunders / DeverPost.com | May 8, 2018

Question: Has Chad Bettis or Adam Ottavino been the happier early season surprise for the Rockies?

Kiz: Know what? That Bud Black dude can manage a little. Despite often-inept hitting and an early season schedule heavily tilted to the road, where the Rockies have historically stunk, this team somehow won 20 of its first 35 games.That’s pretty, pretty good. It’s also on pace to win 92, as some knucklehead predicted. The sweet surprise has been Colorado’s pitching. So tell me, what has been the sweetest surprise on the mound?

Saunders: That’s a toughie, but I have to go with Ottomatic. I had faith that Bettis would bounce back, maybe not pitch like an ace, but I certainly thought he would be someone the staff could lean on. But what Ottavino has done so far has been unbelievable. He’s as close to a sure thing that the Rockies have right now. Heck, he’s been the surest thing in the majors. When he gives up a walk or a hit, I’m actually surprised.

Kiz: Any knucklehead crazy enough to predict the Rockies would win 92 games in 2018 had to believe the bullpen would be lights out. Speaking of which, I like the sound of Lights-Out Otto. But, as you know, I’m easily amused. Teams with a serious chance of doing damage all the way through October, however, need a staff ace. We were hoping it would be Jon

Gray. But, so far, it has been Chad Bettis. Who would’ve thunk it?

Who's the happier early-season surprise for the ?

Chad Bettis

Saunders: Kiz, I had the Rockies winning 89 games — so what’s our bet? Winner gets a burger and a beer on the

Rooftop at Coors? The thing that’s so interesting about Bettis is how he’s reinvented himself as a pitcher. He used to a be mid-90s power guy, but he’s become a master of pitch location and his is his best pitch. Who does he think he is? Greg ?

Kiz: The Bettis story of 2017 was heart-warming. He stared down cancer with courage and a smile, then returned to the starting rotation before the season was done. Compared to that comeback, maybe a 4-1 record with a microscopic 1.05 10

WHIP is no big deal. Bettis might not be a power pitcher. But he has demonstrated the strength to put the staff on his back. Nothing has been more satisfying for me to watch this spring than the startling efficiency of Bettis at work.

Saunders: I agree that Bettis is one of the stories in baseball, and not for what he’s done on the mound. Chadwick

Reginald Bettis III, as I like to call him, could have fought cancer without being public about it. Most athletes would do it that way. But Chadwick chose to share his story and he’s inspired fans all over the country. He also just happens to be one of the nicest men I’ve ever met in pro sports.

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Rockies’ hot pitchers face big challenge at home vs. Angels and The Angels lead the West with a 21-13 record and are a sizzling 13-3 on the road

Patrick Saunders / DenverPost.com | May 7, 2018

NEW YORK — Now comes the tough part for the Rockies. After an impressive 6-3 road trip, and riding a five-game winning streak, they return to Coors Field.

That’s meant to be facetious, of course, but the truth is, if the Rockies want to keep rolling, they must play better at 20th and Blake. Which is odd to say based on their history of playing well at home and awful on the road.

The challenge begins Tuesday night when the Rockies host the Angels, who lead the American League West with a 21-

13 record and are a sizzling 13-3 on the road.

Angels’ center fielder Mike Trout arrives in Denver looking even more dangerous than his normal MVP self. Trout went 3- for-4 with a three-run homer in the Angels’ 8-2 win over the Mariners on Sunday at Safeco Field, finishing the weekend with his third consecutive three-hit game. He’s hitting .545 (12-for-22) with three doubles, two triples, two home runs, six

RBIs and eight walks over six games in May. For the season he’s hitting .336 with a 1.178 OPS.

The good news for the Rockies is their young starting pitchers have been on a terrific ride, with an ERA of 1.71 over their past 11 starts, more than making up for an inconsistent offense.

“We are seeing growth in a lot of our pitchers,” manager Bud Black said. “It’s great to see. You look at the (recent) stretch of games, and every starter has pitched to a level of quality. We have been in some low-scoring games, and we had to make some pitches to keep it right there. I talk about it all the time. For us to contend, the starting pitching has to be there, and it’s been there the last couple of weeks.”

But most of that success has come on the road, where Colorado is 15-8. Its pitchers, including the bullpen, own a 3.35

ERA road, fourth-best in the .

At Coors, it’s been a different story: a 5.78 ERA, worst in the National League. It’s a small sample size, however. The

Rockies have played only 12 games at home, going 5-7. In fact, the first two months of the season is lopsided with road 12

games. After the upcoming six-game homestand, the Rockies face another nine-game road trip, this time to the West

Coast vs.division foes San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Right-hander Jon Gray is scheduled to start Tuesday against the Angels. He’s been solid on the road (2-2, 3.42 ERA) and shaky at home (1-2, 7.31). But, he’s coming off an excellent performance at Chicago where he shut down the Cubs with the wind blowing out at , allowing one run on three hits over seven innings.

Colorado’s offense, like its pitching, has yet to find its groove at home, with a .255 average. History says the offense is about to heat up, right along with the temperatures. In three of the past four seasons the Rockies have hit above .300 at

Coors.

On the road, the Rockies’ .215 average is the worst in the National League, but they’ve been saved by the long ball, slugging 33 homers, led by , who’s hit 10 of his 11 home runs on the road.

Strong-arm streak

Starting pitchers for the Rockies have been on an impressive streak over the last 11 games. Here is a look.

Date Pitcher Opponent Innings Hits BB SO ER

April 24 Kyle Freeland Padres 7 3 2 8 0

April 25 Jon Gray Padres 6 3 1 11 0

April 27 Tyler Anderson @ Marlins 1 1/3 1 1 1 0

April 28 German Marquez @ Marlins 6 6 3 6 1

April 29 Chad Bettis @ Cubs 7 4 1 5 2

April 30 Kyle Freeland @ Cubs 7 6 1 5 3

May 1 Jon Gray @ Cubs 7 3 1 6 1

May 2 Tyler Anderson @ Cubs 7 3 1 9 2

May 4 German Marquez @ Mets 6 6 0 8 2

May 5 Chad Bettis @ Mets 7 6 1 2 0

May 6 Kyle Freeland @ Mets 7 4 1 8 2

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Looking ahead…

Starting pitcher Jon Gray #55 of ...Matthew Stockman, Getty ImagesStarting pitcher Jon Gray #55 of the Colorado

Rockies throws in the first against the at Coors Field on April 25, 2018 in Denver.

Angels LHP Andrew Heaney (1-1, 5.31 ERA) at Rockies RHP Jon Gray (3-4, 4.99), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM

Heaney turned in his best outing of the season last week against Baltimore, yielding one run on five hits in six innings of work. The southpaw has only started once against the Rockies, in 2015, while Gray has also seen little of the Los Angeles hitters with only 15 career at-bats by Angels against him. With a lack of familiarity on both sides, Gray looks for his third straight win following confidence-building showings against the Padres and the Cubs, while fellow Oklahoma native

Heaney keeps searching for his groove following Tommy John surgery in 2016 and elbow inflammation that forced him to begin the season on the disabled list. — Kyle Newman, The Denver Post

Wednesday: Angels RHP Jaime Barria (2-1, 3.46) at Rockies LHP Tyler Anderson (2-0, 3.78), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM

Thursday: Brewers RHP Jhoulys Chacin (2-1, 4.54) at Rockies RHP German Marquez (2-3, 4.76), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM

Friday: Brewers RHP (3-3, 3.97) at Rockies RHP Chad Bettis (4-1, 2.05), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM

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Saunders: Looking beyond the numbers gave me a real measure of Rockies Adam Ottavino In a time when analytics increasing rule baseball writing, I sometimes feel as outdated as a fax machine

Patrick Saunders / DenverPost.com | May 7, 2018

NEW YORK — I am a dinosaur.

For one thing, I still write for a newspaper (also a web site), and I do so proudly.

But lately I’m feeling more and more like I come from the Mesozoic Era. In a time when analytics increasingly rule baseball writing, and sabermetric terms such as wRC+, FIP, x-FIP, ISO and BABIP have become the norm, I sometimes feel as outdated as a fax machine.

Hey, I’m not knocking those stats, nor am I knocking those fine folks who use them fluently, like their second language.

Launch angles, spin rates, ballpark factors and the like are all valid, usable numbers. And I occasionally incorporate some of them into my stories.

But they simply don’t interest me as much as the people in baseball: Players, managers, coaches, and all of the assorted folks behind those people.

In my Sunday profile on Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino and his lifelong love affair with his native New York, I interviewed his parents, Eve and John. They are funny, warm, big-hearted people with endless stories to share about their son. By talking with them, I discovered more about Ottavino than I ever would have had I simply crunched some numbers.

We all know that Ottavino had a terrible 2017 season, but until I talked to his dad, I didn’t really understand how Ottavino managed to turn things around this season.

Shortly after Ottavino uncorked four wild pitches during a game at Dodger Stadium last season, he hosted a team barbecue at his apartment in Denver. Ottavino’s dad, with whom he is very close, sensed that his son could use some support.

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“When Adam was stinking up the joint, I flew out to Denver to talk him off the ledge,” John recalled. “After that game in

L.A. he was in a tough place.”

John served as grill master for the Rockies players and then cleaned up the party mess. Afterward, John and his son went for a two-hour walk.

“We had been planning this B-B-Q for a while in Denver,” Ottavino recalled. “It went great. My dad was so great. Then we went for that walk and it went on pretty late. We talked, like we always do, about what was going on with me. I told him how I was feeling and he told me what he was seeing. My dad just wanted to make sure my head was OK. I was feeling the pressure of pitching poorly.”

During the walk, John took some mental notes, and when he returned to New York he typed up a to-do list for his son.

Start of something big? Kyle Freeland, rest of Rockies rotation on big-time roll

“We looked at it very rationally and we took a positive approach,” Ottavino said. “Then we put the game plan into action.”

The turnaround has been remarkable. In 16 appearances this season entering play this weekend Ottavino had multiple strikeouts in 13 games. His 31 strikeouts ranked second among National League relievers.

“People often ask me if I’m proud of Adam,” John said. “I always say, ‘I’m not proud of a duck for swimming,’ because that’s just who Adam is. He’s been good at this for a long time, but it hasn’t always come easy for him. What I’m proud of is his dedication to his passion.”

Eve and John watch every Rockies game. Every time their son pitches, each parent sends him a text.

There’s nothing to quantify what value that has, but I sure like the story.

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Rosenthal: One reason for ’s success in Houston; recalling a young Joey Votto; more news and notes

Ken Rosenthal / TheAthletic.com | May 8, 2018

Pittsburgh Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage didn’t go all in assessing the performance of his former ace,

Gerrit Cole, with the .

Bauer recently pointed out that Cole’s spin rate has increased dramatically since joining the Astros, mentioning on Twitter the link between grip substances and spin in an apparent shot at his former UCLA teammate and the Houston staff in general.

Searage, Cole’s pitching coach from 2013 to ‘17, takes a less sinister view. Cole, 27, produced five -digit games in his first seven starts for the Astros, as opposed to six in 127 career starts with the Pirates. But Searage believes the reason for his former pupil’s improvement is simple.

“He’s more relaxed,” Searage said. “He’s not the main guy anymore.”

No, Cole is in a rotation with two former Cy Young winners, and Dallas Keuchel, and two pitchers who helped the Astros win Game 7 of the World Series last season, Lance McCullers and .

The Pirates traded Cole to the Astros on Jan. 13 for , right-handers and Michael

Feliz and Double A Jason Martin. If Cole had pitched in Pittsburgh the way he has in Houston, the Pirates could have gotten more.

Cole produced a 4.26 ERA in 203 innings last season, striking out 8.69 hitters per nine innings. This season he ranks fourth in the majors with a 1.42 ERA, third with a strikeout rate of 13.68 per nine and third in swing-and-miss rate at 36 percent.

“I always challenged him,” Searage said. “I would say, ‘Go ahead. Be the best of the best. You’ve got the stuff.’

Sometimes last year, he would overthink situations and beat himself by going to a pitch: I can do this. I can spot this up.

And then it didn’t spot up.

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“Now that he’s not the man and he’s in that group over there in Houston, it’s allowing him to free up and be himself and go for it. Why he didn’t do that here, being a so-called ace, the guy we would rely on to break a skid or win a game we needed to win… he put a lot of pressure on himself.

“I always saw the ability in him. I’m so happy for him. He’s a good kid. Sometimes, he would get in his own way. Now being with Verlander and those guys — he has a history with (former Pirate) Charlie (Morton), he’s in a better place mentally. Not that the atmosphere here was bad, it’s just that he put pressure on himself.”

Some criticized the Pirates for the Cole trade, believing general manager Neal Huntington opted for quantity over quality.

To this point, however, the return looks decent, if not overwhelming.

Moran, 25, is .278 with a .774 OPS. Feliz, 24, has held opponents to a .647 OPS in 14 innings of relief. Martin, 22, is batting .296 with an .899 OPS at Double A, and Musgrove, 25, is closing in on his Pirates debut after opening the season on the disabled list with a strained right shoulder.

The Pirates, without Cole and center fielder Andrew McCutchen, are 19-16, two games back in the NL Central. Through

35 games last season, they were 14-21, six games back.

A.J. HEADED FOR BIG PAYDAY

The recent market for top free-agent center fielders seems fairly established. Dexter Fowler signed with the St. Louis

Cardinals for five years, $82.5 million entering his age 31 season, and Lorenzo Cain signed with the for five years, $80 million entering his age 32 campaign.

The ’ A.J. Pollock, the reigning National League Player of the Week, is next in line. If Pollock stays healthy and keeps performing at a high level, he might end up with a deal closer to Charlie Blackmon’s recent six-year,

$108 million contract with the Rockies — if not above.

Blackmon, who turns 32 on July 1, negotiated his deal without the benefit of free agency. Pollock, who will hit the open market entering his age 31 season, owns the same career OPS-plus as Blackmon, though in 1,125 fewer career plate 18

appearances. Both have an OPS-plus of 117, meaning their OPS is 17 percent above major-league average when adjusted for league and ballpark.

Pollock also is the highest-rated defender of the players listed above — he currently is fourth among center fielders in , and has never been below 10th in his healthy seasons. His only negative has been injuries that limited him to 75 games in 2014, 12 in ‘16 and 112 in ‘17.

The first of his issues, a fractured right hand from a Johnny Cueto , was a fluke. The second, a fractured right elbow, was repaired with a plate and screws. The third, a right groin strain, kept Pollock out for seven weeks last season.

Pollock is not going to be in Bryce Harper- territory as a free agent, but the monster contracts those two are expected to receive likely will make him seem like a bargain in comparison.

BREWERS: A FIT FOR REALMUTO?

The Milwaukee Brewers’ biggest perceived need is starting pitching, but the team ranks 21st in OPS at second base, 26th at and 30th at . Stephen Vogt isn’t likely to be helpful behind the plate anytime soon; he left his rehabilitation assignment on Sunday and returned to Milwaukee for tests after experiencing a setback with his right shoulder.

Manny Pina, the Brewers’ regular catcher, is batting .185 with a .602 OPS and rates as one of the game’s poorer framers, so trade interest in the Miami Marlins’ J.T. Realmuto certainly would make sense. The Marlins know the Brewers’ system well from the talks during the off-season. Realmuto, earning $2.9 million this season with two additional years of control remaining, would fit the Brewers’ long-term plans.

Baseball America ranked the Brewers’ farm system 11th in the majors even after the Yelich trade, but the team might prioritize other needs over catcher. Shortstop might not be one of them — Orlando Arcia, though batting .222 with a .566

OPS, rates as an elite defender. Second base, on the other hand, remains a major concern, with the combination of

Jonathan Villar and Eric Sogard struggling. The rotation, 16th in the majors with a 3.97 ERA, likely will need reinforcement as well.

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RECALLING THE YOUNG HADER

Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter remembers the first time he saw , not long after the Orioles selected the left-hander in the 19th round of the 2012 draft.

Hader, a local selection from Old Mill H.S. in Millersville, Md., had received the Orioles’ blessing to start the Brooks

Robinson All-Star Game at Camden Yards. The All-Star Game followed an Orioles afternoon game, and Dean Albany, the team’s mid-Atlantic executive scout, asked Showalter to stick around to watch Hader, who was then 18 years old.

“I go out, sit in the camera well,” Showalter recalls. “There are maybe 150 people in the stands. He comes in, he’s about

6-foot-1, 175 pounds. He’s got a funky, upside-down arm angle from the side, doing everything he can to throw 88.

“I look over at Dean and say, ‘This is your guy?’ He said, ‘Yeah, his dad’s big, his mom’s big, he’s gonna get bigger, great kid, funky arm angle, left-handed.’”

Albany said Hader at that time was, “all projection,” meaning, a scout had to envision what he might become. Tim

McMullen, Albany’s former high-school coach, lived near Old Mill and alerted Albany to Hader late in the pitcher’s senior year.

“I was in the Dominican at the time,” Albany recalled. “I said, ‘How many starts does he have left?’ (McMullen) said he only had two starts left. So I sent one of my associates over there. He called me after the game and said, ‘This kid is really interesting. I don’t know what he is. But he’s something.’

“I went to his last start of the year. He showed a lot of athleticism, really fielded his position well, went over and caught a in front of the third-base making a diving play. I didn’t know what he’d be. I certainly don’t know Josh would become the elite pitcher that he has, or we wouldn’t have waited until the 19th round.”

Just 13 months after drafting Hader, the Orioles traded him and outfielder L.J. Hoes to the Houston Astros for right-hander

Bud Norris. The Astros made an even worse trade two years later when Hader was at Double A, sending him to the

Milwaukee Brewers along with right-hander Adrian Houser and Domingo Santana and Brett Phillips for outfielder Carlos Gomez, right-hander Mike Fiers and cash. 20

Hader, now 24, is averaging 19.35 strikeouts per nine innings, tops among major-league relievers. He has allowed just 11 baserunners in 20 innings. Left-handed hitters are 1-for-19 against him with 14 strikeouts and three walks.

RECALLING THE YOUNG VOTTO

San Francisco Giants Brandon Belt, like Reds counterpart Joey Votto, sometimes gets criticized for being overly selective. New Giants hitting coach Alonzo Powell, who managed Votto at Dayton in 2004, knows better than to join the chorus.

Recalling his days with Votto, Powell said, “I used to get mad all the time. Votto would take a close pitch and not swing.

As I evolved as a coach, I kind of laughed. When I see Joey, I’m like, ‘Man, you were smarter than everybody when I had you 14 years ago.’”

The Reds selected Votto in the second round of the 2002 draft, then jumped him from rookie ball to Dayton in ‘03. It was too much, too soon — Votto struggled and returned to Dayton to start the ’04 season, when Powell took over as manager.

“I called him into the office. before the season. I said, ‘Joey, you’re going to hit third and play first every day until you come in my office and tell me you don’t want to play,” Powell recalled. “I said, ‘I don’t care if you’re hitting .500 or you’re hitting

.100, you’re hitting third and playing first. We’re going to find out if you’re a player or not.

“He finally came into my office in June or July, said, ‘I’m getting a little tired. I could use a day.’ I kind of acted like I was looking at my paperwork. I said, ‘Ok, I’ll tell you what, a lefty is pitching today. I’m never going to give you a day off against a lefty because if you want to be a star, you’ve got to hit lefties. I’ll give you tomorrow off against a right-hander.’

“He kind of looked at me like, ‘You got me.’ I said, ‘Listen, it’s all about development. If you want to be a star, you can’t take those days off, especially now in the minor leagues against these lefties. You’ve got to learn how to hit them.”

Votto became a star, and Belt, who also bats left-handed, is not far from one. Belt, 30, is batting .290 with six home runs and a .949 OPS, and his career OPS-plus of 128 is the same as that of Anthony Rizzo.

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‘LONGO’ AND ‘CUTCH’ SETTLING IN

Powell says of Giants newcomers Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen: “The thing I like is that they’re both willing to be coached. They want to be coached. They’re open to new ideas.”

Powell added, “Something you’ve got to factor in that we kind of take for granted is that everything is new for both of those guys. They’re established stars who were the faces of their franchises. But Evan had never been to San Diego, had never played in San Francisco. That’s not an excuse not to play well, but your comfort level means a lot. Sometimes, it takes you time to get comfortable in the situation you’re in. Both of those guys are very comfortable now.”

Longoria rebounded from batting .114 with a .396 OPS in his first nine games by hitting .287 with an .886 OPS in his next

24. McCutchen batted .198 with a .652 OPS in his first 25 games, but has hit .407 with a 1.071 in his last eight.

The differences in their respective on-base percentages remain significant, however: McCutchen is at .375, Longoria .262.

D-BACKS’ KOCH: ANOTHER FISTER?

Right-hander Matt Koch, the D-Backs’ replacement for the injured Taijuan Walker, became the first pitcher to face different MVPs ( and Justin Verlander) in back-to-back starts since Ed Lopat with the in 1947, according to STATS LCC.

Koch, 27, fared well in both starts, allowing a combined three earned runs in 11 1/3 innings. Yet, Koch remains a relative unknown, in part because he made only 12 starts in the minors and one relief appearance in the majors last season due to a right shoulder impingement and a blister issue.

Some D-Backs officials compare him to a young Doug Foster — Koch isn’t particularly adept at missing bats, but his command allows him to pitch to the team’s game plans and induce weak contact. Like Fister, he also has mound presence, and rarely loses focus.

Former D-Backs GM Dave Stewart acquired Koch from the in the Addison Reed trade on Aug. 29, 2015

THE PIRATES’ MYSTERY MAN 22

Who is Richard Rodriguez, the right-hander who has struck out 21 and walked only one in 11 1/3 innings for the

Pittsburgh Pirates?

Just another out-of-nowhere reliever who, at least for the moment, is making an impact.

Rodríguez, 28, made his major-league debut for the Baltimore Orioles last September, and signed with the Pirates as a minor-league free agent in December.

Searage said Rodríguez was “just OK” in , but he has been much better than that since the start of the season despite averaging a relatively pedestrian 93 mph with his fastball.

“He hides the ball behind him real well, and before you know it, it’s on you,” Searage said. “And he’s executing pitches.”

The Pirates are working with Rodríguez on his and trying to get him to incorporate a changeup.

AROUND THE HORN

— left-hander Clayton Kershaw would forfeit $65 million over two years if he opts out of his contract at the end of the season.

Kershaw almost certainly could beat that on the open market even if he missed significant time with biceps tendonitis.

Still, this is his third straight season on the disabled list, and fourth out of his last five. His previous stints all were for back trouble.

—The Colorado Rockies’ rotation has produced a 1.71 ERA in the team’s last 11 games, with the team going 8-3 in that stretch. The pitchers’ improvement might be attributable, in part, to their increasing comfort with catcher , who is in his first year back with the club after getting traded to the for right-hander Tyler Chatwood on Nov. 30, 2011.

Iannetta has started six of the 11 games during the Rockies’ run, with Tony Wolters catching the other five. Young pitchers often are afraid to shake off a veteran catcher in spring training, making it difficult for the catcher to learn their 23

tendencies. A catcher, too, must learn to distinguish which youngsters are better off relying on their plus stuff when they might not be mature enough to set up hitters and attack weaknesses.

—Credit to the Mariners’ Dee Gordon, who is tied with José Altuve for second in the majors in hits while playing center field for the first time in his career.

Gordon’s defensive metrics are poor, but the Mariners expected a rocky period as he transitioned from second base.

Some of his mistakes — over-running balls, mistiming plays at the wall — should diminish in time. His speed will be an asset long-term.

—The allowed 20 walks in 30 2/3 innings while getting swept by the St. Louis Cardinals last weekend at

Busch Stadium. The Cardinals, by contrast, allowed only six walks in 33 innings.

The walk rate of the Cubs’ pitching staff, a topic of conversation all season, actually has been a creeping problem. From

2015 to ‘18, the Cubs have dropped from fifth to 15th to 22nd to 27th in fewest walks per nine innings.

—And finally, speaking of walk rates, who would have guessed the — with Scott Emerson in his first full season as pitching coach — would lead the majors with just 2.54 walks per nine innings?

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BSN Exclusive: Ryan McMahon opens up on big-league struggles

Drew Creasman / BSNDenver.com | May 7, 2018

The very moment the Colorado Rockies selected Ryan McMahon with their second pick in the 2013 Draft, the questions began to arise about where he would play.

Sure, he was barely out of high school and still four years away from making his MLB debut, but his overwhelming skillset and advanced mind for the game made it clear, at least to me, that his call-up was an inevitability.

But just one month before the draft, Colorado debuted a new third baseman who you may have heard of before. It took a moment for Nolan Arenado to on in the national conversation as a superstar but those with a wide-angle view of the organization suddenly saw a cornerstone playing the same position as one of the club’s most promising prospects.

Additionally, with McMahon’s athleticism, the writing was on the wall that his days of regularly patrolling the hot corner would have to be limited if he was going to find his place.

Over the last two years, the former high school quarterback has added first and second base to his resume, showing a particular affinity for first, employing his 6’3 frame for optimal use.

But even the willingness to find a new position hasn’t cleared a path for McMahon. Now in his rookie season, rewarded with a 25-man roster spot after an excellent spring training, he is still looking for his place on the roster, and his stride in the batter’s box.

Those predicting he would burst onto the scene (guilty) were in for a rude awakening. He collected just two hits and three walks in his first 30 plate appearances over 16 games. But he has fared much better in his last 13 MLB games (31 plate appearances), throwing out seven hits and seven walks, including a double, for a .292 batting average and .452 on-base percentage.

I mention to ‘RyMac’ that with each passing at-bat, he looks more and more comfortable at the plate.

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“Yeah, I do feel, slowly but surely getting back into it,” he replied. “Like to maybe stop hitting balls so much to the right side, maybe get back up the middle a bit. But, right now I’m just trying to get in there and help the team. Honestly, it feels really good getting on base and being a part of it and stuff like that.”

Before the hits started to show up, McMahon was showcasing his increased comfortability by taking more relaxed at-bats and being more selective with what pitches to take a chance on, leading to more walks. I asked if that was a purposeful decision or if it just happened to be that he was finally seeing some pitches that were missing the edges instead of hitting them.

“Little bit of both,” he said. “Earlier, I’d probably be swinging at a lot of those pitches. Now I’m kind of just like, ‘Hey, that’s not something I’m going to swing at. They call it a ball or strike, whatever, but that’s not something I’m going to swing at with less than two strikes.’ Just kind of getting back, honestly, to something I kind of did last year really well. I’m going to swing at my pitches until I’ve got two strikes. Just kind of getting back to that important part of seeing pitches.”

When the game speeds up but you are getting fewer opportunities than you are used to, it can be tempting to swing at anything you think manageable instead of being patient, hunting for that pitch you can truly do damage with. It certainly doesn’t help that pitchers at this level are experts in praying on any lack of patience by working with stuff that has greater velocity and break than anyone in the minors. There is no way to emulate what trying to hit an MLB is really like.

“Gets better at every level,” says McMahon. “There’s better sliders, better . It just reinforces that you have to be in your best spot, have your best swing day in and day out to compete with these guys. So I’m just learning that, how to deal with that, learning how to get through the days where I don’t feel the best. Maybe fight some pitches off, get a walk a walk, something like that, something to help the team. So, just the little things.”

As he said, and as the team recognized in sending him back to Triple-A to iron some of these things out, this is all new to

McMahon. The quality of pitching, the role he has been asked to fill, even at times the position he has been asked to play.

Since returning to Albuquerque, McMahon has been getting work in at second base for the first time this year, one of many indications that his “demotion” had more to do with giving him an environment to work on a few things rather than as a punishment for lack of production in April. 26

And you could already see the talented rookie making those adjustments.

“I think the most important thing was, in the beginning, I would overanalyze that one at-bat,” McMahon says of his slow start. “Because, you go for a day where you’re 2-for-4, you don’t think about the two bad at-bats. You think about the two good at-bats. So, then to have the one bad at-bat, you start overanalyzing it, tweak things that probably don’t need tweaking. Just little things like that. I think I’m doing a better job just flushing it and moving on to the next one.”

It takes a lot of mental toughness to overlook a .000 batting average for a series even if you only had two at-bats. Now

McMahon will need to flush his struggles that marked the beginning of the 2018 season and get to repeating what was working just before he was sent down.

Everything we’ve seen from him up to this point suggests that Ryan McMahon will be back to MLB this season and better than we last saw him. But these next few weeks are vital in the ongoing process of turning him from one of the most promising prospects in the minors to one of the most promising young players in the bigs.

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Ringolsby: How one of the greatest to ever play was overlooked by everyoneTracy Ringolsby

Tracy Ringolsby / BSNDenver.com | May 8, 2018

Jeff Scott can’t help but laugh when he thinks back 19 years, to that day in June 1999, when as the scouting director of the St. Louis Cardinals he used the team’s 13th round draft choice, the 402nd player selected that year, to announce on the conference call, “The St. Louis Cardinals selected Pujols, Albert, a third baseman from Maple Woods Community

College in Kansas City, Mo.”

Go figure, right after the Angels made Alfredo Amazega the 401st player taken that draft, and seconds before

Toronto selected right-handed pitcher Marc Bluma with the 403rd pick, Scott called out the name of Pujols, who last weekend became the 32nd player in Major League history to collect 3,000 hits, and only the fourth to have both 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.

It is not that Pujols was an unknown.

The attendance for the Rockies games on Tuesday and Wednesday will be bigger than one would normally expect because, after all, Pujols, fresh off that milestone hit in Seattle, and the Angels will be in town. And diehard baseball fans don’t want to miss a chance to see a future Hall of Famer play.

“He is one of those guys people stop to watch when he comes to the plate,” said Scott. “That guy selling beer, he’s not pouring when Albert comes up. He’s watching, too.”

And old-time baseball folks are muttering about “how the heck did that guy get past us?”

Don’t ask Pujols. He doesn’t understand it.

Hey, on draft day he thought the Rays might take him in the second round. But no call came.

He was told by several scouts he’d be taken somewhere in the first five rounds, but it didn’t happen. The Mets indicated an interest of drafting him in the ninth round, but his agent scared them off.

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The Red Sox were ready to call his name in the 10th round but weren’t going to offer money for college, which Pujols felt was a necessity in case baseball didn’t work out.

So there he was when it came time for the Cardinals to make selection No. 402 in the 13th round. Scott made the call.

“I have guys to this day asking me how I could have taken him that late,” said Scott. “I just tell them, `Hey, we drafted him.

That’s more than the other clubs did.”

Scott said the Cardinals knew who he was. He had been seen by the Cardinals area scout Dave Karaff, who lived in

Kansas City-area, national cross-checker Mike Roberts, Karaff’s brother-in-law also lived in the Kansas City-area, and regional cross-checker Clark Crist.

“I want to say all three guys wrote Albert up the same way,” said Scott. “They all put a 50 on him. Obviously, he’s better than a 50, but that’s how they saw him. They never asked me to see him.

“So now we are there on draft day. We go through 12 rounds, and Mike is sitting next to me and leans over and goes,

`There’s that Pujols boy. We got (No. 1) on our third base list. He’s a pretty good bat. We maybe should take him next round.’

“So he didn’t get drafted by anyone else so we took him. Then I saw him after we drafted him and I’m like, `Oh my God.’

It took all summer to sign him.”

Finally, the deal got done. Pujols received a $30,000 bonus and $30,000 for college, which was the stumbling block initially.

Once he signed he didn’t waste time. He played at the A level in his pro debut except for three games at season’s end when he was promoted to Triple-A, and the next spring he wound up forcing his way onto the big-league roster.

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“We brought Albert over from the minor league camp because Bobby Bonilla got hurt in spring training,” said Scott.

“Bonilla was going to be our fourth, fifth outfielder and occasionally fill in at first for (Mark) McGwire. He got hurt and we brought Albert over.

“He played the that first day and had two, three, four hits, I’m not sure, but they brought him back (to big league camp) the next day, and the next thing you know it’s the end of spring training, and his name gets brought up. I don’t remember anybody pooh-poohing him breaking with the big-league team. You saw him play a game or two and you knew he had big-league ability.”

And he has proven that, time and again, putting up those Cooperstown worthy numbers that will earn him a plaque in the

Hall of Fame along with and , who along with are the only others to have crossed both the 3,000 hit and 600 home runs barrier.

Not bad for a guy who held out for that $30,000 of college money because, “I told my wife I was going to play three years in the minors, and if I don’t make it, I’ll retire. … But it just took me one year to prove people they were wrong.”

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Tuesday 4x4: Ohtani at Coors? Maybe in a Pinch

Tracy Ringolsby / InsidetheSeams.com | May 8, 2018

Two weeks ago, the scenario was in place for Shohei Ohtani to start for the Angels in the series opener against the

Rockies Tuesday night at Coors Field. Then Ohtani suffered a slight ankle sprain, and his previous start was push back five days to Sunday.

Now, it is unlikely Rockies fans will see Ohtani at Coors unless it is during batting practice or he gets called on to pinch- hit.

Ohtani has appeared in 21 games for the Angels -- five as a and 16 in which he has swung a bat, serving as the DH 15 times and pinch-hitting once. The Angels don't mind him hitting, but want to limit his activity in the field to avoid an injury that could keep him from taking his turn in the rotation.

So far, the 23-year-old Ohtani has been everything advertised. Ohtani is 3-1 in five starts, and the Angels won his no- decision. As a hitter he leads the team with a .339 average, and despite the fact he is seventh on the team in at-bats, he is fifth on the team with four home runs and 14 RBI.

The Angels at the Plate

Pos Regulars G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA

C Martin Maldonado (BrvList) 23 85 75 8 16 4 0 1 8 5 16 0.213

1B 32 140 133 16 34 7 0 6 20 5 18 0.256

2B 21 96 86 10 17 3 0 1 2 8 10 0.198

SS Andrelton Simmons 32 132 120 22 42 9 1 3 21 10 9 0.35

3B Luis Valbuena 32 105 98 12 26 2 0 4 12 6 29 0.265

LF Justin Upton 34 153 135 22 32 5 0 6 21 13 40 0.237

CF Mike Trout 34 155 125 29 42 8 2 12 24 28 29 0.336

RF Kole Calhoun 29 118 114 10 19 0 1 1 10 4 33 0.167

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Pos Regulars G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA

DH Shohei Ohtani 16 64 59 10 20 3 1 4 14 5 14 0.339

Pos Reserves G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA

IF Zack Cozart 29 129 118 17 28 8 2 4 12 7 22 0.237

CI Jefry Marte 22 55 51 8 17 4 1 2 8 4 8 0.333

C Rene Rivera 18 46 43 5 12 3 0 1 8 2 17 0.279

UT Chris Young 21 41 36 4 6 1 0 2 5 4 13 0.167

RF Jabari Blash 1 5 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0.25

C Juan Graterol 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Rockies manager Bud Black will have a reunion with Angels manager Mike Scioscia. Black was the pitching coach for

Scioscia and the Angels from 2000-06. He was part of a coaching staff for the 2002 world champion Angels along with bullpen coach Joe Maddon, who has since managed the Rays and Cubs, and third base coach Ron Roenicke, who managed the Brewers.

The Scioscia Managerial Tree

Manager Team Years W-L Pct Post-Seasons History

Mike Scioscia Angels 2000-present 1591-1359 0.539 2002 World Championship

6 additional ALW Titles

Joe Maddon Angels 1996, 1999 Interim 27-24 0.529

Rays 2006-2014 754-795 0.517 2008 AL Champion

2010 ALE Title

2011, 2013 AL Wild-Card

Cubs 2015-18 308-208 0.597 2016 World Championship

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Manager Team Years W-L Pct Post-Seasons History

2015 NL Wild-Card

2017 AL Central

Total 1089-937 0.538

Bud Black Padres 2007-2015 649-713 0.477

Rockies 2017-18 107-90 0.543 2017 NL Wild-Card

Total 756-803 0.485

Ron Roenicke Brewers 2011-15 342-331 0.508

The Rockies are at home, but that's not necessarily good, especially against the Angels. The Rockies are 5-7 at Coors

Field this season, the ninth worst home record among the 30 MLB teams. The Angeles, meanwhile, are a best-in-- baseball 13-3 on the road. Oh, and in inter-league play, the Angels have an 11-2 edge on the Rockies at Coors

Field https://www.insidetheseams.com/on-deck/2018/5/7/scouting-report-angels-at-rockies-by-the-numbers

HOME ON THE ROAD

Worst At Home W L Pct Best on the Road W L Pct

Chicago White Sox 3 13 0.188 Los Angeles Angels 13 3 0.813

Cincinnati Reds 4 14 0.222 Boston Red Sox 14 5 0.737

Texas Rangers 5 15 0.25 Arizona Diamondbacks 10 5 0.667

Kansas City Royals 6 13 0.316 New York Mets 10 5 0.667

Baltimore Orioles 5 10 0.333 10 5 0.667

San Diego Padres 7 13 0.35 Colorado Rockies 15 8 0.652

Miami Marlins 7 11 0.389 Houston Astros 11 6 0.647

New York Mets 7 10 0.412 Seattle Mariners 11 6 0.647

Colorado Rockies 5 7 0.417 11 7 0.611

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Worst At Home W L Pct Best on the Road W L Pct

Los Angeles Angels 8 10 0.444 Milwaukee Brewers 11 7 0.611

Inter-league play is a challenge for the Rockies, who will be playing their first AL team of 2018 with the series against the

Angels. The Rockies have had a winning record in inter-league play in only seven of the previous seasons of inter-league play. But then only two NL teams have an all-time winning record in inter-league play -- the Mets and the Cardinals.

INTER-LEAGUE PLAY NOT AN AMERICAN JOY

NL Teams W L Pct Rockies W L Pct

Mets 185 177 0.511 2009 11 4 0.733

Cardinals 172 165 0.51 2006 11 4 0.733

Cubs 168 169 0.499 2003 9 6 0.6

Braves 178 181 0.496 2010 9 6 0.6

Giants 178 181 0.496 1997 9 7 0.563

Marlins 185 189 0.495 2007 10 8 0.556

Dodgers 175 181 0.492 2011 8 7 0.533

Nationals 186 194 0.489 2017 10 10 0.5

D-backs 157 181 0.464 2000 6 6 0.5

Brewers 146 170 0.462 2008 7 8 0.467

Pirates 155 182 0.46 2016 9 11 0.45

Rockies 149 189 0.441 2004 8 10 0.444

Phillies 161 207 0.438 2005 6 9 0.4

Padres 150 207 0.42 2002 7 11 0.389

Reds 140 198 0.414 2014 7 13 0.35

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NL Teams W L Pct Rockies W L Pct

1999 4 8 0.333

1998 4 8 0.333

2015 5 15 0.25

2013 5 15 0.25

2001 2 10 0.167

2012 2 13 0.133

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Ian Desmond looks to turn a new corner, reverts back to old swing

Alex Becker / MileHighSports.com | May 7, 2018

During Spring Training, Ian Desmond made some tweaks to his swing, such as starting his hands in a lower position to achieve a shorter path to the baseball. The objective? Increase his power. But after owning a.188 Batting Average through the first 33 games of the season, Desmond has decided to go back to his old swing.

“A few years ago, I made a commitment that I was going to be married to my swing,” Desmond said on the Rockies TV broadcast. “During the offseason and Spring Training, I cheated on my swing. You stray, you pay. She has made me pay for about a month and change. We are in counseling. Hopefully, we are getting back on good terms.”

In the midst of his two- performance that propelled the Rockies to a 3-2 victory over the New York Mets Sunday, a truly amazing stat was revealed. Desmond’s no-doubter off Noah Syndergaard in the second inning was his first hit in the air to left field since early September of last year. For a guy with 145 career home runs, that is hard to believe, but it may be the start of a resurgence.

In 73.3 percent of Desmond’s at-bats in April, the second-year Rockies utility man hit the ball on the ground. Only three players since in the last decade have had a higher ground ball percentage in a single month.

With Desmond reverting back to his old swing, he hopes to reduce his ground ball ratio and take advantage of the spacious gaps at Coors Field.

On Desmond’s first home run Sunday, Syndergaard came inside with a 97-MPH fastball that Desmond then turned around and deposited off the facade of the second deck at Citi Field. This was the type of pitch that Desmond routinely rolled over on in the first month of the season.

If Desmond can carry over the momentum from Sunday’s victory and continue to get the ball elevated at home, expect his slugging percentage to improve considerably at Coors Field. In 225 career trips to the plate at Coors Field, Desmond has only three home runs.

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In an era where managers prioritize the long ball, the Rockies could really use more production from Desmond, who already has six round-trippers on the year. A year ago, he only hit seven home runs in 95 games after signing a $70 million contract in the offseason.

Desmond is currently expected to be in the Rockies everyday lineup, as 23-year old first baseman Ryan McMahon was sent down to Triple-A last week, leaving the team without a true first baseman on the active roster.

The Rockies begin a six-game home stand Tuesday night, hosting the Los Angeles Angels. It will be a chance for

Desmond to get it going in his home ballpark. And a chance for him to earn his $22 million salary in 2018.

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Four takeaways from a successful road trip

Trevor Rich / MileHighSports.com | May 7, 2018

The Colorado Rockies swept the New York Mets Sunday and in doing so took six of nine games overall on their extended road trip. The Rockies will return to Colorado with an overall record of 20-15 after back-to-back series wins. Here are four takeaways from the successful road trip.

Starting Pitching found its groove:

Even after losing three out of four games to start the trip, the Rockies starting pitching was remarkable. With Kyle

Freeland’s quality start yesterday, the Rockies extended their streak of quality starts to eight. That is tied for the longest streak in franchise history. Dating back to the final two games of the San Diego Padres series, Colorado starting pitching has combined for a 1.71 ERA in their past 11 games.

Early road success is crucial:

The Rockies concluded the nine-game road trip with six wins. After only scoring two runs in the opening series in Miami, the club was able rebound well at Chicago and New York. They should return to Coors Field with extreme confidence.

Away from home, the Rockies are an impressive seven games above .500 (15-8). Now they will look for their success on the road to translate at home, as the Rockies are just 5-7 in Colorado this season. Last year, Colorado finished 41-40 on the road and will look to duplicate that success this year. If the Rockies can finish above .500 on the road this season, they should be right in the thick of the playoff race come the seasons end.

Chicks dig the long ball:

Colorado has always been notorious for hitting home runs and this year has been no different. The Rockies currently lead the National League with 46 home runs, 33 of which, have come on the road. Most notably, Charlie Blackmon is second in the NL with 11 dingers (10 on the road). The Rockies hit 13 home runs on this most recent road trip and now will look to take the hot bats back to the home ballpark for a pair of series.

The bullpen saves the day:

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Between Wade Davis and Adam Ottavino, the back end of Colorado’s bullpen has been phenomenal. Davis was able to collect four saves during the road trip and his ERA now sits at 2.51. Ottavino has been one of the best pitchers in baseball to start the year, with an ERA of 0.47.

The Rockies have one of the best back ends in baseball through the early portion of the season. When Jake Mcgee (5.68

ERA) and Bryan Shaw (6.06 ERA) figure it out, the Rockies could be as dangerous as ever

Whats next:

The Rockies return home for a six-game home stand with the Angels and Brewers. The Rockies and Angels are currently projected to start the following pitchers:

Jon Gray vs. Andrew Heaney (Tuesday)

Tyler Anderson vs. Jaime Barria (Wednesday).

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Is the Rockies offense actually overachieving? A breakdown of the splits How the team fares against righties and lefties, and what to do about it

Purple Row Staff / PurpleRow.com | May 7, 2018

The Rockies have a roster—and in particular an outfield—full of left-handed hitters. Carlos Gonzáles, Gerardo

Parra, Charlie Blackmon, and are all left-handed, and the Rockies have regularly placed utilityman Pat

Valaika in the starting lineup against lefties to avoid left-on-left matchups. Earlier this year, the Rockies demoted Mike

Tauchmann and called up Noel Cuevas, presumably because (in addition to Tauchmann’s struggles) Cuevas provided a much-needed right-handed bat off the bench.

Yet while all this suggests that the Rockies should be more successful against righties than lefties, the reverse is true. The

Rockies are below average (20th) in the league against left-handed pitching, with a wRC+ of 93. Against right-handed pitching, the team is dead last, with an atrocious wRC+ of 65.

What’s going on?

Let’s take a look at the Rockies versus lefties, minimum 20 PA:

Rockies v. LHP

Name PA % in 2018 2018 wRC+ 3-Year wRC+ Average Difference

Trevor Story 11.30% 134 144 -10

Nolan Arenado 10.46% 221 136 85

Charlie Blackmon 10.04% 172 112 60

Ian Desmond 10.04% 128 102 26

DJ LeMahieu 9.00% 182 123 59

Chris Iannetta 8.58% 80 122 -42

Gerardo Parra 7.11% 75 76 -1

Carlos Gonzalez 6.49% 0 49 -49

Pat Valaika 6.90% -37 120 -157

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On the left is the percentage of plate appearances each player has versus left-handed pitching; in other words, Trevor

Story has accounted for 11% of the team’s total plate appearances versus lefties. Next is each player’s wRC+ against lefties this year, then their three-year wRC+ against lefties, and then the difference between their performance this year and their three-year average. Beware small sample sizes: for players like Pat Valaika, the three-year average doesn’t mean much.

A few things stand out about this table. The first and most obvious thing is that the five players who account for the most plate appearances versus left-handed pitching all have a wRC+ above 100. There are several players with below-average numbers against lefties this year—González and Valaika stand out—but they simply haven’t played as much and only account for about 13% of the team’s at-bats.

The other thing that stands out is that the players who see lefties the most are almost all overachieving right now—and several players are really overachieving. Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and DJ LeMahieu are all sporting a wRC+ of over 50 points higher than their career numbers.

In Nolan’s case, that might be sustainable—he had a wRC+ of 220 (!) versus lefties last year—but an increase that large is probably unsustainable across the board. You may not be used to hearing “Rockies offense” and “overachieving” in the same sentence this year, but that’s exactly what the team has been doing against left-handed pitching thus far.

Now let’s look at how the team fares against righties:

Rockies v. RHP

Name PA % in 2018 2018 wRC+ 3-Year wRC+ Average Difference

Trevor Story 11.01% 76 82 -6

Charlie Blackmon 10.24% 155 132 23

DJ LeMahieu 9.86% 93 98 -5

Nolan Arenado 9.35% 117 122 -5

Ian Desmond 9.35% -31 85 -116

Gerardo Parra 8.58% 56 94 -38

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Name PA % in 2018 2018 wRC+ 3-Year wRC+ Average Difference

Carlos Gonzalez 7.04% 79 125 -46

Chris Iannetta 6.66% 69 76 -7

Ryan McMahon 6.15% 18 68 -50

Tony Wolters 4.74% -7 70 -77

Pat Valaika 3.97% -12 68 -80

David Dahl 3.07% 252 122 130

The takeaways here are slightly different. Nobody is significantly overachieving, although Desmond, Wolters, and Valaika are significantly underachieving, as each player currently has a wRC+ of fifty points less than their three-year average.

Right behind them are Parra and González, who are over thirty points lower than usual. Again, beware the small sample sizes for (especially) Valaika and McMahon.

It may be tempting to conclude that the Rockies are merely overachieving versus lefties and underachieving versus righties, but that’s not exactly right. Unfortunately, the players who are overachieving account for more of the team’s at- bats than those who are underachieving.

Specifically, the Rockies are drastically overachieving (a wRC+ difference of over 50%) in 29% of their at-bats against left- handed pitching, while they’re drastically underachieving in just 18% of their at-bats against righties. So, to be precise, the

Rockies are overachieving versus lefties and underachieving versus righties, but they’re overachieving in more at-bats than they’re underachieving.

Of course, there are some reasons for optimism. As bad as Desmond has been, he has been uncharacteristically awful against righties, and yesterday’s game offers some hope that a course-correction might be in order. And even if Desmond doesn’t improve, the Rockies should do considerably better against righties with David Dahl in the lineup.

But these tables also illustrate the problem with the Rockies’ overabundance of left-handed outfielders. Four of the top six hitters against left-handers over the last three years are outfielders—Parra, CarGo, Chuck, and Dahl. If the Rockies could

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allocate their plate appearances versus righties to favor those four, they’d improve. Unfortunately for the team, most major league teams have three outfielders, not four.

What should the Rockies do about this problem? I’ll keep these recommendations in the realm of the reasonable—i.e., within the current 25-man roster:

1. Thou shalt not sit David Dahl, especially against righties

Keeping Dahl out of the lineup on Friday and Saturday was inexcusable. Dahl should start every day. If, for some reason,

Dahl isn’t going to start every day, he should at least start against right-handed pitchers. Dahl is probably the Rockies fourth-best overall hitter—against righties, he’s the third-best.

2. Play Gerardo Parra at first-base against righties

Yes, I know, there’s a time-honored tradition of putting people at first-base who don’t belong anywhere else. I wish we had a real first-baseman too. If you want to make the team better, you should convince another team that they need some leadership, make a few trades, and call up Raimel Tapia and Ryan McMahon. But if you can’t (or won’t) do that, you should play Parra at first against righties.

Desmond’s retooled swing has resulted in some drastic platoon splits. Unless last night was the start of a turnaround (and nobody should believe that until he starts to have more good games than bad), the Rockies need to find a way to take

Desmond (-31 wRC+) and Pat Valaika (-12 wRC+) out of the starting lineup when a right-hander is on the mound. There’s an obvious defensive risk putting Parra at first, but hey, he’s not exactly replacing a gold glover either.

3. Send down Pat Valaika, or at least confine him to pinch-hitting

I know—I said I would stay within the confines of the active roster. But as these numbers show, Valaika has the dubious honor of being the only player with a negative wRC+ against both righties and lefties. Patty Barrels was fantastic last year, but at this point it’s clear that he needs a break.

Will these suggestions fix the Rockies offense? Not entirely. Among other things, this breakdown illustrates a simple truth:

The Rockies’ right-handed hitters are generally better than their left-handed ones. The fact that González and Parra are left-handed is a problem, sure, but the bigger problem is that they’re just not that good anymore. 43

For now, though, the organization seems either committed to what they have, willing to wait, or too stubborn to cut bait.

Even within those confines, the Rockies do have some options—and they should be willing to consider them to improve the team.

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Colorado Rockies: A case for seeing more of Tony Wolters

Nick Bunney / RoxPile.com | May 8, 2018

With Kyle Freeland at the plate in the top of the 6th inning of the Colorado Rockies 3-2 win over the Mets on Sunday,

Tony Wolters took a chance in a tight game and broke for second base. Typically, with two outs and your pitcher at the dish, a runner at first should be growing roots in the ground. But Tony Wolters is not a typical baseball player.

Instead of dropping into a controlled, headfirst that minimizes impact with the ground–you know, a good slide–Tony

Wolters went full . Like a football player laying out for the pylon, he leaped up, not down, and hung in the air long enough for him to remember how hard the ground is, I’m sure, and then smashed into it with his first of the year. Instead of his body swinging gracefully to the side of second base, he bounced and thudded to a halt like a Tiger

Woods 9 iron. Here’s a picture of the slide below.

I bring up this particular play because it highlights why the undersized, middle infielder-converted catcher is such a valuable member of the team, and why I think he should start seeing more starts moving forward. That kind of effort, tenacity, and giving oneself up for the team is the difference in a lot of these close games the Rockies have found themselves in, and the difference between a good season and a magical one.

None of this is any sort of knock on Chris Iannetta. I think he was a good pick up for the Rockies this off season and there is no doubt that he brings a tremendous level of experience and skill behind the plate. In fact, I think Chris should certainly start against all lefties. He boasts a career .848 OPS against lefties. Against righties, however, I’d like to see a little more Tony. Hang with me here.

As baseball fans, we love pointing to stats. So let’s do that. All of the following statistics are courtesy of Baseball-

Reference.com. There’s no doubt that from an offensive numbers perspective, Iannetta has the advantage. While both guys take good at bats, Chris adds an element of slugging that Wolters has yet to find consistently.

That said, Iannetta is a career .220 hitter against right handed pitching. Wolters has hit .247 in his career against righties and you have to think it can improve since he is so young.

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Defense is where the numbers might surprise you. At catcher, more than at any other position, defense is held at a premium. Tony Wolters takes the cake in almost every single defensive metric. Our pitching has a 4.73 ERA with Iannetta behind the plate, but a 3.38 ERA with Wolters back there.

Iannetta has thrown out just 15% of potential base-stealers this season, while Wolters has gunned down 36%. What about other types of defensive quandaries find themselves in? Wolters has a .993 fielding percentage with 88% of balls fielded resulting in an out. Iannetta has a .985 fielding percentage with 71% of balls fielded resulting in an out.

Let’s dig just a little further. We’re almost done, I promise. RDRS is defensive runs saved above average, which calculates how many runs a player has “saved” based on the plays he has made. Chris Iannetta has a -4 RDRS, while

Tony has a +4 RDRS. How about Wins Above Replacement? Taking into account BOTH offense and defense, WAR calculates how many wins a player has been worth over a freshly called up AAA player, essentially (a “replacement”).

Iannetta has a -0.3 WAR, while Tony is hanging tough at 0.0.

All of this is simply to illustrate what my eyeballs already tell me: that Tony Wolters is a very fine catcher who plays his butt off for the team. Oh, and I almost forgot the most important stat of all. The Rockies have a 10-12 record when

Iannetta is behind the plate, and 10-3 when Wolters has the gear on.

The dude’s a winner and if his silent treatment in the dugout after his upper tanker the other night is any indication, his teammates clearly love him and root for him. Let’s get him some more ABs, at least against righties, and teach him how to slide. Or not. Maybe the Pete Rose slide should make a comeback.

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Colorado Rockies: Was re-signing Carlos Gonzalez a mistake?

Aaron Hurt / RoxPile.com ? May 8, 2018

March 12, 2018. A date which will live in Colorado Rockies infamy. OK, maybe not quite that dramatic but however it was the day the Rockies reached a one year/$8 million deal to bring back right fielder Carlos Gonzalez.

At the time, there was a ton of excitement surrounding the signing. It gave the Rockies a highly popular, left-handed bat at a much needed corner position and veteran presence in the clubhouse. For CarGo, it gave him a shot at redemption from an extremely disappointing 2017 season.

The signing also led to many questions including some from me which can be read here. My final question in that article, was and still is the most important question. “What CarGo are the Rockies getting?” So far, the Rockies have received the

CarGo of ’17 and have not gotten their money’s worth.

In 25 games, Gonzalez has a slash line of .213/.253/.375 with 3 home runs and 12 RBI, including 2 for his last 17 to go along with a stint on the DL. This leads to my next question: Did the Rockies make a mistake by bringing CarGo back?

Recently, Bud Black gave his vote of confidence in CarGo that he will get better at the plate but what else would you expect him to do? The bat speed may still be there, but his plate discipline is still suspect at best. He continues to chase breaking balls out side the zone (20 strikeouts in 80 at-bats) and rolls over groundballs to the right side of the .

More importantly, Carlos Gonzalez is taking away at bats from the future of the Rockies’ outfield. David Dahl needs to be in the starting lineup everyday. In the 13 games since being called up, nine of which were starts, Dahl is hitting

.300/.349/.500 with a homer, two triples, and five RBI. The one negative is that he has 17 strikeouts in 40 at-bats but he has cut that down to 4 in his last 17.

Also, don’t forget about Raimel Tapia in Triple-A Albuquerque who is hitting .298 with five homers and 22 RBI in 28 games, including 15 for his last 39 (.385). If CarGo is not on the roster, Tapia is likely up with the Rockies.

It may be blasphemy for me to say but with DJ LeMahieu coming off the disabled list on Tuesday, the Rockies should seriously consider cutting all ties with CarGo instead of sending Noel Cuevas or Daniel Castro back down to the minors.

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Cutting Gonzalez won’t happen, at least for now, but Jeff Bridich bringing Carlos Gonzalez back for 2018 is turning out to be his biggest mistake of the recent offseason.

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