Rockies 4-10-09

Impressions during the game.
1st Inning: It was nice of the Rockies to run themselves out of the inning. Instead of having a runner on second with one out after two batters, they wound up with no one on and two outs because of bad baserunning and a really nice play by Howard.

It's way too soon to say anything definite, but it is worth noting as something to keep an eye on that this is the second really nice play by Howard in less than four games. He has shown occasional great fielding in the past, but the play today (unlike the dive to snag a ground ball in the 8th inning of Wednesday's game against the Braves) was the result of fundamentally improved technique. When Spilborghs took off from first too early, Howard continued to move toward Hamels to receive the pickoff throw. That put him in a much better position to throw the ball down to Rollins at second. He had the inside angle to throw the ball rather than having to throw the ball over top of the runner. Frequently during the past few seasons, Howard has thrown that ball directly into the back of the runner going to second. Howard's always been a great athlete, and most of his good fielding plays have been a result of that pure athleticism, but his technique has been terrible. So, it's really nice to see the improvement in the technique.

3rd Inning: Marquis should have scored from second on the double by Spilborghs. He must have been watching the ball instead of watching the third base coach. It, unfortunately, didn't cost them anything, but it's bad baseball.

The inning Cole unraveled. No jump on his fastball. Poor control. Still in Spring training form.

4th Inning: Werth hitting a right-hander (two doubles) is a very good sign.
A bit surprised that the double switch was to bring in Bruntlett to play third instead of Dobbs. Could be a sign that Charlie wants Dobbs off the bench as a pinch hitter. Could be that he wants to get Bruntlett some game time.

7th Inning: I'm surprised Coste was brought in. No mention of any injury to Ruiz, but it's odd to pull your catcher mid-game without an injury.

Ruiz is injured. No word on how severe. Lou Marson might get a shot this year after all.

8th Inning: On the bright side, the bullpen continues to shine. Do I need to knock on some wood?

OK. I should have. Long day. And another bad outing from Durbin. Not good.

9th Inning: Really stretching the bright side, this is a remarkably fast game. 12 runs in less than three hours.

Werth having a great game. My fantasy team is happy. I think this might be the lineup for the season. Werth in the 5 hole and Ibanez batting 6th.