The look at the seasons of the playoff teams continues, as today's report card will be issued to the Colorado Rockies.
Colorado Rockies:
Record: 92-70 (NL Wild Card Champions. Second place in the NL West, three games behind Los Angeles).
Batting Leaders:
Batting Average: Todd Helton (.325)
Home Runs: Troy Tulowitzki (32)
RBIs: Troy Tulowitzki (92)
On-base Percentage: Todd Helton (.416)
Pitching Leaders:
Wins: Jorge De La Rosa (16)
ERA: Ubaldo Jimenez (3.47)
Strikeouts: Ubaldo Jimenez (198)
Innings Pitched: Ubaldo Jimenez (218)
WHIP: Huston Street (0.91). Starters- Ubaldo Jimenez (1.23).
Saves: Huston Street (35)
Highlight of the Season: After defeating Milwaukee at home 9-2 on October 1, the Rockies clinched their second postseason appearance in three years.
Lowlight of the Season: Falling to the Phillies in the Division Series, three games to one.
The Lowdown:
The Rockies ride to the postseason went down a similar path as their 2007 team, as they both needed to get hot in order to make it. However, the road in 2009 had a slightly different twist to it, as the team caught fire in June and never looked back, as they stormed to their second Wild Card victory in three years, and their third overall as a franchise. The 92 wins the team recorded in '09 was also a franchise record. In fact, they nearly made a bid at unseating Los Angeles atop the NL West, as the two had to face each other in the last series of the regular season. The Rockies put the heat on L.A., as they took the first game of the series, before the Dodgers won the final two to ice the division championship.
Still, the fact that they nearly came back from a 15.5 game deficit on June 3 to win the division is very impressive. Their 72-38 record after that day was the second-best in all of baseball to only the New York Yankees, and that is obviously what led them to win the Wild Card pretty easily over the Giants. While a hot September and October can be just considered a fluke, this year's team wasn't; they were one of the best in baseball.
Offense:
The Rockies offense was strong once again in 2009, despite losing outfielder Matt Holliday in a trade with the Oakland A's before the start of the season. They featured four people who hit at least 20 home runs (Tulowitzki, Ian Stewart, Brad Hawpe and Clint Barmes), with "Tulo" leading the way with a career-high 32. Colorado also received some great years average-wise from their key players, including Todd Helton, Tulowitzki and Seth Smith, who hit .325, .297 and .293, respectively.
Youth was also served in this lineup in 2009, as outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler each made their own impacts on the team this season. Gonzalez only played in 89 games this season, but he made the most out of all of them, as he hit .284, with 13 home runs and 29 RBIs to go along with 16 stolen bases. Fowler received considerably more playing time this year (135 games), but he proved that he might become Colorado's lead-off hitter for good next year, as he got on base at a .363 clip, to go along with 27 steals.
The Rockies had one of the best offenses in MLB, as evidenced with their finish in the major statistical offensive categories. They finished sixth in runs scored (804), seventh in home runs (190), 16th in batting average, and tied for sixth in on-base percentage (.343). They also had a whopping 50 triples, which was second in baseball to only Kansas City. When you put it all together, Colorado had a damn good lineup this year.
Final Grade: A
Pitching:
Colorado's entire starting staff was perhaps one of the best kept secrets in baseball, as they were the biggest reason why the team won the Wild Card this year. They featured a solid five starters that made over 25 starts each, with Aaron Cook being the only one not to have at least 30. Plus, considering that Coors Field is still a big hitter's park even with the humidor in effect, all five starters managed to have an ERA under 4.50, and that is very impressive. Southpaw Jorge De La Rosa and flame-throwing righty Ubaldo Jimenez were clearly the aces of the staff this year, as De La Rosa finished 16-9, with a 4.38 ERA and Jimenez finished 15-12 with a 3.47 ERA. The other three starters (Jason Marquis, Jason Hammel and Aaron Cook) were all great as well, as they all garnered at least 10 wins themselves (Marquis- 15, Hammel- 10, Cook- 11).
The ace of the 'pen was none other than closer Huston Street. He came over as Oakland's centerpiece of the players they were trading to Colorado in exchange for Matt Holliday, and he did not disappoint, as he went 35 for 37 in saves, to go along with a 3.06 ERA and a nasty WHIP of 0.91. He replaced Manny Corpas as closer, and it was obviously the right thing to do, as Corpas registered an ERA of 5.88 in 35 appearances this season.
The Rockies would end up finishing 10th in ERA (4.22), 23rd in runs allowed (715), 22nd in walks (528) and tied for 13th in "batting average against"(.261). Having those numbers in Colorado makes that look even more impressive than what it already is. For that reason alone, I will give them a grade that I feel they truly deserve.
Final Grade: A+
Wild Card: Jim Tracy
Taking over as a manager midway through the season is never an easy thing to do. It's even more impressive if you manage to take a team that was in last place in early June to the playoffs, and that is what Hamilton native Jim Tracy pulled off this year. His work was good enough for him to earn a much-deserved National League Manager of the Year this year. Hats off to Jim, he really earned it!
Final Grade: A+
Overall:
As many people who follow baseball closely are starting to figure out, the Rockies will go only as far as their pitching will take them, as they will usually feature a decent-to-great offense that will keep them from being a pushover more often than not. However, their pitching is the difference-maker between them being a mediocre team or a great team. Since their pitching was clicking on all cylinders this year, the Rockies were a really great team. If their pitching continues to do the same next year, don't be surprised if they're back in the playoffs.
Final Grade: A-
Check back tomorrow for the report card on the Philadelphia Phillies!
No comments:
Post a Comment