Power Pros Forum

After each month, Gil was asked to write up a review of the past month for the local newspaper.

"Man," said Gil. "I feel like I'm in that college composition class I had to take."

He basically just listed the stats of the players, because he wasn't too sure about what else to do.

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Colorado Rockies April 2008 Review
The Rockies started off their 2008 campaign by going 16-13 in the opening month. That puts us only 3 games back of the first place Giants, but we are in 4th place in a tight NL West race. After going only 6-6 at home on the month, I hope that we greatly improve on that. In my eyes, the key is to take 2 out of 3 games at home, and play .500 on the road. Going 10-8 on the road in April is a good start in that direction, however. Enough rambling, below are the NL West standings.

NL West Standings
1. Giants: 19-10, 0 GB
2. Diamondbacks: 16-12, 2.5 GB
3. Dodgers: 15-12, 3 GB
4. Rockies: 16-13, 3 GB
5. Padres: 12-16, 6.5 GB

The pitching staff has struggled through the opening month, with a division worst 5.03 team ERA. We have also given up the most hits, allowed the most runs, and struck out the fewest batters in the division. Yikes. Kip Wells and Franklin Morales are off to strong starts. Jeff Francis is doing okay. The other two are slacking, and definitely need to step up their game. In the bullpen, Taylor Buchholz has been dominant while facing one of the heaviest workloads. He has put himself in position to take over the closer role if Brian Fuentes struggles. Our pitching will definitely have to turn it around for the team to be more successful. Below are individual pitchers' stats.

Pitching Stats
Aaron Cook: 0-3, 6.81 ERA, 35.2 IP, 27 K's
Jeff Francis: 4-1, 4.05 ERA, 33.1 IP, 13 K's
Ubaldo Jimenez: 0-4, 12.40 ERA, 20.1 IP, 16 K's
Kip Wells: 5-0, 3.77 ERA, 31 IP, 27 K's
Franklin Morales: 1-1, 3.57 ERA, 22.2 IP, 12 K's

Mark Redman: 2-2, 8.53 ERA, 25.1 IP, 20 K's
Great Clark: 0-0, 3.14 ERA, 14.1 IP, 11 K's, 6 HLD
Jason Grilli: 0-0, 4.96 ERA, 16.1 IP, 10 K's
Luis Vizcaino: 1-1, 7.36 ERA, 7.1 IP, 4 K's
Ryan Speier: 1-0, 1.93 ERA, 9.1 IP, 8 K's
Manny Corpas: 2-1, 1.88 ERA, 14.1 IP, 8 K's
Taylor Buchholz: 0-0, 0.84 ERA, 21.1 IP, 21 K's, 5 HLD
Brian Fuentes: 0-0, 2.79 ERA, 9.2 IP, 2 K's, 4/6 SV

Offensively, the team has been doing well. We are hitting .285 as a team, scoring 161 runs through April. Over 29 games, that's good for an average of 5.5 runs scored each game, which is excellent. If the team keeps up this offensive clip, we should be in good shape. Matt Holliday started out incredibly hot, but his average has been free-falling since the middle of the month. Garrett Atkins has been a polar opposite. After getting off to a slow start, Atkins has really heated up at the end of the month and has his average well above .300, and is also leading the team in home runs and runs batted in. Todd Helton has been playing like a true, seasoned veteran, and has been tearing it up. Clint Barmes, however, is playing very poorly. I'm sure he will turn it around. And now, below are the individual batting stats.

Batting Stats
Willy Taveras: .262, 0 HR, 12 RBI, 24 R, 5/9 SB
Troy Tulowitzki: .294, 5 HR, 19 RBI, 22 R, 1/4 SB
Matt Holliday: .304, 3 HR, 26 RBI, 18 R, 3/3 SB
Todd Helton: .351, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 19 R, 2/3 SB
Garrett Atkins: .325, 8 HR, 27 RBI, 18 R, 2/2 SB
Brad Hawpe: .257, 5 HR, 18 RBI, 19 R, 2/2 SB
Yorvit Torrealba: .255, 1 HR, 18 RBI, 9 R, 2/2 SB
Clint Barmes: .188, 0 HR, 11 RBI, 6 R, 0/0 SB

Chris Iannetta: .555(5-9), 0 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Scott Posednik: .500(8-16), 1 HR, 7 RBI, 4 R
Ryan Spilborghs: .304(7-23), 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R
Great Buck: .166(2-12), 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2/2 SB

Hopefully we can get our ship righted and climb up the divisional standings throughout May. Here's hoping for first place the next time I write this!

Wow, Herges is doing pretty well. But Barmes is playing mentionately poor.

Yeah I might have to trade for a second baseman before the deadline... Not only offensively is he struggling, but he makes a lot of errors on defense because he technically only plays SS in the game.

Tulo and Helton are tearing it up!

Los Angeles Dodgers(16-14) @ Colorado Rockies(17-14)
May 3rd, 2008- The Rockies defeated their divisional opponent, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in a rather high scoring match up last night. Things didn't look good to start the game, though, as Aaron Cook gave up 2 runs in the 2nd on a James Loney RBI triple and an RBI single by Matt Kemp. The Rockies seized the lead in the 3rd when Matt Holliday and Todd Helton hit back to back homers. Holliday's was a 2 run shot, and Helton's was a towering fly ball that barely cleared the center field wall. Andruw Jones tied the game at 3-3 in the 4th inning with a solo homer of his own. The Rockies jumped ahead after the 4th though, and never looked back. Troy Tulowitzki hit a 2 run homer in the 5th. In the 6th, Brad Hawpe hit an RBI double and Aaron Cook added to the cause by hitting a sac fly to give Colorado a 7-3 lead. The 7th inning was also packed with action, as Garciaparra tacked on another for the Dodgers with an RBI double. However, it wasn't enough and the Rockies continued to score, on RBI singles by Hawpe and Torrealba in the 7th. The last run would cross home in the 8th, when the pitcher for the Dodgers, Hong-Chih Kuo, hit an RBI single making it 9-5. After that, the Rockies coasted along to a 4 run victory.

5
9

W: Cook(1-3) | L: Loaiza(2-2) | S: ----- | HR: Tulowitzki(6), Holliday(4), Helton(5), A.Jones(10)

Taveras- 2-5, .269
Tulowitzki- 4-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, .308
Holliday- 3-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, .317
Helton- 1-4, HR, RBI, R, DP, .336
Atkins- 2-4, 2B, 2 R, .323
Hawpe- 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R, .265
Torrealba- 3-4, RBI, .289
Barmes- 0-4, 3 DP, .183
Cook- 1-2, RBI, R, SF, .118
* Vizcaino- 0-1, .000

Cook- 7 IP, 11 H, 1 K, 4 ER, 6.54 ERA
Vizcaino- 2 IP, 4 H, 0 K, 1 ER, 6.75 ERA


Garciaparra- 3-5, 2B, RBI
A.Jones- 2-4, HR, RBI, R
Loaiza- 5 2/3 IP, 12 H, 0 K, 7 ER, 3.41 ERA

May 4th, 2008- The Colorado Rockies have demoted second baseman Clint Barmes to AAA, and simultaneously called up AAA second baseman Great Hall. Hall will get the start at second base tonight in the series finale against the Dodgers. GM Gil Harris commented on why the move was made.

"Clint has been struggling all season, both offensively and defensively. After yesterday's game and some talking with our coaches, we decided it was the best thing for the team to have him sent to AAA. Hopefully he can get things figured out down there, and get his confidence back. From the management side of things, the move makes sense. Hall is a better defender and we think he is capable of doing just as well as Barmes was offensively, who was hitting .183 through about a month. The doors will be open for Clint to rejoin the club, provided he is playing well in the minors. But, this is also a great chance for Hall to prove his worth. If he plays well, you may not see Clint Barmes in the majors for us again. We'll have to wait and see."

Through today, Barmes was batting .183 and had grounded into a team high 12 double plays. He has also had 3 errors at second base.

After this move, it is rumored that the Rockies will be looking to either trade for a second baseman before the deadline, or pick one up during free agency after this season.

vs. Dodgers
5/4: L, 2-4

vs. Cardinals
5/5: W, 13-6
5/6: W, 8-5
5/7: W, 8-1
5/8: W, 2-0

@ Padres
5/9: W, 14-7
5/10: L, 3-4
5/11: W, 13-6

@ Diamondbacks
5/13: W, 12-7
5/14: L, 2-3
5/15: L, 3-6

vs. Twins
5/16: W, 4-2

Record: 25-18

Minnesota Twins(21-22) @ Colorado Rockies(26-18)
May 17th, 2008- The Twins kept it close, but they were unable to beat the Rockies at Coors Field last night. Kip Wells started for Colorado, and helped kick start the offense as well, with a clutch RBI single in the 2nd. Brad Hawpe, who is playing much better in May than he did in April, also had an RBI single, in the 3rd. With two outs, and runners on the corners, Yorvit Torrealba crushed a line drive double deep to right. It didn't have enough to clear the wall, but it did hit halfway up the wall, and Torrealba was able to drive in two on the hit. In the 4th, Delmon Young put the Twins on the scoreboard, with a two run homer making it 4-2. Great Hall, the Rockies' recent second base call up, knocked in a run in the 5th with a single. The Twins definitely had their power bats going for them, as Michael Cuddyer hit a solo homer in the 6th. Brendan Harris also homered, in the 7th, bringing the score to 5-4, Rockies. Holliday's RBI single in the 8th all but put it away. Closer Brian Fuentes came on in the 9th, and after allowing another run on Delmon Young's RBI double with no outs, squeaked out the save. One outing to note of last night's game was Great Hall's 3-4 performance at the plate, and he also started all 3 of the double plays that Colorado turned.

5
6

W: K.Wells(6-0)| L: S.Baker(3-2) | S: Fuentes(6) | HR: Cuddyer(6), D.Young(3), B.Harris(3)

Taveras- 3-5, R, SB, .280
Tulowitzki- 1-5, DP, .286
Holliday- 2-5, RBI, .298
Helton- 1-5, R, .349
Atkins- 1-4, 2B, R, .345
Hawpe- 3-4, RBI, 2 R, .307
Torrealba- 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R, .331
G.Hall- 3-4, RBI, .200
K.Wells- 1-3, RBI, .300
* Grilli- 0-0, SH, .211

K.Wells- 7 IP, 8 H, 3 K's, 4 ER, 4.03 ERA
Grilli- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 K, 0 ER, 3.91 ERA
Fuentes- 1 IP, 3 H, 1 K, 1 ER, 3.86 ERA


Cuddyer- 3-4, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R
D.Young- 2-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, R
S.Baker- 7 IP, 14 H, 0 K, 5 ER, 3.00 ERA

vs. Twins
5/18: L, 3-10

vs. Giants
5/19: L, 6-8
5/20: W, 5-2

Record: 27-20

Feedback time!! Who would you guys like to see me play after the Giants? The last 3 series of the month are home against the Mets, at the Phillies, and at the Cubs. Let me know if you have a preference.

Also, I'm limiting myself to 1 trade each year. Do you guys think I should go for second baseman, a closer, or a starting pitcher? Or none if you're like that...

Phillies and Second Baseman, respectively

Phillies or Cubs, starting pitcher, and I'll take Spilborghs and Speier