Rockies no longer under the radar

Series appearance gives Rockies higher profile

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 15, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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Photo by Ken Papaleo / The Rocky/2007

The Rockies celebrate their sweep of the Diamondbacks that put them in the World Series. Matt Holliday says the team "could make life a little easier on everybody" if it avoids duplicating its end-of-the-regular-season rally last year.

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Not much has changed with the Rockies in the past year, except the expectations.

Pitchers and catchers report to Hi Corbett Field today, the first workout is Saturday and the full squad is scheduled to be together for the first time a week later.

There won't be much time spent on introductions.

These Rockies know each other pretty well.

What's different is the baseball world suddenly knows who the Rockies are, too. And there actually are people other than owner Charlie Monfort who think the Rockies have postseason possibilities in 2008.

"The next step for us is to embrace those challenges of greatness," manager Clint Hurdle said. "This is still new ground we are exploring together, but it all goes back to us having a belief in ourselves and our organization. Now we have some tangible evidence for others to see."

The Rockies finally got everybody's attention last year.

They won the first National League pennant in franchise history thanks to the strongest late-season finish in history. They won 14 of their final 15 regular-season games, capped by their 9-8, 13-inning tiebreaker victory against San Diego in Game 163 to earn the NL wild card.

Then came sweeps of Philadelphia in the NL Division Series and Arizona in the NL Championship Series before the Rockies were swept by Boston in the World Series.

"There will be some people who say we were lucky or just had a good run and can't do it again, and there will be some people who feel we have turned a corner," right fielder Brad Hawpe said. "For us, all that matters is that we approach this season the same way we approached last season. We show up each day ready to compete, worrying about winning that game, that day, and nothing else."

There is a special bond inside the Rockies clubhouse, created by the fact the bulk of this team came up through the same farm system.

Sixteen of the 25 players on the postseason roster originally signed with the franchise. And none of the five players from the postseason roster who has moved on was homegrown - second baseman Kazuo Matsui, who signed as a free agent with Houston; right-handed pitchers Josh Fogg and Rodrigo Lopez, both unsigned free agents; reliever LaTroy Hawkins, who signed as a free agent with the Yankees; and infielder Jamey Carroll, who was dealt to Cleveland.

The job battles in spring training are limited. The starting lineup is set, except for second base, where prospect Jayson Nix is considered the prime contender. There are two open spots in the rotation, but Jason Hirsh is expected to reclaim one of those. And there will be competition for the final outfield spot, a utility infielder's role and most likely bullpen spots for a right-hander and left-hander.

The stability from one year to the next, though, is not a sign the Rockies are growing old together. Todd Helton, 34, is the only position player who has celebrated his 30th birthday. Aaron Cook, 29, is the old man of the rotation, unless Mark Redman, 34, or Kip Wells, 30, beats out Franklin Morales, 22, for the final starting spot.

The stability is more of an indication a long-range building plan the Rockies embarked on five years ago is paying off.

It shows they have put together a nucleus that should be able to stay together for several years so they can find out how good they are. Reliever Brian Fuentes is the only significant roster member who has free-agent potential in the fall.

"Sometimes people give you expectations and 99 percent of the time they are not deserved," Helton said. "As a unit, though, we know (expectations) are legitimate and something we have to deal with. We played well from an ambush position last year. Now we won't be taken lightly and that is something we will have to deal with."

The Rockies earned the respect. They dominated within their division, going 43-30, only the second time in nine years they had a winning record against the NL West and only the fifth time in franchise history. They became only the fifth team to be nine games under .500 at some point in a season (18-27) and finish the year in the World Series, joining the 2005 Astros (16-31), 2003 Marlins (19-29), 1973 Mets (52-65), 1951 Giants (2-12) and 1914 Braves (12-28).

Now, the Rockies are expected to do it again, which is fine with them.

"Any time you gain respect as a team, everybody is excited about it," outfielder Matt Holliday said. "In life in general, the respect of your peers, no matter what you are doing, is a good feeling."

And to have proved themselves on the field, Holliday said, is an even better feeling.

"This group realizes the way we played at the end of the season was not that complicated," Holliday said. "We came to the field each day and expected that somebody would come up with the big play to win the game. We held each other accountable. The difference this year is we need to do that from Day 1. We could make life a little easier on everybody if we do that."

ringolsbyt@RockyMountainNews.com

Five things to watch

1Encore. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki finished second in the voting for National League Rookie of the Year, so the sophomore jinx shouldn't be a factor. He will have quite a season if he is able to build off a rookie year in which he hit 24 home runs, breaking Ernie Banks' record for an NL rookie shortstop, drove in 99 runs, the most for a rookie shortstop in 50 years, and led major league shortstops in fielding. Oh, yeah, and he developed into a force in the Rockies clubhouse.

2In the middle. Jayson Nix, the Rockies' top draft pick in 2001 who has yet to appear in a major league game, shows up in spring training as the front-runner in the battle for the second base job. He will be pushed, though. Clint Barmes, the Rockies' Opening Day shortstop in 2005 and 2006, and Omar Quintanilla, who has spent time with the Rockies the past three years, will be his main competition, but Marcus Giles was invited to camp in an attempt to revive his career and Ian Stewart and Jeff Baker have been working out at second this winter.

3For starters. Aaron Cook, Jeff Francis and Ubaldo Jimenez will be three of the starters. Jason Hirsh is the favorite for the No. 4 slot if he will be aggressive with his fastball. But waiting in case Hirsh fails, as well as competing for the fifth spot, will be left-handers Franklin Morales, who came up from the minors in August and played a key role in the Rockies' postseason rush, and Mark Redman plus right-handers Kip Wells and Josh Towers.

4Backing up. The starting outfield is set with Matt Holliday in left, Willy Taveras in center and Brad Hawpe in right. Baker and Ryan Spilborghs, both right-handed hitters, would seem to have two other spots. But there is a need for a left-handed hitter to back up Taveras. It could be holdover Cory Sullivan or recent signee Scott Podsednik, a key to the White Sox's 2005 title but an injury disappointment the past two years.

5Attitude. The Rockies enjoyed the underdog role. They played without pressure last year. Now, fans are going to have expectations. The challenge for the inexperienced Rockies will be to keep that edge they had in 2007 and to maintain that one-game-at-a-time mentality that served them so well last season.

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