Don't you just love contraversy in my first baseball post? I seem to be the only person in the world who thinks this, and it's time for every other baseball fan on this Earth to wake up. So for emphasis, I'll put my thesis in caps lock: THE ROCKIES ARE NOT GOOD!!! Everybody seems to fail to discover the obvious fact that they are certainly no better this year talent-wise than they were last year. That's a start. Now, let's go a little more in-depth about the Rockies, the rest of the NL West, and who will win the NL West...
Why the Rockies will fail:
Aside from the obvious pitching problem that no one seems to pick up on (more on that later), they have more problems than most in the lineup. Sure, they have one of the best cores in baseball in Tulowitzki, Holliday and Atkins. But though Helton adds some power, he's not getting any younger; and somehow Yorvit Torrealba, Willy Taveras, Brad Hawpe*, and Jayson Nix doesn't sound like a playoff-caliber back end to me.
*overrated
Now for the simple, yet secretive pitching problem. To win in Coors Field, you obviously need a quality pitching staff to keep the ball in the ballpark. What the Rockies have is a less than average rotation, and a meteocre bullpen. Colorado will host each NL West team at least twice, and each NL West team just happens to have better pitching.
MX's NL West Rotation Rankings:
1. Padres
2. D-Backs
3. Dodgers
4. Giants
5. Rockies
MX's NL West Bullpen Rankings:
1. Padres
2. Dodgers
3. D-Backs
4. Rockies
5. Giants
And to add to out-pitching the Rockies, you could make a pretty strong arguement that each NL West team can out-slug the Rockies in Coors. Even with Holliday and Helton in the 3-4, it won't be enough against teams with guys named Gonzalez, Jones and Rowand.
At this point you're probably tired of reading about the NL West, unless you're NYI, so let's talk about where the Rockies will get most of their 65-75 wins. Pretty much the NL East and NL West will beat up on the Central, and I will give the Rockies the credit of being more talented than the Pirates, Cardinals, Astros, Marlins and Nationals. But that's not a real tough list to top. What the Rox need is to play in a hitters park against a team with pitching struggles. With that said, they should win a decent amount at home against non-division teams, and they'll pull through in parks like Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia. The Rockies season won't be totally lost, but don't expect a replica of last year.
Who will win? My end-of-season standings without explanation is:
1. Padres
2. D-Backs*
3. Dodgers
4. Giants
5. Rockies
*wildcard
FUN =] FACT TO NOTE: The two guys that carried the team through their amazing streak at the end of last year, Matsui and Fogg, are both not on the team anymore. They're in Houston and Cincy respectively.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Why the Rox will finish 5th
Posted by MxHT413 at 6:41 PM
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6 comments:
Maybe they won't make the playoffs, but I'll give my left nut if the Giants finish higher than the Rockies. Make that both of em.
I agree that the Rockies aren't that good.. but last? BlackOps has it right, the Giants are flat out HORRIBLE.
No Dodgers in the playoffs? Way to disappoint me Mx..
I like the Padres pick. Their rotation is going to be solid this year especially if Prior can return to form.
I, too, agree with BlackOps. The Giants are toast. Still, BO, that's an awfully high wager ;).
The Rockies are not making the playoffs, but there is no way they are finishing behind an awful Giants team in the NL West.
Six games into the season, both teams are at 1-5. They're both pretty pathetic, but I think the Rockies had the worse start, considering they got swept at home.
First Giants-Rockies series--April 28-30 in San Francisco.
Expect the Rockies offense to heat up. The Giants have no offense.
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