Thread: The Official Colorado Rockies thread--Now with extra awesome!!

Ok. I think aliens abducted the entire Rockies team and replaced them with clones.

http://cbs4denver.com/sports/Rockies...2.1036464.html

So what the heck has gotten into the Rockies? Suddenly, they look like the team they and their fans expected them to be from the start of the season.

The reasons are fairly simple. They're getting quality starting pitching. The bullpen is delivering strikes and with men on base, and the hitters are actually getting hits. Told you the reasons were simple.

Certainly Jim Tracy has helped. The new manager hasn't done anything extraordinary in terms of strategy, but he's basically sticking with a set lineup.

Guys know where they are going to play and in what spot they're going to hit.

Ian Stewart, Clint Barmes and Troy Tulowitzki have all benefited from Tracy's approach.

There's also no doubt the team is more relaxed. All the players knew Clint Hurdle's job was in jeopardy and they were trying hard, probably too hard, to save him.

Since his firing, it's a much more relaxed team. Sweeping the Cardinals is no small feat, and the Rockies did it in style, dominating every game.

I know what you're thinking; will it last?

Probably not.

The Rockies are probably not going to win 21 of their next 22 like they did in 2007.

They're still very much a work in progress.

But they are also not as bad as they looked for the first seven weeks of this season. The truth is somewhere in the middle -- and that's a lot better than things seemed a few days ago.

Is that 6 wins in a row????

3-2 Wootsauce

Originally Posted by Thnikkaman

Is that 6 wins in a row????

3-2 Wootsauce

YEP - Come from behind win

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_12557266

MILWAUKEE — Ubaldo Jimenez smiled at the picture on his computer, showing it off to teammates. His new dog will be a great companion. But on an unseasonably cool Tuesday, the pup served as a metaphor for a remarkable road trip.

It was a bulldog, aptly named Goliath.

No sticks, no bats or bags of stones are taking the Rockies out these days. They won their sixth consecutive game, edging the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 at raucous Miller Park.

This didn't come as easily, not like the embarrassing sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Rockies trailed 2-0, they were striking out too much. (They finished with 12.) But tough pitching from Jason Hammel and crisp defense, kept them in handshake proximity of victory.

So when the opportunity came, like so many times in the past week, they dropped the hammer. After back-to-back doubles by Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, Milwaukee starter Braden Looper tired in the seventh inning.

A walk to pinch-hitter Seth Smith brought Todd Coffey sprinting — literally — in from the bullpen. Moments later, he walked off in disgust after Dexter Fowler doubled and Clint Barmes lined a sacrifice fly to center field to shove the Rockies ahead 3-2.

Matt Daley and Manuel Corpas formed a bridge to Huston Street, who recorded his 10th save in 11 opportunities.

Credit Hammel (3-3) for letting the Rockies hang around.

Like the Rolling Stones, Hammel does his best work on the road. He cemented his rotation spot with his first back-to-back solid outings.

After Craig Counsell led off the game with a triple, later scoring on a groundout, Hammel settled down as he began to keep his fastball down in the zone. Mat Gamel delivered a home run in the second, and that was it.

Hammel finished with a respectable line — six innings, two earned runs — extending an encouraging run by the rotation (2.53 ERA during the winning streak).

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=col

Colorado takes college outfielder Wheeler with 32nd pick

DENVER -- The Rockies chose left-hander Tyler Matzek from Capistrano Valley (Calif.) High School with their first first-round pick, No. 11 overall, in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday afternoon.

Matzek, 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, has committed to the University of Oregon, but many Draft projections had him in the top 10. His best pitch is a fastball that tops out at about 94 mph. He's also able to command it and take a little off when necessary.

"At the time of our selection Tyler was the top player on our board because we believe he has a chance to be a premium left-handed starter," Rockies vice president of scouting Bill Schmidt said in a club press release.

This past season, Matzek, 18, went 11-1 with a 0.96 ERA -- including five shutouts -- and 106 strikeouts in 86 innings, and he hit .408 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs. He played first base in addition to pitching.

"Oregon told me that I'll play first base," Matzek said during an MLB Network interview. "So we'll see what Colorado has to say."

The Rockies concluded the first round by selecting speedy outfielder Tim Wheeler from Cal State Sacramento. Wheeler hit .385 with 18 home runs and 72 RBIs this year, after hitting just nine homers in his first two years of college. In his three-year career, Wheeler succeeded on 38 of his 49 steal attempts.

It marks the first time the Rockies have chosen a high school pitcher with their top selection since 2000. That was Matt Harrington of Palmdale (Calif.) High School, who never signed after a negotiation that turned bitter. Harrington's career had several fits and starts but never materialized.

The Rockies chose a high school pitcher, Lafayette (Ky.) righty Chaz Roe, as a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds in 2005. Matzek is the first high school player selected with the top pick since infielder Chris Nelson in 2004.

Pre-Draft reports suggested that Matzek also could be difficult to sign. Baseball America, citing multiple club sources, reported recently that Matzek wanted "precedent-setting money." That means a bonus beyond the $7 million given to high schoolers Josh Beckett and Rick Porcello. According to reports, his advisor is agent Scott Boras, who is known for aggressive negotiations.

On the Major League roster, right-hander Aaron Cook (second round, 1997) is the only pitcher the Rockies selected out of high school. But the club doesn't fear high schoolers in general and has selected several early in recent Drafts. The best example is third baseman Ian Stewart, the top pick in 2003 and, like Matzek, an Orange County product. Stewart went to La Quinta High School in Westminster, Calif.

The Rockies' top choice last year, Eastern Kentucky left-hander Christian Friedrich, is having a strong first full season with the club's Class A Minor League teams. With Class A Asheville, Friedrich went 3-3 with a 2.18 ERA, with 66 strikeouts to 18 walks in eight starts. Friedrich has no record but a 2.77 ERA in his first two starts at Class A Modesto.

The Rockies went with a pitcher at the top of the previous three Drafts, but they have had injury misfortune with the two before Friedrich. Vanderbilt righty reliever Casey Weathers was rising quickly until suffering an elbow injury in last year's Arizona Fall League play that required Tommy John ligament replacement surgery.

Their 2006 top choice, Stanford righty Greg Reynolds, has dealt with various injuries in the shoulder and upper back just below his shoulder throughout his pro career. Reynolds pitched briefly in the Majors last season but struggled. He is currently on Triple-A Colorado Springs' disabled list.

The last Draft to produce a member of the current roster was 2005 -- shortstop Troy Tulowitzki out of Long Beach State. Wheeler is the first college player to go in the first round since then.

Two players widely thought to have been liked by the Rockies went before the team's turn came. The Orioles selected Matthew Hobgood, a big right-hander from Norco (Calif.) High School, fifth overall, and the Reds selected Michael Leake, a right-hander from Arizona State, eighth overall.

Former Rockies standout Eric Young, whose son is at Triple-A Colorado Springs, and longtime Rockies scout Mike Garlatti represented the club at Draft headquarters.

Thomas Harding is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
MLB.com Comments

stupid Rockies, but at least you swept the cardinals

HOLY COW 7 in a row - another come from behind win - 4 - 2

So if we get on the momentum train and make it back to the playoffs...who gets tradeds by Odowed and the cheap ass monforts as they shout the win with less, build from within only garbage?

Dont get me wrong...good to try and build from within but its moronic to keep having to as you ship off the good ones as soon as its pay day.

Originally Posted by Rick

So if we get on the momentum train and make it back to the playoffs...who gets tradeds by Odowed and the cheap ass monforts as they shout the win with less, build from within only garbage?

Dont get me wrong...good to try and build from within but its moronic to keep having to as you ship off the good ones as soon as its pay day.

Totally agree with everything you said.

ANOTHER ROCKIES SWEEP

Rockies 5 - Brewers 4

Almost blew that one. :whew:

Why does everybody hate on Odowd? I mean to think how much young homegrown talent we actually have I have to give him and the scouts a ton of credit.

No blame should go to Odowd but only to the cheap Monforts who arent willing to dish out the money.

So you guys really don't like your owner, huh?

Originally Posted by EMB6903

Why does everybody hate on Odowd? I mean to think how much young homegrown talent we actually have I have to give him and the scouts a ton of credit.

No blame should go to Odowd but only to the cheap Monforts who arent willing to dish out the money.

This is probably a more accurate statement in regards to not blaming O, as he obviously does not control the money.