Monday, June 1, 2009

Rox Talk - Week 8

The Week That Was
A 2-4 homestand against the Dodgers and Padres. The Roxs currently stand at 20-29. Thirteen and half games back from division leading Los Angeles in fifth place. Currently 9-14 at home and 11-15 on the road, the Roxs have been outscored by its opponents 255-238 (expected wins is 23 versus historical wins at 22). On pace for 66 wins with 787 runs scored and 843 runs against.

The Hurdle era is over. For over 1,162 games we watched this man at least try to keep a positive spin on things. A winning percentage of 0.461 and an average division finish of 4 pretty much speaks the truth. I am not a Hurdle fan but I admit he was dealt a crappy hand and did the best that he could. Had he not gone to the World Series, I am sure that in 2007 he would have been shown the door. Only through good will was he not shown the door last season. I think after 7 years the player's just got tired of his mantras. He did shepherd GenR into the big leagues and history will probably look and say he got what he could out of team that really didn't have much (a lot of emotion and luck got them to the Series but Boston really show them for what they were...a glorified .500 team that just got hot). Pitching was never consistent enough, still couldn't figure out the disparity between playing at Coors and winning on the road, and in 2007 I think he knew enough just to get out of the way and let the team play. In the end we will always have September and October 2007 (which as Rox Fans we should just cherish because at the time it was awesome)!

According the graph we should have good pitching for the upcoming week. Which is probably good because we start an eleven game road trip to Houston, St Louis, and Milawaukee. Yikes a tough romp through the Central's best teams. Could be ugly...
No May Flowers, a Hot June?

A 12 - 17 month and a the Rox saw the Dodgers gain 8.5 games. Rox actually won more games on the road then at home this month. Really think for the Rox to compete they have to blow teams out at home and steal some on the road. Rox are on pace to win 2 more games on the road then their historic average and 13 games below their average at home. Maybe Tracy can turn things around?

Minuses
- Beyond Marquis pitching continues to be awful. Cook and Jimenez have been terribly inconsistent and de la Rosa and Hammel are not the answer. Street has shown the ability to close but much like Fuentes is prone to just falling apart. Corpas...one season wonder!
- The offense either scores or it doesn't. Team batting average is 0.249...and you play at Coors...turn the Humidor off...please
- Atkins hitting 0.190 and Tulo at 0.226 (another one season wonder, thankfully he plays a good SS!)

Pluses
- Hawpe and Helton are the offense.
- A lot more home games are upcoming
- New manager

I think stability will be better. When will Atkins be unloaded? Will June's eleven game road trip put the final nail in the coffin? Are we looking at another rebuilding year in 2010? Will Helton remain a Rox Star?

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