I'd like to talk about the NL West for a moment.
You see, the NL West, on a few different fronts, is a very disappointing division. There are TWO disappointments going on in that division. There's the Giants, who were expected, like every odd year, to do well enough to stay afloat, and they're currently in second, falling out of that divisional race every day.
There's the Padres, who were expected to conquer the world with their newly imported lineup, but now they're likely gonna be trading away James Shields, Andrew Cashner and Justin Upton, because it didn't quite work.
In addition to those two disappointments, there's the Diamondbacks, a team that is basically being carried by Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock. And those are TWO GUYS. They aren't even pitchers.
So I just listed three teams that would be last in any other division. Yet, because this is the NL West, the most disappointing division in baseball, they are all listed higher in the standings than the Colorado Rockies.
NOT THAT I AM PROUD SHARING THIS INFORMATION. I still think the Rockies have a ton of huge pieces that require attention. Nolan Arenado, DJ LeMahieu, Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez a little bit. But the fact of the matter is that it's such a crappy park for pitchers that it's impossible to sustain a stellar core rotation. Even Ubaldo Jimenez was getting chewed up by the thinner air at the end of his Rockies run. So, even with great hitting, and great fielding from Tulo, it can't happen if they don't have a great pitching staff, and this season they definitely don't. You can argue that Jorge de la Rosa is lifting his weight, but...he always does. He's Jorge de la Rosa.
So really, I am not saying all of this as a 'ha, ha, this team stinks' kind of thing (you know, the kind of thing that alienated 50% of my Baltimore audience last year, which I still haven't recovered from no matter how many times I apologize). I'm very sad for Rockies fans. A lot of offensive pieces are working this season. DJ LeMahieu started the All-Star game this year. But, again, it's not coming together for the Rockies because they have no pitching whatsoever.
It's sad how a team like the Rockies can consistently outweigh these bigger disappointments.
Coming Tonight: Hopefully, a much happier post. The catcher for a team that I literally just got done apologizing to.
It's always been about the pitching. I was at the game on Friday, and as they announced the lineup, it was clear that this team ought to be winning a lot more. If they can just get a sort-of-decent rotation like they had with Ubaldo, de la Rosa, and Jason Marquis, they'll make the playoffs like they did in 2009. I guess that's what the idea was behind Kyle Kendrick, who is 4-11, unfortunately.
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