Colorado Rockies: Spring Training Information

By Rox Girl
Location: Hi Corbett Field - Tucson, Ariz.
Pitchers and Catchers Report: Feb. 14th
First Game: Feb. 25th
Schedule

Projected Lineup:  

1. Ryan Spilborghs, CF
2. Todd Helton, 1B
3. Garrett Atkins, 3B
4. Brad Hawpe, RF
5. Chris Iannetta, C
6. Seth Smith, LF
7. Troy Tulowitzki, SS
8. Clint Barmes, 2B
9. Ubaldo Jimenez, SP  

Projected Rotation  

1. Ubaldo Jimenez
2. Aaron Cook
3. Jason Marquis
4. Jorge De La Rosa
5. Greg Smith  

Projected Bullpen  

Closer: Huston Street
Set-up 1: Manuel Corpas
Set-up 2: Taylor Buchholz
7th/8th LHP: Alan Embree
7th/8th RHP: Jason Grilli
5th-7th LHP/Swing: Glendon Rusch
5th-7th RHP: Ryan Speier  

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Key Battles: The biggest question facing the Rockies this Spring is how they expect to go about replacing Matt Holliday in left field after the slugger was traded to Oakland in November. Closely connected to this battle will be the team's decision to replace departed speedster Willy Taveras in center. The Rockies have no shortage of candidates for either slot, it's just a matter of sorting through which young players are ready to step and help the team produce it's optimal lineup. For the moment, it's looking like Ryan Spilborghs in center field with a platoon of Seth Smith or Ian Stewart and recently acquired Matt Murton in left might be the solution. That said, there are two young, potential laden wildcards that could force themselves into the lineup in Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzalez also at camp. The projected lineup above assumes both are at least half a season away from becoming significant contributors and will start the season in AAA, but if either has greatly accelerated the building of their skills, they could push Spilborghs back to left field.

Resolving the Stewart/Garrett Atkins situation at third is something the team will have to deal with sooner rather than later. Atkins was rumored to be following Holliday out from the Rockies in the early off season, but the team couldn't find a suitable deal for the third baseman and decided to keep him as insurance in case Todd Helton should be slow recovering from the spine surgery he underwent late last season. Now that Helton appears in good health and likely to be ready for opening day, the playing time for either Stewart or Atkins figures to be greatly reduced as long as the other remains on the team. It's a redundancy that's not entirely helpful, particularly given that needs in the pitching staff might be addressed by trading one of them. The Rockies seem to be hoping that Atkins rebounds from the poor campaign he had at the plate in 2008 and re-establishes his value so they can finally make such a trade, but if Stewart is hitting up to his massive potential this Spring, the Rockies might be forced to deal Atkins earlier than anticipated.

Another major question has emerged this winter with Jeff Francis' shoulder, as it's looking more and more likely that the left-hander will not be ready to start by opening day. The Rockies have built a little depth into their rotation by acquiring Greg Smith in the Holliday trade and Jason Marquis from the Cubs for Luis Vizcaino so they have enough arms to still field a full five man rotation. A very strong second half by Jorge De La Rosa in 2008 also has them optimistic that he can continue to emerge as a key starter and put together a complete season in 2009, his performance in Tucson will be very telling in this regard. If Francis is out, the Rockies will certainly need two of the aforementioned three pitchers, or perhaps Franklin Morales to emerge as credible mid-rotation stalwarts if they expect to compete in the NL West. Josh Fogg, Greg Reynolds, Matt Belisle and Jason Hirsh could also expect to get long looks to fill that now open bottom of the rotation slot at camp, but right now my expectation is for all four to be added depth in AAA.

Street and Corpas will be battling out for the closer's position, my gut has me leaning toward the more experienced Street to emerge victorious, but this could really go either way. Expect the other to become the primary set-up man. The rest of the bullpen seems pretty straight forward, but fire-balling and wild reliever Juan Morillo is out of options and could get traded or released before the end of camp if he doesn't earn a spot.

What to Expect: Clint Hurdle has indicated that he wants the Rockies to go to camp with a renewed emphasis on the fundamentals, which might be wise since situational hitting and defense combined to implode their chances of repeating as NL Champs in 2008. Of course, this begs the question of what they were actually working on last season, but we'll leave that question aside. Look for the Rockies to slowly lock in on their last starter, it seems like Greg Smith has an inside track right now, but there are several solid arms competing for that job. Despite some turnover in the outfield and substandard second baseman options, the rest of the lineup is probably more stable than a lot of people realize right now, as the team seems pretty focused on a Hawpe/Spilborghs/Smith+Murton alignment in the outfield and Clint Barmes and Jeff Baker sharing duties at second depending on whether more offense or defense is called for. The real interesting question will be whether Ian Stewart forces the Rockies to make difficult decisions by pushing out Smith and Murton in left or accelerating the trade of Atkins. His bat emerging to be a big time weapon would shake up the current plan in a good way, and it's what Rockies fans should hope for considering the questions with the rotation.

Rox Girl covers the Rockies for Purple Row, SB Nation's Colorado Rockies blog.