Bud Black trying to guide Rockies back to the MLB postseason

Black and Rockies in control of a postseason berth

This is the first year as the skipper at the helm of the Colorado Rockies for former big league pitcher Bud Black.

Black has prior big league managerial experience, of course. For more than eight seasons, from 2007 through the opening months of 2015, he guided the San Diego Padres.

In that first season of 2007, Black succeeded Bruce Bochy. All Bochy had done was take the Friars to the postseason four times in a dozen years, including to the 1998 World Series. They remain the only postseason appearances in San Diego history, aside from the Fall Classic team of 1984.

San Diego would win 89 games that first year, but the team would finish in just third place. His 2010 Padres club won 90 games and finished in second. But neither of those teams, nor any of the others, would reach the postseason.

Those 2007 and 2010 clubs were the only in Black’s tenure to finish with a winning record. He was relieved of his duties 65 games into the 2015 season with the Padres languishing a game below the .500 mark. Overall he finished with a 649-713 mark as the manager in San Diego.

MLB Spotlight Series: Colorado Rockies at Arizona Diamondbacks

Colorado visits Arizona in big NL West series

The weekend series that is about to take place between the host Arizona Diamondbacks and division-rival Colorado Rockies is extremely important.

These have been two of the more surprising contenders of the 2017 season. The Dbacks lead the NL Wildcard race. Arizona has a 9.5 game cushion on one of those postseason berths.

The Rockies currently control the second NL Wildcard berth. Their nearest pursuer for that spot, the defending NL champion Chicago Cubs, are six games back.

But while these have indeed been two successful clubs over the course of the season, each is struggling of late. Colorado has dropped eight straight games. Arizona comes in after dropping the final two of their last series with the Saint Louis Cardinals.

Both teams have fallen behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the race for the NL West Division crown. The Rockies led the division for most of the season until the current losing streak. Arizona has been playing catch-up, spending just one recent day tied atop the division back on June 1.

The desperation factor is clearly a check mark on the Colorado side. Already fully immersed in a losing streak, the team needs to wake up and reverse the skid before losing becomes habitual. No time like a big weekend series with a division rival to do so.

Owings helping Dbacks overcome injuries to stay in NL West race

A check of the National League West Division standings this morning shows the Arizona Diamondbacks right in the thick of things. 

The Snakes are now 36-25, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers in second place, two games behind the Colorado Rockies.

The Dbacks dropped three straight games in Miami last weekend. But now back home at Chase Field, Arizona has gotten back on track with a pair of wins over the division-rival San Diego Padres. A key performer in these two games has been utility player Chris Owings.

On Tuesday, Owings cracked his seventh home run of the season. The three-run shot in the second inning blew the game open early, giving Arizona a 7-0 lead en route to a 10-2 rout.

Last night, Owings went 1-3, scoring a run and driving home another. His seventh inning sacrifice fly brought home Paul Goldschmidt with a run to open up a 7-3 lead. Arizona would eventually win the game by a 7-4 margin.

In both games, he was the starting shortstop in new manager Torey Lovullo‘s lineup. Owings has started 30 of the Dbacks’ 61 games this year at the position. He evenly splits time there with Nick Ahmed, who has started the other 31 games at shortstop.

Surprising Mark Reynolds helps Colorado Rockies to surprising start

At the start of the 2017 season in Major League Baseball, the Colorado Rockies were not considered a favorite in the NL West Division.

Most prognosticators had the four-time defending division champion Los Angeles Dodgers as the favorites once again. 

If someone was going to dethrone LA, it was likely to be their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants.

Either the Dodgers or Giants have won eight of the last nine NL West crowns. The Giants have captured three World Series championships during that stretch.

The Rockies joined the division in MLB’s 1993 expansion. They last won the division title, well, never. In fact, the Rox have been to the postseason just three times. They went as the NL Wildcard in 1995, 2007, and 2009. That 2007 team is the only Colorado team to reach the World Series.

Yet here we are, nearly seven weeks into the 2017 season. And there at the top of the National League West Division standings are those Colorado Rockies. The Rockies are 25-15 following a 7-3 inter-league victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Colorado is not just a Coors Field phenomenon either. The club has a 13-10 record in the Mile High City. They also sport a winning 11-5 mark away from Denver.

As a result, the Rockies are three games up on the Dodgers, against whom Colorado has gone 5-4 in head-to-head matchups this season. They have also taken six of seven games over the Giants. The Arizona Diamondbacks, currently 2.5 games back in second place? Colorado has taken four of six.

Jake Lamb Shepherds Dbacks Renaissance

Heading into Thursday night action in Major League Baseball, the Arizona Diamondbacks are tied atop the National League West Division standings with a 10-6 record.

This comes one year after a disheartening 69-93 campaign for the Dbacks. Last season found Arizona avoiding the division cellar by just a single game.

The biggest offensive contributor in the lineup thus far has been third baseman Jake Lamb. The 26-year old is now in his second season as a full-time starter.

A native of Seattle, Lamb was the Diamondbacks selection in the sixth round of the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of Washington.

The 6’3″ lefty-swinging Lamb achieved success in the minor leagues between 2012-14. In doing so, he became a Top 100 Prospect as ranked by both MLB and Baseball America prior to the 2015 season.

Buster Posey Leads Another Contending Giants Team

Last fall, the San Francisco Giants put a major scare into the eventual World Series champion Chicago Cubs. 

The Giants dropped the NLDS to the Cubs in four games, but not before coming within an inning of forcing a decisive fifth game.

That loss put an end to the Giants “even years” magic. The club had captured the Fall Classic in 2010, 2012, and 2014.

There were a number of key factors that allowed San Francisco to remain such a consistent threat during this decade. A handful of strong starting pitchers. Versatility with a deep bullpen. Outstanding defense.

One of the biggest keys, perhaps the most important, irreplaceable player during this run, was the club’s catcher.

Colorado Rockies All-Time 25-Man Roster

The Colorado Rockies were born when the city of Denver was granted an expansion franchise by Major League Baseball in 1991. The club then began play in the National League West Division in the 1993 season.

Over the ensuing quarter century the franchise has not experienced very much on-field success. They have yet to capture a division crown, and there have been just three trips to the MLB postseason.

Early in their history, from 1995-97, the Rox treated their fans to three consecutive winning seasons. This has been the only time they have produced that long a stretch of winning baseball.

THE BLAKE STREET BOMBERS

The 1995 team was an offensive juggernaut that finished in second place, just a game short of a division title. But those Rockies captured the NL Wildcard to become the first Colorado team into the playoffs.

Nicknamed the “Blake Street Bombers”, they were led by four men who each cranked more than 30 home runs. The Rockies would lose in that 1995 NLDS by 3-1 to the eventual World Series champion Atlanta Braves.

After that brief run of success it would be a long decade before Colorado would contend once again.

Rotation Rebound is Key to Dbacks Bounce-Back

After winning the National League West Division crown in the 2011 season, the Arizona Diamondbacks fell to a .500 finish in each of the next two seasons.

Arizona further collapsed to a 64-98 finish in 2014. However, the club bounced back in 2015, picking up 15 wins to finish within four games of the .500 mark at 79-83.

Diamondbacks management felt that the club was coming on, and so a couple of key moves were made with an eye towards contending for at least a 2016 NL Wildcard berth.

At the Winter Meetings in December of 2015, the team signed free agent ace right-hander Zack Greinke. A day later they dealt an extremely valuable package of prospects led by shortstop Dansby Swanson to the Atlanta Braves in order to land pitcher Shelby Miller. Then in January they traded with the Milwaukee Brewers for shortstop Jean Segura.

Adding these players to a lineup that was led by the 2015 NL MVP runner-up Paul Goldschmidt and rotation with emerging young talents such as Patrick Corbin and Robbie Ray, Arizona believed they would indeed contend for a postseason berth.

Instead, the Diamondbacks collapsed back to a 69-93 record, 18 games off that NL Wildcard pace and 22 games behind the division-winning Los Angeles Dodgers.

Key injuries decimated the lineup, as a pair of starting outfielders, A.J. Pollock and David Peralta, missed most of the season.

WHAT WAS EXPECTED OF THE 2016 ROTATION

However, it was the collapse of the starting rotation, in particular the failures of the two big acquisitions in Greinke and Miller, that led to the team collapse.

Rockies May Be Ready to Move CarGo

In November of 2008, the Colorado Rockies sent their all-star left fielder Matt Holliday to the Oakland A’s.

In exchange, the Rox received emerging closer Huston Street, young starting pitcher Greg Smith, and a 22-year old outfielder named Carlos Gonzalez.

Smith was a non-factor, making only eight appearances with the Rockies in 2010. Street lasted three strong seasons as the closer in Denver, helping the Rockies reach the postseason in 2009–the last time they have appeared in the playoffs.

But the real prize in that trade turned out to be Gonzalez. Over the last eight seasons, ‘CarGo’ has been a 3x NL All-Star, a 3x Gold Glove Award winner, and has won three Silver Sluggers as well. He finished third in the 2010 NL Most Valuable Player award voting.

One of those All-Star seasons came just this past summer. Gonzalez hit for a .298/.350/.505 slash with 25 home runs, 42 doubles, 100 RBI, and 87 runs scored.

Diamondbacks 2016 POY: Jean Segura

The Arizona Diamondbacks entered the 2016 season with some hope that the club could contend for an NL playoff berth for the first time in five years.

In 2015 the Dbacks had gone 79-83, a 15 game improvement over the year before, and they had the National League Most Valuable Player runner-up in the middle of their lineup.

Arizona overcame a slow start, righted the ship, and pulled to within a half-game of the NL West lead after the first month of the season.

A five-game winning streak in early May got manager Chip Hale‘s squad to 17-18, in second place and just a game off the pace on May 10. It would the closest they would get, either to the .500 mark or the division lead. Arizona went 9-19 over the next month, burying themselves in a hole from which they would never recover.

The club decided it was time for a change at the helm, and brought in former Boston Red Sox executive Mike Hazen as the new general manager. Hazen then hired Bosox bench coach Torey Lovullo as the new DBacks manager.

Entering the 2017 season, it’s tough to see the club contending in the short-term. It will be the job of Hazen and Lovullo to begin to make the incremental moves it will take to make that happen in a couple of years.

Rockies 2016 POY: Nolan Arenado

It was yet another losing season for the Colorado Rockies in 2016, the sixth straight for the franchise. 

The club and their fans have experienced just six winning seasons in the first 24 of their existence.

For awhile there appeared to be serious strides being made on the field. The club reeled off four straight wins as August was drawing to a close.

Following a shutout victory in the first game of a doubleheader on August 31 against the first place Los Angeles Dodgers, the Rockies had moved to 64-68 and were just six games out of an NL Wildcard playoff berth.

But then yet another collapse began. The Dodgers took the nightcap of that doubleheader in a typical Coors Field 10-8 slugfest. It would set off an 11-19 finish for Colorado that buried any talk of the postseason.

It’s hard to see how this franchise is ever going to seriously contend over the long haul in their mile-high environment. The simply spooks off the best free agent pitching from even considering making the otherwise beautiful Denver area their home.

The latest casualty of the losing and accompanying frustration was manager Walt Weiss. A former Rockies player from 1994-97, Weiss skippered the club from 2013-16. He resigned with his contract up at the end of the season after compiling a 283-365 record over the four seasons.

The new manager will be Bud Black, a 15-year big league pitcher. Black managed the Rox’ NL West rivals, the San Diego Padres, for parts of nine seasons from 2007-15. His experience on the mound and in facing Colorado all those years should give him unique insight into the challenge.

General Manager Jeff Bridich and his team are simply going to have to keep trying to develop pitchers from within through the draft, and by acquiring younger arms in trades, hoping to come upu with a winning mix.

Dodgers 2016 POY: Corey Seager

The Los Angeles Dodgers went 91-71 to win the NL West Division for a fourth straight season, their sixth division crown in the last nine years.

The Dodgers then gutted out a five-game NLDS victory over the Washington Nationals. 

Falling behind 2-1 in games, they won back-to-back one-run games to advance into the NLCS.

In that NLCS, manager Dave Roberts club shut out the vaunted Chicago Cubs offensive attack in Games Two and Three to take a 2-1 lead in the series. 

But the Cubs came roaring back to win three straight en route to their World Series title.

DODGERS 2016 STATISTICAL LEADERS

Third baseman Justin Turner hit .275 with 27 home runs, 34 doubles and 90 RBI. He came in 9th in the NL MVP Award voting.

24-year old center fielder Joc Pederson had 25 homers and 25 doubles. Catcher Yasmani Grandal banged 27 homers with 72 RBI. On the other end of the age scale, 37-year old second baseman Chase Utley had 14 homers and scored 79 runs.

Veteran first baseman Adrian Gonzalez hit for a .285/.349/.435 slash line with 18 homers and 90 RBI. In just 262 plate appearances, Trayce Thompson blasted 13 home runs with 32 RBI and 31 runs scored.

The Dodgers are historically known for their pitching, and 2016 was no different. Closer Kenley Jansen won the Trevor Hoffman Award as the NL’s top closer after recording 47 Saves. He struck out 104 batters over 68.2 innings while allowing just 35 hits.

Padres 2016 POY: Wil Myers

It was a bad season for the San Diego Padres, who finished in last place in the NL West Division with a 68-94 record. 

Frankly, it’s been a bad decade for the Friars thus far. The club has failed to register a winning record in any season over the last half-dozen.

Going back a bit further, the Padres have fashioned just five winning seasons since the late franchise icon and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn retired following the 2001 campaign.

First-year manager Andy Green didn’t seem to have any answers. Actually, he didn’t have the players to fashion any positive answers. 

It will now be up to general manager A.J. Preller to supply his manager with those players by making astute draft picks and finding creative trades.

Giants 2016 POY: Madison Bumgarner

The San Francisco Giants were unable to continue their “even year” streak of winning the World Series in this decade. They had previously captured the title in the 2010, 2012 and 2014 seasons.

The Giants actually went through a bit of a tale of three seasons in one campaign. 

Prior to the MLB All-Star break the club went 57-33 and held a 6.5-game lead in the NL West Division. 

But after the break the club collapsed, going 30-42 and finding themselves passed by the arch-rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

They recovered just in time, winning eight of their last 12, including the final four games, to edge their way into an NL Wild Card playoff berth. 

That hot ending carried over to the playoffs, where San Francisco defeated the host New York Mets in the NL Wild Card Game at Citi Field.

Giants Must Strike Now, While Window Still Open

The San Francisco Giants have been consistent contenders in the National League West Division for much of the last eight years, but the club’s window of opportunity may now be closing.

It’s always a difficult decision when a club such as the Giants begins to hit a crossroads. How do you continue to win while restocking your big league team and your farm system with quality young players?

Few teams are able to pull off the feat well. Most who undertake the attempt have failed for a couple of seasons before realizing they simply have to cash in as many of their aging, higher priced veterans as possible in exchange for that younger talent.

The Giants have reached that crossroads. Their decisions are especially difficult because they do remain legitimate contenders who have division rivals with significant weaknesses. The window of opportunity to contend remains open, but general manager Bobby Evans needs to be aggressive this offseason.

What Next for Chase and JRoll?

For the better part of 11 seasons, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley were the Philadelphia Phillies‘ double play combination.

“J-Roll” was the flashy shortstop, the effervescent and outgoing team leader. Chase was “The Man,” the more quiet and intense of the two players who made up the greatest keystone combo in franchise history.

Together they helped propel the Phillies to five consecutive NL East Division crowns from 2007-11, back-to-back National League pennants in 2008 and 2009, and most especially to the 2008 World Series championship.

While in red pinstripes they combined for 3,929 hits, 449 home runs, 1,864 RBI, 2,367 runs scored, and 595 stolen bases.

Rollins was a 3x NL All-Star, 4x Gold Glove Award winner, and the 2007 National League Most Valuable Player. Utley was a 6x NL All-Star, 4x Silver Slugger Award winner, and received NL MVP Award votes on three occasions.

Matt Cain Approaching Final Season With Giants

From losing campaigns to multiple World Series championships glory, Matt Cain has been a part of it all with the San Francisco Giants over the last dozen seasons.

The Giants first round pick back in the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft at 25th overall out of a Tennessee high school, Cain worked his way incrementally through the San Francisco minor league system during the first half of the last decade.

After winning 23 games combined in the 2004-05 seasons while rising from High A to the AAA level, Cain was given his first taste of the big leagues at the end of August 2005.

Cain Begins His Big League Career

Inserted into the rotation immediately upon his August 29 debut, Cain would produce six consecutive Quality Starts in September to end that 2005 season.

He would remain in that rotation for the better part of the next decade, helping the Giants go from also-ran to perennial contenders.

For more than seven years, from that late ’05 debut through the 2012 season, Cain made every one of his starting assignments. He went 85-78 over that time with a 3.27 ERA and 1.173 WHIP, allowing just 1,279 hits in 1,536.2 innings over 236 appearances (235 starts) with 1,278 strikeouts.

Cain finished fifth in the 2006 NL Rookie of the Year Award vote. He became an NL All-Star in three of the four seasons between 2009-12, receiving Cy Young Award consideration in each of the final three years of that stretch.

Seager Should Be Unanimous NL Rookie of the Year

This coming Monday evening on the MLB Network, baseball’s official National League Rookie of the Year Award winner will be announced.  

It says here that if the voters get it right, not only will they give the honor to Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, but they will give him that award with a unanimous vote.

There was a time when this award seemed to be owned by the Dodgers organization. Between 1992-96, five straight Dodgers players captured the award.

Dodgers ROY History

In that stretch, Eric Karros (’92), Mike Piazza (’93), Raul Mondesi (’94), Hideo Nomo(’95) and Todd Hollandsworth (’96) received the NL honors.

Just over a decade earlier, four straight Dodgers rookies took home the hardware. Rick Sutcliffe (’79), Steve Howe (’80), Fernando Valenzuela (’81) and Steve Sax (’82) each won the award in succession.

Going back through history, seven more Dodgers have won the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Ted Sizemore (’69), Jim Lefebvre (’65), Frank Howard (’60), Jim Gilliam (’53), Joe Black (’52) and Don Newcombe (’49) finished atop the voting.

The first-ever winner of the NL Rookie of the Year Award was, in fact, a Dodgers player. Jackie Robinson took home those honors for his work in the 1947 season when he broke the MLB color barrier.

Phillies, Dodgers Swap Ruf, Kendrick

The Philadelphia Phillies today have traded away longtime disappointing 1B/LF Darin Ruf to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for one-time AL All-Star Howie Kendrick.

In addition, the Phils will be shipping Darnell Sweeney back to Los Angeles. He was obtained in August of 2015 along with prospect pitcher John Richy in the deal that sent second baseman Chase Utley out west.

RUF HAS BEEN A PHILLIES DISAPPOINTMENT

Ruf has been a major disappointment with the Phillies. He has never been able to produce enough against right-handing pitching or perform adequately enough on defense to earn a regular role. The now 30-year-old Nebraska native was selected by the Phils with their 20th round choice in the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft.

Ruf burst onto the prospect scene in 2011 by banging 43 doubles and 17 home runs with a strong .308/.388/.506 slash line with the High A Clearwater Threshers.

The power took another step forward at always hitter-friendly AA Reading the following season. In that 2012 campaign, Ruf bashed 38 homers to go along with 32 doubles, 104 RBI, and a .317/.408/620 slash.

With the big league club struggling to the end of their first non-postseason finish in six years, Ruf received his first promotion in September of 2012.