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Sunday July.14/2013

The Rockies jumped out to a 12 -4 record to start the season – and have played to a clip of 33 – 46 since. Coming off a 90 Loss campaign in 2012, this may be more of  a true sign of this teams talent. 2013 may not be the year to try and challenge for the NL West crown.  Perhaps it is time that the management looks to deal some veterans that are not part of the club’s long – term plan?

By Lou Hebert (MLB Reports Colorado Rockies Correspondent): Follow @hebertreport

The Colorado Rockies have low odds of winning the National League West division title despite having three players on the 2013 MLB All-Star roster.

Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer are not enough to help Colorado regain their momentum against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers this season, which may encourage the Rockies to sell before the MLB trade deadline.

One month ago, the Rockies were favored to contend for the NL West division pennant this season.  Then Troy Tulowitzki broke a rib on June 13 while making a diving catch, which marked the beginning of a decline in Rockies success this season.

Dexter Fowler’s 2 HR

The Rockies usually have a multitude of problems coming directly from the Pitching core. 2013 is a different story, De La Rosa, Nicasio, Chatwood and Chacin have been a solid starting staff – and have been backed by solid efforts from the Bullpen, courtesy of Rex Brothers and Rafael Betancourt particularly.  Jeff Francis and Drew Pomeranz have been the only real struggling Starters – and Francis is now down in the Minor Leagues on an assignment.  With Roy Oswalt also on the 15 DAY DL, with a Hamstring issue, the club may benefit if the management picking up another Starter – to knock Pomeranz from the 5th spot, plus add depth.

The next few weeks recorded a series of minor injuries from Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzalez that continued to slow the team’s progress.

Roy Oswalt’s hamstring injury in the second inning against the Diamondbacks was the final punctuation on a tragic chain of declining momentum for the Rockies.

Thirty days later, Colorado no longer is favored in the NL West pennant race.

Part of the decline is due to injuries and part of it was due to moves that failed to improve the rotation.  Both Drew Pomeranz and Oswalt have sustained 0-3 records in their last few weeks with the Rockies.

Each of these pitchers was on a hot streak of wins with their respective minor league teams, but that drive did not translated into major league wins.  Oswalt is on the DL and will not be providing help to the Rockies anytime soon.

Pomeranz has yet to spend less than 90 pitches in the first four innings of his three starts, which indicates that he is not ready to be a Rockies starter.

Blogs, like Talkin’ Rockies, published praise and hope for the Rockies on July 13 because of Juan Nicasio’s stellar return to the roster.  However, could this be too little too late?

The last 30 days have not been kind to Colorado, and it may be time to consider their sale options before the MLB trade deadline since Baseball Prospectus is giving Colorado a 7.2 percent chance of reaching the division playoffs after their recent 1-2 series against the Dodgers.

At the top of the list is Michael Cuddyer, and the Rockies have already said they would consider good offers, according to Danny Knobbler of CBS Sports.

Cuddyer’s 27-game hitting streak kept some action in Colorado’s bats, but it was not enough to keep them out of their recent decline to five and a half back in the NL West’s third spot.

The Rockies want to improve their pitching rotation, but they have three starters that they need to keep.  Jorge De La Rosa, Jhoulys Chacin and Tyler Chatwood have given excellent showings this year.

Arguably, more games have been lost due to the Rockies’ inability get hits rather than because of the pitching performance from these three.

The rotation could have benefited from the addition of Ricky Nolasco if the Rockies had been more willing to meet his salary requirements, according to Jon Heyman at CBS Sports.

However, in this countdown to the MLB trade deadline, the Rockies might not have the bartering power to bring in the pitching support they need for this season without making some deep cuts.

A trading option to consider is Dexter Fowler.  The 27-year-old has gone 1-8 since his latest return from the DL, but his OPS could be peaking since it seems to have leveled off in the mid-.800s since last season.

Fowler has been a consistent contributor to the team this year, but this may be Rockies’ last chance to use him as a strong trade.

Colorado has made it clear that their two 2013 All-Star team starters, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, are not on the Trading Block

However, Nolan Arenado and Wilin Rosario do not seem to garner similar statements of loyalty despite also having given great performances so far this season.

The Colorado Rockies still appear to be deciding whether to buy or sell as they slip further back in the NL West pennant race.

The Rockies’ mediocre showing against the Los Angeles Dodgers  in this recent series gave the sign to sell, but MLB trade rumors still have yet to reveal what management plans to do in these waning weeks.

Dexter Fowler is one of 4 Rockies who sports an OPS over .900 at Coors Field in 2013 (.931 – after a .984 last year). The man blazed out of the gates in the first few weeks of this campaign – with 6 HRs (2nd in NL at the time) and Slugging PCTG at .723 (4th in the NL at the time.) Injuries have effected his performance over the last few months. Fowler topped out last year at a high OPS – generated mostly because of the confines of Coors Field as his home park – Would the club be better off trading him right now to max out on his peak value?

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

Lou Hebert attended journalism school at the Defense Information School while serving in the U.S. Coast Guard in 2001. Since then, he has spent time in the trenches of the news, sports writing and the SEO mills.

Hebert has seen a lot and reported on most of it, but baseball is still his favorite subject to cover. He is a member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, and Lou Hebert covers the Colorado Rockies beat for internet publications.

You can reach Lou Hebert on Twitter here Follow @hebertreport

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