Wednesday, March 21, 2012

2012 MLB Preview #18: Colorado Rockies

Greetings... Let's hit the Rockies...

Lineup

C - Ramon Hernandez
1B - Todd Helton/Jason Giambi
2B - Marco Scutaro
SS - Troy Tulowitzki
3B - Casey Blake/Chris Nelson
LF - Carlos Gonzalez
CF - Dexter Fowler
RF - Michael Cuddyer

Really an interesting mash-up of players. Tulo is one of the elite players in the game, and if you can get 30 homers, a near-1.000 OPS with some speed and good D from shortstop, it's like stealing. Carlos Gonzalez took a "step back" with a .900 OPS, 26 homers, and 20 steals last year after his batting average corrected itself from a ridiculous 2010, but he's a big-time guy who should be treated as such. After that? A little dicey. They brought in Michael Cuddyer with a pretty outlandish contract. He could hit 30 homers in that ballpark, but the defense could be an adventure as the everyday guy in RF. Fowler is a "tools" guy who put it together a bit last year, but he was caught stealing on 9 of 21 attempts, and that's gotta improve. The Scutaro move was a sneaky-good one, as he'll provide average-at-worst production from 2nd, and that'll help to make up for the black-hole at 3rd base with Blake. Helton and Giambi will hit if one of them can stay on the field at a time. Nice lineup.

Starting Rotation

1 - Jhoulys Chacin
2 - Jeremy Guthrie
3 - Guillermo Moscoso
4 - Tyler Chatwood
5 - Drew Pomeranz/Juan Nicasio

Yikes. Chacin has high-end stuff and battled injuries last year, but if he's right, they're in good shape with him. I'm curious as to the move that brought in Chatwood and Pomeranz because they are both fly-ball guys in a ballpark that doesn't exactly lend itself to those pitchers. Guthrie is the consummate vet and he'll be okay in the move to the NL West from the dreaded AL East, and Moscoso could be a steal from Oakland.

Bullpen

Rafael Betancourt gets the ball in the 9th. His 11 k's per 9 and sub-1.00 WHIP tell you that he'll be good there, but he's never done it full-time so that's a concern. Rex Brothers is a big-time arm in the set-up role that could challenge Betancourt if he struggles, and I like Matt Belisle and Matt Reynolds too. Not an elite unit because of the lack of experience, but not terrible, either.

Prediction

82-80, 2nd in NL West

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