The Rockies have not exactly jumped out of the gate in 2008. As the wise Beard explained below, it's not panic time yet, but there's obviously something missing right now? What is it?
1. Top of the order not producing. Taveras isn't getting on base, and Tulo wouldn't be moving him over if he was. One of them will snap out of it, the other is a concern held over from last season.
Tulo is struggling at the plate. I think opposing pitchers have a book on Troy now, and he needs to learn to be more patient. I have no worries about it though. He seems like a guy who demands a lot of himself, and based on last season he clearly has the athleticism and the drive to learn what needs to be learned and break out of his early-season slump. But it would sure be nice if that happens sooner rather than later.
Taveras was teetering near the top of my "Bad Rockie" list all last year, but he did produce and I hoped that as a young player, he'd get more patient at the plate. He has gotten more patient, I guess... instead of striking out swinging, he's been striking out looking.
Last season's .320 batting average is deceiving... he had 31 bunt/infield hits last season, which added 85 points to his average. He strikes out a ton and rarely draws a walk... not really what you want to see out of your leadoff guy. With ten K's already this year, Willy's on pace to strike out well over 150 times this season. His kind of speed at the top of the order is great, but what good is it if he's never on base?
2. Pitching has taken a step back. Aaron Cook has been very good, and Mark Redman has been decent, as was Kip Wells in his spot start. Now that Vizcaino is out of the bullpen, they are looking great out there. I think they expected a bit of a learning curve with Morales, so I'm not too worried about him.
But Jimenez and especially Francis really need to get on track. Jimenez has been inconsistent and is walking way too many batters... about twice as many per inning as he did last season. Last night's start (6-0 Padres) is a great example: he's close to dominant for four innings, then he's a piñata in the 5th. Unfortunately, Francis has been consistent... consistently bad. Six HRs in two starts, an ERA near 10, and the numbers would be far worse if his first start hadn't been rained out. Ugh.
So there it is in a nutshell. The top two spots in their order are doing next to nothing, and two of their top three pitchers haven't been putting them in a position to win. Just two things to fix and they're back on track! Easy enough, right?!
I'd love to see Hurdle give Podsednik two or three starts in a row at the top of the order, and see if that sparks them a bit. As far as the pitching is concerned... Francis is the guy they really need to come around. Jimenez has a great arm and it will keep him in games, even when he's walking guys. But Francis has been at sea in all three starts, and really needs his next start to be a good one to snap him out of what could be in danger of becoming a pretty bad funk.
--Jim
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