Rockies defeat Braves 4-0, Nothing Particularly Unusual About It

The Atlanta Braves accomplished a rare feat last night, coming to bat over 30 times in a game without recording a single hit! The luster of the Braves record-setting performance was dulled slightly by their ability to draw six walks, even allowing one runner to advance to third base, but let's not allow that to detract from their history-making accomplishment!

First Series of the Season - Brewers Take Two of Three

Salutations! Ryan Spilborghs' Beard here, welcoming in the 2010 baseball season! The season started off on the right note, with an Opening Day win in Milwaukee, but the next two games were Brewers victories. All three games featured some things that Rockies fans must hope were only opening-week jitters and not "issues;" namely, spotty relief pitching, failure to get timely hits, and fundamental defensive mistakes.

Both losses were close, and the Rockies were in both games, but too many little things kept them from victories. The Rockies had four errors in the three games, and the winning run in the series finale was scored by a guy who, on the previous play, was allowed to move from first to second when our dear Ryan failed to hit the cutoff man. Randy Flores has allowed three of the four batters he's faced to reach base. And at the plate, the Rockies were 4-30 with RISP for the series.

There were bright spots, of course. Ubaldo was excellent in the opener, Carlos Gonzales left the series as the Hottest Hitter in Baseball, and Ian Stewart had a great series, with two HRs and 13 total bases. But there are many adjustments that will need to be made if the Rockies hope to jump out to a quick start this April. Little adjustments are better than big adjustments, but they must still be made.

The Rockies face the Padres in their home opener on Friday, and then will face almost the entire NL East before seeing a West team again.

Spring Training Nears An End - The Coors Field Effect Part III

Greetings readers! Ryan Spilborghs' Beard here, the bearer of bad news from Arizona. Well, from New Mexico, actually... but no matter which state it's from, it's bad news... Jeff Francis had some soreness in his arm yesterday. What's worse, it's the arm he throws a baseball with, and he will therefore start the season on the DL. As a Beard of nearly unlimited power, I will do everything I can to hasten his healthy return to the field.

And now, time for your silver lining: Francis will be replaced in the rotation by Greg Smith. Now, while it's certainly not a good thing when your #2 starter, returning from major arm surgery, goes on the DL, but when you can replace him in the rotation with a guy who posted a 1.50 ERA this spring, that's pretty nice. Candidates to fill Smith's bullpen spot appear to be Joe Beimel, Justin Speir, and Tim Redding.

Look for a season preview tomorrow, but first, some old business to attend to: the final installment of The Coors Field Effect. Part III will deal with how the CFE is percieved today, and how it affects the reputations of current and past Rockies.

THE COORS FIELD EFFECT: PART III

This Time, It's Personal!!!

Even with the humidor in place, there is no arguing the fact that Coors Field is one of the best hitter's park in the Major Leagues. Park factor numbers over the park's history indicate that while it's certainly beneficial for Rockies hitters to play half their games at Coors Field, it is not the same park today that it was during the first seven years of its existence. As the Rockies gain national attention, this reputation is slowly changing, but it has taken a lot of time.

Rockies fans know better, of course, but the perception among many fans and ill-informed sportswriters leaguewide is that Coors Field is still a launching pad that makes All-Stars out of merely decent hitters. For example, when Matt Holliday was traded, the bulk of baseball fans and experts believed that his numbers were the result of hitting at Coors, and he would not be successful on another team. His struggles in Oakland appeared to support this notion, but then he went to St Louis and put up numbers (over half a season) which were even better than he ever did as a member of the Rockies. He got the big, fat contract he wanted, and maybe, just maybe, people started to realize that a great hitter at Coors Field may actually be a great hitter, period.