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Tuesday Apr.16/2013

Last year, position hitters (1-8) hit for a .315. Batting Average at home. The team played at Coors Field and Miller Park during week 1, pasting the Brewers and the Padres . Week 2 saw the Giants sweep them at AT and T Park, before they returned the favor to San Diego at Petco Park.  The team will host 16 of the next 22 games in Denver – and will need to make some hay because they haven’t played well on the road in the past few years .

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner and Rockies Correspondent): Follow @chuckbooth3024

If you take a look at the Standings in the NL West, you would see that the Colorado Rockies are among 4 teams over .500 right now.  They are tied with the Arizona DiamondBacks at 8 – 4 – and 1 game behind the defending World Series Champion Giants.

Judging by a lot of other publications placing the Rockies so high on their MLB Rankings, I am guessing these place do not give out much credence to Strength of Schedule.  at http://www.mlb.com – the club is listed #9 on the Power Rankings.

The Rockies are 6 – 0 this year already versus the hapless San Diego Padres and 2 – 1 versus the Milwaukee Brewers ( a team that is 3 – 8 itself and not looking so great).  The Rockies played the San Francisco in a 3 game set at AT and T Park – and were swept, surrendering 23 Runs Scored, while only scoring 9 Runs themselves.

2013 Rockies Commercial:

Dexter Fowler is one of 3 Rockies who sports a Career OPS over 1.00 at Coors Field. The man has blazed out of the gates in the 2013 campaign with 6 HRs (2nd in the NL) and is Slugging PCTG at .723 (4th in the NL.)

I am not saying that this year has not been a good start for the franchise.  You simply play the games before you.  All I am saying is that there may just be a reason why they have started so hot.  They have played 50% of their year against the Padres.  Having said all of this, lets run through why the club has been winning.

The team has jumped out to its usually awesome offense.  The club has blasted 21 HRs, plus have 5 guys with OPS’s over 1.000.

Pitching:

So far Jhoulys Chacin, Jorge De La Rosa and newly acquired Jon Garland have provided adequate Starting Pitching – while Rafael Betancourt has converted 5 out of 5 Save Opportunities.  Juan Nicasio looked good in his Season Opener versus the Brewers, before having a rough start against the Giants.

The same can be said for Canadian Veteran SP Jeff Francis – who turned in a Quality Start in his 1st outing versus the San Diego Padres – before yielding 7 Hits and 4 Earned Runs in just 1.2 Innings Pitched worth of work last Wednesday.  It could be a long year for the clubs ALL – Time Leader in several Team Pitching Categories.

I am talking about Wilin Rosario (.361 4 HRs and 10 RBI), Michael Cuddyer (.333, 3 HRs and 10 RBI),  Carlos Gonzalez (.333, 3 HRs and 6 RBI) and Troy Tulowitzki (.325, 3 HRs and 11 RBI).  Dexter Fowler has been the best out of the lot, mashing 6 HRs and driving in 9 RBI thus far – good for a club leading 1.112 OPS.

The team saw First Baseman Todd Helton snap out of his horrific slump – with a HR and 2 RBI performance the other night- as part of his 6 for 9 weekend versus San Diego.

Also, despite just carrying a .224 OBP, 2B Josh Rutledge has managed to score 10 Runs for the organization in 2013.

This is what happens when you have played 6 of the 12 games in either hitter friendly Miller Park or Coors Field.  Even better news, is that the team starts a 10 game Homestand today versus the New York Mets (the only other team to have a better Cupcake Schedule than them), before reality might come calling with the Arizona DiamondBacks and Braves coming in after.

That is of course, the visiting teams fail to figure out the Coors Field air – which happens a lot when the Rockies have Tulowitzki in the lineup.  For those that may not understand the significance of the Coors Field Effect.  Read our 3 part series on the park.

Suffice it to say that the Rox are world beaters at home – and hold a distinct advantage on their opponent.

It is imperative that Colorado win at least 6 out of the next 10 games coming up – as after their Homestand, they travel to Arizona and Los Angeles on the road, before returning home for a 6 games total versus the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.

Helton is also the Active Leader in Doubles with 572. He had entered into last weekend hitting just .095 – before bouncing it up to .267 by the 3 games series end versus the Padres. He clubbed 2 Doubles and HR in this time frame – while driving in 4 RBI.  Helton was named the teams Starting 1st Baseman out of Spring Training, in a somewhat surprise move over demoted 2012 1B Tyler Colvin. Helton is in the last year of a 3 Year Contract – and may retire at the end of the 2013 season  He is the ALL – Tine franchise leader in several offensive categories – while being the Active MLB leader for OBP at .419.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***

Chuck Booth – Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner and author of the Fastest 30 Ballgames:   To learn more about my  “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book” and how to purchase it, click here .

You can also follow my Guinness Book of World Record Successful Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 Days – click here.  I am happy to be part of such an awesome Magazine-Style Baseball Website and am looking forward to talking to all of the fans of the MLB.  You can reach me on Twitter here Follow @mlbreports

Ben Fallon (Left) and Chuck booth (Right) at Nats Park (Patriots Day 2012)

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