Has it Really Come to This?

This has happened way too early, way too often this year.

This has been a trying year for Rockies fans. While not considered a division favorite, Colorado was a popular dark horse pick because of the volatility of the NL West and the moves the team made in the offseason. The additions of Michael Cuddyer, Marco Scutaro, and Ramon Hernandez to the already potent pair of Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki created a lineup with the potential to light up scoreboards. Everyone figured the Rockies would hit, but the big question was whether it would hit enough to make up for a questionable rotation.

Starting pitching was universally identified as the team's weak spot, but nobody figured it would be this bad. The Rockies' rotation has been atrocious and is approaching historically-bad levels. Colorado starters have an ERA of 6.31, which would be the worst in history if it holds up. Rockies starters produce a quality start--at least 6 innings pitched allowing 3 or fewer runs--just over a quarter of the time. Fifty-year-old Jamie Moyer is third on the team in innings pitched despite being released nearly a month ago and generally making it only five innings. Reliever Josh Roenicke almost has as many innings pitched as every member of the starting rotation.

That's not good.

Unfortunately, it gets worse. None of the five pitchers in the team's Opening Day rotation are still in the rotation. Opening Day starter Jeremy Guthrie, acquired in the offseason for Jason Hammel and Matt Lindstrom to be the ace of the staff and a veteran innings-eater, sports a 2-6 record with an ERA of 7.02 and demonstrated some weird behavior in a terrible start against Oakland where he tipped his hat to the crowd a couple times. He's been so bad that the team banished him to the bullpen even while trying to trade him (You generally try and showcase people you want to trade, and sending him to the bullpen diminishes the return you can get for him). Jhoulys Chacin was sent down to AAA after a lackluster start to the season and has yet to throw a pitch due to some pectoral troubles. Juan Moyer's been released, Drew Pomeranz was shipped back to the minors, and Juan Nicasio is on the DL.

Oh, Jason Hammel, the man traded for Guthrie? After throwing a complete game, one-hit shutout this past Sunday against Atlanta--his first-ever complete game and shutout--he currently has a 7-2 record with a 2.87 ERA and has a good chance of making the AL All-Star team.

At their wits' end, or possibly under the influence of heavy drugs and alcohol at the time, Colorado management came up with a "solution": the team will go with a four-man rotation for the time being with each starter being held to a strict 75-pitch limit.

Look, I can see why the team did this: the rotation has been downright abysmal, so they had to do something. Despite being grossly overworked, the bullpen has performed admirably and offers a least a little hope of competency (last night's blown save by closer Rafael Betancourt notwithstanding). Hell, I even half-jokingly suggested an eerily similar course of action a couple weeks ago. Personally, I would have gone with firing pitching coach Bob Apodaca--as would pretty much every other Rockies fan in the Rocky Mountain region--but apparently Rockies management feels differently.

This is the stupidest idea I've heard in some time, and considering owner Dick Monfort said that Dan O'Dowd, who built this record-setting rotation, was the best GM in baseball, that's sayin' somethin'.

There is merit to a four-man rotation, mainly that having your better pitchers pitch more often instead of giving the ball to a mediocre fifth starter gives you better odds of winning more games. Teams use that same logic in the postseason every year. The number five guy goes into the bullpen as a long man while teams just go with their top four, or sometimes just three, starters. Just look at last year's World Series champions, the St. Louis Cardinals. If you're Tony LaRussa, do you want Chris Carpenter on the mound in a deciding game or Kyle McClellan? Would Yankees fans rather have CC Sabathia on the mound or Ivan Nova?

That's all fine and dandy if you actually have decent pitchers, but the Rockies starters are horrible. They should probably go with a six-man rotation just so these guys don't have to pitch as often.

The thing that irks me the most, however, is that damn pitch count. Seriously, 75 pitches a game?! What the hell! Talk about setting the bar low. The reason given is that the starters will need to keep their pitch count low because they'll be pitching on fewer days' rest. How about we quit worrying about the next start and concentrate on winning this one, eh?

Pitchers are babied too much these days. Pitchers used to routinely make 40 starts a year as teams went with four-man rotations. Nowadays, everyone is so concerned about innings and the 100-pitch mark, that it's led to coddled pitchers. Nolan Ryan and the Rangers threw all that out and just told their guys to go out and win the damn game, and a Texas staff that used to be one of the worst in baseball has now been to back-to-back World Series and is a favorite to reach a third straight. Ryan would be aghast and infuriated if someone suggested the Rangers use this harebrained idea.

Pitchers need to be mentally tough in order to overcome the stigma of pitching at Coors Field and have success, but having the young Rockies pitchers' goal be to get through just 75 pitches is only going to weaken their fortitude, not strengthen it. Screw the pitch count; their goal should be to throw a complete game every time they take the mound. It's not always going to happen, but that should be their mindset every time they step on the rubber. They should be pissed when they only make it five or six innings, not relieved that they "did their job."

On the bright side, Rockies starters should adjust pretty easily to the new setup since they're pretty much used to it by now. Seventy-five pitches is right around the point in the game where Tracy's walking out to take them out of the game because it's only the 3rd or 4th inning and they've already given up 5-6 runs.