The Colorado Rockies entered the 2011 season as a big time contender in the NL West led by strong 2010 seasons by Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzales, and Ubaldo Jimenez, all of which are under 27. Following breakout seasons from all three, the Rockies looked to start the season strong which they did. Colorado started off red-hot winning 17 of 25, but have since slipped. They currently rank third in the NL West with a record of 39-42, dropping key games to division rivals.
After such a strong start, why the freefall?
Some hitters have gone cold and the pitching has been riddled with injuries and inconsistency. Troy Tulowitzki is still a young developing shortstop who is finding his rhythm and Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is getting over his slow start.
[caption id="attachment_15" align="aligncenter" width="432" caption="Ubaldo Jimenez ; Photo by Gregory Smith / The Associated Press"]
[/caption]
Star Pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez started off without his usual stuff before spending some time on the disabled list with a cracked cuticle on his pitching thumb. While Ubaldo isn’t as hot as he was during the first half of the 2010 season (in his defense that is pretty hard for anybody to do), it is safe to say he is almost out of his slump. He is pitching with more confidence and attacking batters with his four-seam fastball which has a little more bite to it than it did at the beginning of the season. Starting Pitcher Jorge Del La Rosa’s season ended with a torn ligament after an impressive 5-2 record to start the season. Jason Hammel has been pitching poor lately as well going 1-6 in his last 10 starts with an ERA of 4.86 . The only bright spot in the pitching rotation so far has been Jhoulys Chacin who is 8-5 with a 3.10 ERA.
The bad news for the Colorado Rockies is that they trail the division leading San Francisco Giants by 6.5 games, but the good news is that there is still half the season remaining.
Back to the Colorado Rockies Newsfeed