Rockies find right lineup, need to stick with it
| September 15, 2009 | 11:25 AM
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You wouldn’t know it from Monday’s 9-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants, but the Colorado Rockies had the right lineup on the field. In the past month as the Rockies’ offense has sputtered, new manager Jim Tracy has fallen into a similar trap that old manager Clint Hurdle fell into time after time: constantly tweaking the lineup trying to find the right mix of players at the right time. He’s found it, now, and should stick with it. The lack of production Monday was all about Giants starter Tim Lincecum. The lineup:
2B, Eric Young Jr.: When he has played, he’s been a spark plug. The Rockies’ last 9-1 homestand arguably could have had a much different result if Young hadn’t been playing second base regularly. He creates runs with his speed — he nearly beat out a grounder back to the pitcher Monday night. Clint Barmes has had a great year defensively, but other than a hot June after Tracy took over and moved the second baseman to the No. 2 spot in the order, Barmes has been a black hole offensively. He hit .192 in July, . 191 in August and is hitting .227 in September. More telling, however, for a batter who consistently sees a breaking ball a foot off the plate, Barmes has seen three balls in just 64 at-bats this season.
CF, Carlos Gonzalez: He had solid at-bats and scored the Rockies only run after a triple Monday against the Giants. With Young getting on base regularly in front of him, the Rockies should start pushing more runs across early in games.
1B, Todd Helton: He’s the perfect hitter behind two guys who make things happen. If Young or Gonzalez can get to third base with fewer than two outs, Helton can get the run home more often than not.
SS, Troy Tulowitzki: He has flattened a bit in September, but that’s likely due to the lack of offense behind him in the lineup, something Tracy has taken care of with another of his significant changes. Tulowitzki and Helton are the clearest RBI threats in the lineup and until someone starts hitting behind them, there is little incentive for pitchers to show either hitter a pitch they can hit.
LF, Seth Smith: The debate here is between Smith and Dexter Fowler, who has done nothing wrong to lose his spot in the lineup. Smith exploded in the first week and a walk of September and earned a spot in the lineup. His struggles with Lincecum’s breaking ball Monday notwithstanding, Smith has as good an at-bat on a regular basis as anyone in the Rockies lineup other than Helton. As for Fowler, he has had an admirable rookie season and will be starting regularly in center field again next season. But as long as the Rockies need protection in the middle of the order — and Jason Giambi is available off the bench, freeing up Smith — this is the right choice.
RF, Brad Hawpe: It’s very difficult to bench an All-Star in the same season he was an All-Star, so Hawpe is still in the lineup. The Rockies’ offensive struggles can be traced to Hawpe’s prolonged slump, which began with an 0-for-13 stretch at the end of July. He hit .250 in August and is hitting .182 in September. When pitchers realized he was slumping is the same time Tulowitzki’s hot streak stopped in mid-August. Hawpe has been extraordinarily streaky throughout his career. Notably, his 2007 season followed a similar trajectory. After Hawpe’s average peaked at .310 in early July, he saw it plummet all the way to its lowest point, .276 on Sept. 15. He caught fire at exactly the moment the Rockies started their winning streak and drove in 20 runs in his team’s last 12 games that season. He was batting sixth during that stretch.
C, Yorvit Torrealba: It’s worth remembering that Torrealba is as streaky a hitter as any in the Rockies lineup, so he could go cold at any moment. But right now, he’s hitting and hitting when it counts.
3B, Ian Stewart: His enormous power needs to be in the lineup, especially when Garrett Atkins’ frustrating lack of interest in swinging at pitches consistently has him in 0-2, 1-2 and 2-2 counts. Stewart fits well in the N0. 8 spot in the lineup right now, because it takes some of the pressure off him to protect Tulowitzki and Hawpe. Occasionally against lefties, Atkins can spell Stewart, but Stewart is the bat the Rockies need there now. The threat of what he can do with one swing should keep pitchers from challenging him too often with the pitcher on deck.
Journals, Sports, Steve Foster
brad hawpe, colorado rockies, eric young jr. carlos gonzalez, ian stewart, jim tracy, seth smith, todd helton, troy tulowitzki, yorvit torrealba
