4/4/08
Something special was in the air at Coors Field today. Yeah, it was sold out like every other Opening Day in Coors Field/Mile High Stadium history, but today was the first time any Rockies’ fan’s optimism had any kind of merit to it. Even those like me, the cautiously optimistic, had only the highest hopes for my beloved Rox this year all the way from Rockpril to Rockvember. After today however, some definite questions need to be answered if we have even the slightest chance at proving that we weren’t just a one hit wonder.
1) 1) For starters, what’s wrong with Tulo? While I understand that we’re only 4 games into the season and any questions about the upcoming 5 months are completely off base and presumptuous, his performance so far leaves many fans wondering the same. Perhaps it’s the hefty pressure he puts on himself to be the best player in the game on a daily basis which also endears him to every Rockies fan. Perhaps it’s the added weight of the 6 year, $31 million contract he signed in the offseason and the burden it puts on the player from management and the fans to continue to perform at an even higher level than he did last year. Tulo’s defense is his calling card but thus far this season, he looks more like Ryan Braun than the deserving Gold Glove winner he proved to be. In the first, a terrible bunt by Chris Burke led Yorvit Torrealba to try to gun him down at 2nd. Yorv’s throw wasn’t great, but Tulo tried to hurry the toss to Todd to get the double play and pulled his foot off the bag before he received the ball. That failure to get at least one out let the D-Bags, excuse me, D-Backs, to prolong their big inning and set the tone for the entire game. Then he bobbled a slow grounder from his so-called nemesis Justin Upton in the fourth inning, a play he could have made last year with both hands tied behind his back….nevermind the logistics of that statement. His throws were consistently low to Todd over at first who made several scoops out of the dirt to save Tulo from even more knocks on his fielding percentage. He also struck out twice and never looked comfortable at the plate. Like I said, all of these things could just be Tulo adjusting to his life as one of the top shortstops in all of baseball. I’m confident he’ll turn it around soon, but for now, I’m a bit discouraged to say the least.
2) 2) I thought we were supposed to have one of the most potent offenses in the league this year. Could anybody please let me know where that offense has gone? Do we need to enact a legislation in the Senate? Do we need to send troops to some god-forsaken sand dune to find it? Nevermind, no sense in starting a political war on these pages. Instead of dominating the National League like we were supposed to, our offense has gone all Carmen Sandiego on us. Where in the world is it? In four games thus far, our vaunted O has mustered up a grand total of 6 runs against such stopgap starting pitchers as Todd Wellemeyer, Brad Thompson, and Kyle Lohse whose career win-loss records add up to a grand total of 87-92. Not exactly on par with the esteemed careers of Webb, Haren, and Randy Johnson. The national media’s lack of respect for the Rockies accomplishments last year was due to the unreal finish to their season that came out of nowhere. In scheduling nationally televised games this season, the Rox were only given one ESPN game even as the National League Champions. Their lackluster start to this season has proven the media critics right so far. They don’t believe the Rockies have it in them to do the same things they did last year. The hitters in this lineup are much too good to be held down for long, so look for a breakout soon. Man, I hope I’m right.
3) 3) Hidden in the offensive woes of the entire team is Todd Helton’s quality start at the dish. He’s the only starter hitting above .300 and knocked the team’s only run in today’s game over the right field wall for his first dinger of the season. His days of hitting 30+ home runs are more than likely behind him, but this is a good sign that he’s striking the ball so well this early in the season.
4) 4) Mark Redman did about as well as could be expected for someone we rescued from the Island of Misfit Starting Pitchers. 5 runs (4 earned) in 5.2 innings with our offense will at least keep us competitive in probably about 75% of the games. He’s the new Josh Fogg except without the cool hip nickname. If we sign Method Man, that would definitely expediate the nickname process.
5) 5) Holliday struck out four times today. FOUR TIMES! When was the last time that happened? I’m going to go with never. He’s hitting .071 on the season and though averages mean absolutely jackshit this early in the year, that’s not exactly the kind of production you expect from your cleanup hitter. He started out slowly last year as well so this is just a blip on his otherwise parquet-clean radar. He’s not going to pull an Atkins on us and start out by hitting under .200 for the majority of the first two months. Once again, I pray to Elway that I’m right.
Go Broncos.
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