| Ryan Michael Bolta. 8th May, 2007 - 4:00 pm
 Major league baseball is a grind. The goal is too battle through the losing streaks and road trips, and keep within striking distance. Many teams predicted for success are already finding this to be to big a task; the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros both sit 7.5 games back already, and the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals sit 9 games behind. While some pre-season playoff contenders are struggling, there is one team that, while unspectacular so far, is doing a much better job keeping up with the pack.
The Colorado Rockies.
For many years the bottom feeders in the NL West, the Rockies are riding hot starts by a couple players, and overall consistency to some impressive numbers. A quick glance at standings and you see Colorado, last in their division, but that isn’t a telling display of their success so far this season. All five teams in the division are on winning streaks, and the Rockies are within four games of second place, and only five wins from first.
Star first baseman Todd Helton was on the trading block for much of the summer due to his declining stats and rising contract. So far, the critics have been silenced and so too, have the Colorado front office, who once entertained offers for the slugger. His .389 AVG is second among players with at least 100 at-bats, and he is on pace to better his RBI totals from 2006 by 35 runs.
Also in the heart of the Rockies line-up are young guns Matt Holliday and Garrett Atkins. While Atkins has started slowly, Holliday has been doing his best to duplicate Helton’s numbers, batting .363 with 5 HR and 26 RBI. With speed from Willy Taveras batting .297 with 9 SB, there is a large part of the Rockies batting order that needs to be feared. Something opposing pitchers haven’t had to worry about in a very long time.
While Colorado lacks depth in the starting rotation, so do each of the other teams in the NL West. In the bullpen, Brian Fuentes is widely regarded as the second best closer in the division, behind the Padres Trevor Hoffman. With LaTroy Hawkins, and Byung-Hyun Kim both expected to come off the DL soon, the Rockies have a 25-man roster with youth, depth, and promise.
The influx of talent in the Rockies organization has opened Colorado sports fans to baseball again. Soon we will see if this was just an early season mirage, or if the young talented line-up is here to compete for good. |
