Clint Hurdle? Nice guy, lousy manager.
If the Rockies win the NL West—and I believe they have the talent to do so,—it will be in spite of Hurdle’s blunders.
Expect a May free fall before they are able to right the ship.
That is all.
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I’m not a Hurdle fan, Jeff, but you have to admit that at least this year he is trying to win games. He benched Ardoin and at least one other player for base running errors early in the season and he’s never done that type of thing before. Of course, now that they’re trying to win, his crappy managerial skills can surface and maybe next year we’ll get a real manager to go with out increasingly real team.
Lord, I’m old enough to remember when Clint Hurdle was a phenom headed for superstardom.
If the Rox win the West (albeit a crappy West), I’ll send you a copy of the Village People’s Greatest Hits with Fuentes’ signature on it.
http://www.deadspin.com/sports/brian-fuentes/
Expect May to carry on in to June, which will turn right into July before you realize it, and suddenly, the Rockies will be inhabiting the cellar, their rightful position in life. They will never contend as long as they play 81 of their games a mile above sea level. No pitcher worth his salt will ever want to pitch half his games where his curve doesn’t, and his fast ball won’t move. And without a solid pitching staff, they won’t be able to compete on the road. Period.
Not. Gonna. Happen.
P.S. I say this as a Padres fan, literally willing my team out of last place! Kinda tough to be proud of a team that took a division while only winning 83 games….
No offense to the home team, but I hope the slide at least appears to begin on Thursday, as I will be at Coors Field itself to watch my beloved Reds play.
Speaking of, are the club seats at Coors any good?
Just thank Goddess you don’t have Bob Melvin at the helm….
Oh Ye of little faith.
I can’t believe I’m rootin for the Rockies.
There are far better hitters parks in the NL today than Coors. And the Rockies have learned to bring pitchers up from within the organization who are used to pitching at altitude. They carry many sinker ball pitchers now—the correct way to go.
Tonight, Hurdle misused both his bullpen and his bench, and it cost him the game—first, when he brought in a fastball pitcher to face Andruw Jones with two outs and the tying run on and allowed him to see a fastball in the strike zone, second when he brought in a high fastball pitcher to face Marcus Giles—already 3-4—with the go ahead run on base. Before that, he had allowed light hitting second basemen Jamey Carroll to face a righthanded Braves reliever with 2 on and 2 out in the top of the eighth, even though he had a left-handed hitting second basemen with great speed, good power, and a +300 average on his bench.
Ultimately, that second basemen came in to pinch hit and play second (amazingly, after Carroll was allowed to bat) and hit with no one on in the ninth.
All that being said…
The Rockies have a very potent lineup, and it bears pointing out that they have been without Helton for 15 days, without their starting catcher all season, without their right handed bat off the bench (Ryan Shealy—.330 with 30+ homers at AAA last year), and without their left handed bat of the bench (Piedra, who led the NL in pinch hitting last year, I believe).
They were also without their number 4 starter until Sunday (when BK Kim returned and pitched a 5 hitter, striking out 9 in 6 2/3), and their number 5 starter—likely the other Kim (or Ascensio as the dark horse), one of whom will doubtless replace Josh Fogg, who will end up being traded, I suspect.
Their bullpen is solid—even tonight, they only gave up 1 run, and all 5 runs the staff surrendered in the game came with 2 outs—and the offense is potent, though again, Hurdle and Espy simply aren’t forcing them to take enough pitches. They are a young team, sure, but most of them are now in year 2 or 3, and they should be seeing more pitches.
The return of Helton, which will move Matt Holliday back to the 5th slot in lineup, will be huge. A first place team that gets a .347 hitter back who is still among the league leaders in walks despite missing 15 games is a dangerous club.
I expect 83-90 wins this year.
Bacon Ninja —
Just about any seat at Coors is good, unless you are going tomorrow or Thursday, when the weather is supposed to suck.
Personally, I’m hoping for a pair of rainouts. Then we get Helton back on Friday, perhaps, and it’s go time, baby!—though we play Houston, St. Louis, and Houston again.
Mr. Bacon Ninja,
I’ve been in the club seats at Coors field twice (thank you kind vendors!) and they’re good. Not as nice as the club seats at Pepsi Center but they beat the outfield seats all to heck.
Mr. Nukem:
They will never contend as long as they play 81 of their games a mile above sea level.
Except that back in the good old days they did actually contend and the division was much stonger then than it is now. Fear the Rox, baby!
Thanks guys. I’m looking forward to the game, and one thing I’ve learned in the five months I’ve lived here is that the weather is ridiculous. The first time it went from 80 degrees one day to snowing the next I started longing for a sinusectomy.
Fortunately for the Rox, my boy Junior’s still injured (big surprise, right?) If I remember correctly he absolutely tears it up at Coors, when he’s healthy anyway. Also fortunately for the Rox, the Redlegs are coming off of 4 wins in 5 games vs. the Asstros (misspelling definitely on purpose) and the Cardinals, so they’re about due for a letdown.
I think the Rockies are headed in the right direction. I won’t belabor the points already made, but their young talent is impressive. I’ve magnanimously decided to root for them when they’re not playing my Redlegs, which is a big step for me considering that I f#$^ing HATE the Broncos…
Too bad the Rox didn’t jump on Jim Leyland when they had the chance. He’s doing a great job with the previously woeful Tigers.
The Giants bullpen has been awful, the Padres haven’t hit worth a damn (until the last three games vs. LA & SF), the Dodgers can’t seem to stay healthy and the D-Backs are a AAA team with a couple big leaguers.
Maybe, just maybe, the Rox shock the NL West this year. Let’s check back at the All-Star break, cause it’s still only May. And as they say, you may LOSE the division in May, but you can’t WIN the division in May.
Hmmm.
Wow. Now that’s a unique name: Clint Hurdle.
Next time I play an RPG I’ll have to use that name.
I remember when Hurdle was the next big thing, too. Cripes, I’m old. After watching them against my Phils, I have to agree with Jeff. A very potent lineup, and getting Helton and Kim back will be huge. I expect them to compete this year.
I’m on the Rockies bandwagon. San Diego is a last place team. The Dodgers can’t pitch much, Barry Bonds will be on the DL (or in prison) by the All-Star break, and the D’backs can’t pitch at all. They have a one or two year window before the D’backs’ and Dodgers’ kids mature (and Helton becomes an albatross) where they have as good a chance as anybody of winning the West. I only hope they fare better than the last two West winners have, in the playoffs.
This isn’t out of the blue, either, the Rockies did very well towards the end of last year.
Whoever wins the NL West will do so by default. My Dodgers blew a six run lead today. In. One. Inning.
It’s such a sad, sad thing – I’m just glad the NBA playoffs are still going on, well at least here in Southern California.
Ugh. The thing with the Dodgers is bad enough, but the Angels have dropped five in a row and all the guys in the bottom of the lineup are below the Mendoza line.
If you need me, I’ll be lying on the railroad tracks.
Just be glad you don’t have to face the Orioles this year, pal!
/Likes the Rockies in the West.
//But that NL Central!
Just be thankful that you are not a KC fan. Eight of the original 25 man roster on the DL, including Grienke, Bautista, MacDougal, DeJesus and Sweeney. Eleven straight road losses, only one win by a starter, and the 3rd string CF gets hit in the mouth by a fly ball.
The only silver lining – we drafted Alex Gordon who is tearing up AA ball in his rookie season, we have the #1 draft pick in the upcoming draft and it appears that we will have the #1 pick next year in the draft.
IF Affelt & Hernandez continue to pitch like their last two outings, Grienke comes back strong and MacDougal is the same or better than he was last year and Howell (AAA) gains some experience (2nd year), that would go a long way in solving the pitching, giving four quality starters and a closer. With Cisco, Burgoix and Gobble there is some quality in the pen if the starters can go 6 or 7 innings. Mike Wood is a quality long relief man.
Will need quality pitching as there is not much in the way of offense until the “core” of the youth group in AA comes up (Next year, I believe). There is a core of good young hitters starting with Gordon and Butler – adding Huber and Lubanski. Problem is Butler has no glove – he couldn’t catch a cold, so he is destined to be a DH.
Still do not have an answer at 2nd base beyond this year. They’ll need to pull off a trade for a quality long term glove and bat at that position. Maybe trade Berroa (shortstop) and replace with Blanco.
Bottom line – the Royals are horrible this year and have approximately two years until they have the possibility of being a .500 team.
So…yeah, Jeff. I can say GO ROCKIES!!!
I’ll be behind home plate with my son Saturday night.
The team is fun to watch no doubt. Mesa has been on fire, I don’t blame Hurdle for plugging him in at that point considering how well he’s pitched. Slapping that 93 mph fast ball up high in the zone was a great job of hitting IMO. I’m not sure Holiday appreciated the importance of that ball the way he was running back. Easy for me to say sitting on my couch but Holiday could have stuck his glove out and gave it a dive.
For the record, Hurdle is a great guy. His skills as a manager I’m sure can be questioned but his personality and character are second to none from my personal run ins with the man.
Clint Hurdle tore up the league for the Mets in bits and pieces of 3 seasons in the 80’s. Cumulative BA was .195.
tw: hope, as in “abandon all hope”
Pshaw, you pathetic NL’ers…Bronson Arroyo hitting two homers and starting the season 5-0 is one of the many indicators of just how weak the NL is. A fading Pedro can throw 75 and whiff out most of his opponents.
I would give almost any team a chance in the NL, so why not the Rockies?
There’s a reason the AL has been dominating the All Star games and the World Series the last few years.
GO SAWX!!!!!
Clint Hurdle was the American Association Rookie of the Year in 1977. I worked with his sister Robin in my first job out of college. so I got that going for me.
Break up the NL Central. It would be nice if the other NL Divisions had more than one team with a winning record.
Turing Word: local, as in, love those lo-cal $8.75 Bud Lights at the new Busch Stadium.
The fact that .300 batting Eli Morrero cannot find a way into the line-up demonstrates what an “in-the-box” thinker Hurdle is. Give the boy some long cleats and let him play outfield for Godsakes! He tore it up playing in reserve for Helton.
Saw the Astros dust the Pirates last week at Minute Maid Park. We got a real bargain–Bud Lights are a mere $8.50 per. I do believe “Minute Maid” lemonade is only $6.50, but can’t be sure, since I never had one.
We are to sign Clemons for a coupla months at $18-20 million. Where did the team get all that money?
TF6S —
In fairness to Hurdle, Marrero has been hurt, suffering from a rib cage / abdominal strain.
I forgot to add that the Reds were also just jonesin’ to make Jeff Francis look like goddamn Greg Maddux in his prime. Mission accomplished there.
Speaking of the Astros, nikkolai, Jeff will be treated to a chance to watch two rookie pitchers and one sophomore go up against his local nine this weekend.