Rockies report: Stewart at head of rookie class

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 5, 2008 at 6:11 p.m.

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Photo by David Zalubowski © AP

Rockies rookie Ian Stewart has enjoyed a productive return to the majors after Todd Helton went down with a back injury in early July.

Numbers Game

91 stolen bases for Willy Taveras (66) and Matt Holliday (25), going into Friday. That’s the most ever for two Rockies player. The previous high was 85 in 1996 by Eric Young (53) and Ellis Burks (32). Tavers and Holliday have been thrown out only eight times combined.

3 times this season the Rockies have ended an eight-game winning streak of an opponent. In addition to Houston on Friday night, they ended eight-game streaks for Arizona on April 13, and Los Angeles on May 4.

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Ian Stewart, who played in only 17 games when he was up for a month early in the season, has emerged among the top rookie hitters in the National League since his July 19 return to the Rockies.

Stewart has received the bulk of the playing time at third base in his return to the majors.

He was leading NL rookies in hitting (.299), on-base percentage(.396) and slugging percentage(.522) going into Friday’s game against the Astros.

He also was fourth in doubles with 16, tied for fourth with nine home runs, tied for fifth with 40 RBI, sixth in walks with 27, and shared the third longest hitting streak of 10 games with San Diego left fielder Chase Headley, who is from Fountain.

RESTED

With the Rockies still on the edges of the NL West race, and with an off day in every week this month, Rockies manager Clint Hurdle has no real pressure to slip a sixth starter into the rotation in the final weeks of the season.

“I think we have kept the arms fresh,” Hurdle said. “The big challenge later in the season in fatigue and that is where you can get hurt. We’ve been careful.”

Right-handed pitcher Aaron Cook has struggled, getting through six innings once in five starts, but Hurdle said on Friday that Cook was adamant that he is healthy.

ETC.

Right-hander Greg Reynolds was officially added to the Rockies roster on Friday. Reynolds was among the minor league call-ups, but the Rockies delayed activating him until Friday because he started Monday and needed the off time before he could be used in a game. . . . Double-A pitching coach Bo McLaughlin is spending September with the Rockies for the second year in a row. With the September roster expansion, and the Rockies carrying 16 pitchers, McLaughlin is assisting pitching coach Bob Apodaca. . . . Astros second baseman David Newhan is the son of former Los Angeles Times sportswriter Ross Newhan, who is honored in the writers wing at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. . . . The Rockies are 21-16 against the National League Central, the only division against which they have a winning record. The Rockies, 7-8 in interleague play, are 15-18 against the National League East with three games remaining in Atlanta next week, and 24-33 against the NL West with 15 games remaining. . . . Astros right-hander LaTroy Hawkins and second baseman Kazuo Matsui were presented their 2007 NL Championship rings by Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd in a pregame ceremony. They both left the Rockies last fall as free agents, Matsui signing with the Astros, and Hawkins originally signing with the Yankees, who dealt him to Houston on July 30. Hawkins is unscored on in 11 innings over 14 appearances with the Astros. Matsui is on the active roster, but sidelined with an irritated disk in his back, the third time he has been out with an injury this year. He opened the season on the disabled list because of an anal fissure, and was activated April 17, then went down May 16 for 18 days with a strained right hamstring.

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