Deciphering the Rockies Bats

The Rockies may be one of the greatest puzzles ever known to man.  Just when you think you have them figured out, they flip the script and become the exact opposite of what you expected.

Now I know we're a month into the season, a mere 6th of the way through.  But we've gone from seeing the Rockies being a potentially elite squad to potentially a team that struggles night to night to score runs.  And that's the missing ingredient with these Rockies, offense.  Did you ever expect to hear that phrase about them?

This team is simply not hitting.  With RISP, against lesser opponents, doesn't matter.  The Rockies are hitting a collective .238, which is atrocious.  There are two players hitting over .300, and that's Todd Helton and Jonathan Herrera.  After a hot start, Tulo has cooled off considerably, and CarGo has had difficulty in the early going this year.  Those guys will get it figured out, they are too good of players not to.  It's the rest of the team you need to worry about, namely Ianetta, Stewart and Lopez.

With Chris, the OBP is high, so he is drawing walks, but when you are hitting in the 8 hole and you have two outs with runners on, swing away, especially with the pitcher on deck.  I would much rather see Ianetta strike out swinging than leave it up to the pitcher to drive in the runs.  Chris is too hung up on power and is trying to pull the ball too much.  He's at his best when he's hitting the ball the other way and driving it to the gaps.  He has to be a key player if the Rockies are to contend, and with the slew of catching prospects in waiting, time is running short.

It's the same old story with Ian Stewart.  He has got to get his swing figured out somehow, and hopefully his recent "opportunity" in Colorado Springs helped him out with that.  Ian has raw power and when he can make contact, good things will happen, but so far in 27 at-bats, he's struck out 12 times, gotten 2 hits and walked twice.  Lucky for him, he's a defensive upgrade at 3rd and is hitting a smidge poorly than Jose Lopez.

Lopez has to hit to be in the lineup everyday, because he doesn't add much else to the team.  He's a below average defender, he doesn't get on base and even when he does, he's not much of a threat to do anything.  If I were a betting man, I would say the next minor league "opportunity" would be given to Lopez, especially with guys likes EY Jr. and Chris Nelson tearing it up in the Springs.  Lopez was added for his bat, and he had better use it before he finds himself riding the bus again.

As for bats off the bench, so far this team has none.  Giambi and Spilly have basically been non-existent.  Wiggy seemed like he might have been getting going just before the injury, so we'll have to wait on that. The Rockies need to find someone to come off the bench late in games and come through with hits.  They can do one of two thing.  The first is to bring up a guy from the minors, whether that be Amezaga, who they have already called up, Mike Jacobs or even Josh Fields.  The next would be to go after one in a trade, which, in my opinion, is the lesser attractive option.

With that being said, the Rockies are still in good position.  I would much rather see them swoon early than down the stretch, obviously.  However, the issues with the players mentioned above aren't new ones and need to be corrected soon if they are going to be at all.  It's time fore them to grab their big boy bats and start doing work at the yard

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