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March 21, 2005
Colorado Rockies
Colorado Rockies
Last Year: 4th Place (68-94)
New to the Altitude: Dustin Mohr, Desi Relaford, Darren Oliver
Back at Sea Level: Jeremy Burnitz, Vinny Castilla, Royce Clayton, Shawn Estes, Denny Neagle
Infield
Poor Todd Helton. One of the premier players in baseball, the best player in the history of the franchise, he is really the only thing worth seeing in Colorado (beside the mountains and buffalo). His numbers, of course altitude-aided, are spectacular. .345/31/107 averages over the last three seasons, to go with a .452 OBP and a 1.061 OPS over that same period. But even away from Coors field his OPS was .969 over the last two years, nothing to sniff at. Defensively, he won his third Gold Glove in 2004, displaying the type of athleticism you’d expect from Peyton Manning’s backup quarterback at Tennessee. He’ll represent Colorado in the All-Star game again this year, he’ll be in the running for the batting title again, he’ll be one of the top run producers in the game again, but he may prove to be the only bright light in what could be a brutal year in the mountains.
Youngster Aaron Miles is expected to start a 2B for the Rockies in 2004. A bit old to be considered a prospect anymore, the 28 year old finally made it to the show last season. Miles has little power, he is more of a slashing singles type hitter. Even so, he has shown little prowess for getting on base in his long minor league career and as a result he really has very little business hitting towards the top of any major league lineup. But he’ll most likely leadoff for the Rockies.
SS Clint Barmes is pretty similar to Miles, though he has displayed a bit more power in the minors, including 16 HR in the PCL last season. He projects to around a .300 hitter with 12-15 HR, with the help of Coors Field, and does have a little bit of speed that could be helpful when balls find there way into the gap or corner. Defensively, Barmes is average at best.
Garrett Atkins will start at 3B for the Rockies after years of being the next big hitting prospect in the system. Atkins has consistently put up impressive numbers as AAA Colorado Springs, only to fall flat during irregular duty with the big club. But he is still only 25, so chances are that, given regular at bats with the major league club, he can produce. 25/85/.310 is not at all far fetched for Atkins.
JD Closser looks to be the starter behind the plate this year for the Rockies. The 25 year old prospect has displayed power from both sides of the plate as well as the ability to hit for average, making him one of the top catching prospects in all of baseball. The inverse of so many other catchers, the knock on Closser is his defense and pitch calling. Veteran Todd Greene will back him up to provide just those commodities as well as to serve as a tutor to the young catcher. Closser should continue his progression this season and, should the defense come along under the tutelage or Greene, could become one of the top catchers in the league over the next 10 years.
Outfield
Preston Wilson hopes to return to CF this season, but given the injuries that slowed him down last year and have plagued his career, it seems more than optimistic to expect the spectacular numbers he put up in 2003. In addition to that, the knee injuries look to have sapped Wilson’s base stealing ability and there is a very real concern as to whether he will be able to patrol Coors Fields immense center field effectively. The Rocks will most likely treat Wilson with kid gloves this season, resting him regularly and pulling him from the lineup on the first hint of trouble with his knees. In those cases, look for the speedy though little else prospect Choo Freeman to fill in as center fielder.
Dustin Mohr should finally see consistent playing time in RF. Mohr began to put it together in the second half for San Francisco in 2004, hitting for average and getting on base at a consistent clip. The one thing he didn’t show much of, however, was power, with only 7 HR in all of 2004. That number should improve as he moves to Coors, but Mohr isn’t anything better than an average 4th outfielder; it is not a good sign that he is expected to get 140 starts this year. Rookie Brad Hawpe, built in the all or nothing Big Russ Branyan mode, will spell Mohr from time to time.
In left, Matt Holliday and Jorge Piedra are expected to platoon. Holliday was one of the more dramatic cases of Jekyll and Hyde at and away from Coors field last season, as evidenced by his 1.009/.654 home/away OPS splits of 2004. Piedra is one of the Rockies top prospects that has made very quick work of every minor league assignment he’s been given so far. The smart thing here would be to either let Piedra play everyday for the big club of ship him off to Colorado Springs where he can play everyday, but the Rockies outfield looks to be just plain too thin to do even that. I’d expect Piedra to be playing everyday by the second half, if not sooner.
The Rotation
Why bother?
The Bullpen
See Rotation.
The Skinny
This looks to be a painful campaign coming up for the Rockies, as they hit bottom while trying to figure out just how a team can compete when playing there home games in such a dramatically different environment than every other team. That they have gotten to the point of discussing the idea of installing hyperbaric chambers at Coors Field to simulate sea level conditions tells you just how closer Colorado’s management is to solving this conundrum. I’m not sure if any team can ever seriously compete under those conditions save spending all your money on big bats and bringing in marginal at best pitchers that can at best give you 200 IP a season, regardless of the other stats. That, obviously, flies in the face of normal baseball thinking. In any event, Rockies fans will get to see some more offense this year. I’ve got them down for 60 wins this year and I’m trying to be optimistic.
Next up: Baseball in Tampa Bay, it’s wheel chair accessible!
Posted by stan at March 21, 2005 06:24 PM