ROCKIES & 2012

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THE 2011 Rockies fell beneath the margin, they deep-sixed and Rockies manager Jim Tracy chose NOT to fire any of his coaches. There’ll be no pink slips, no burn notices for the Rockies coaching staff during the remainder of Tracy’s watch, which, to my thinking, deserves full respect, for it speaks to a leadership quality best expressed by the phrase that all wise bosses take to heart, “The buck stops here.” It says that Tracy and his coaches have acknowledged their role in the Rockies dismal May to September experience and that their job is to reverse course and knit together the team’s talents for a winning 2012.

IT’s not as if Tracy has to be that leader played by actor Lee Marvin in the classic war film, “The Dirty Dozen,” who turns bottom-of-the-pile misfits into expert warriors. The Rockies aren’t misfits; they are rostered talent that can rise to the occasion, having had it in them to win more than 90 of 162 games in 2011 instead of the less than 75 obtained. Yes, realistic expectations fell apart; however, the Rockies weak 2011 season occurred primarily from its potential for a winning record not being actualized, while that potential hadn’t disappeared completely. The big question is, Why the wide gap between team potential and what actually happened?

Reversing course means first noting the roadblocks, such as the Rockies pitching staff having an overall ERA bordering on the pathetic, plus the Rockies having delivered insufficient game-winning runs in spite of the team having a better than average on-base percentage, also insufficient depth of personnel for replacing players injured or in slumps or suddenly error prone, for example, unavailable all season were pitchers capable of providing the game winning consistency of injured starter Jorge De La Rosa and that of former Rockies starter, Ubaldo Jimenez, who slid surprisingly from ace status to mediocrity.

Too, injuries plus off-stride/off-swing hitting issues forced line-up changes that resulted in lack of teamwork experience, producing less than desired power at the plate and weak defense coordination, with little time available for Tracy and his coaches to observe new players and take them to optimum game readiness. Moreover, power hitters for the middle and back end of the line-up were nowhere to be found when needed urgently, which is a farm system preparedness issue that the Rockies front office needs to fix, and pronto!

But when looking at individual player performances, that of Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton, Dexter Fowler, Seth Smith, Mark Ellis, occasionally Jhoulys Chacin, the Rockies appear to be a lot better than a team that finished far below .500, reflecting sufficient potential for a successful 2012, so it’s now the job of manager and coaches to bring that potential forward. Second big question---HOW?

Important for a Rockies turnaround is emphatic understanding that the coaches that Tracy has chosen to keep on board “underperformed” in 2011. They missed their marks. It’s up to Tracy to set the coaches in new directions before much else is done in preparation for 2012 .  .  .  which brings up the matter of training and readiness, that which all hitting, pitching, fielding and bench coaches are supposed to live for, and it flourishes best under the umbrella of a theme, which from review of the Rockies poor 2011 record ought to be, “Consistency.”  WANTED: Longer hitting streaks for Chris Iannetta and Ian Stewart that combine base hits with more power for the home run, also Jhoulys Chacin and Jason Hammel gaining only low ERA’s while winning more games instead of their high performances followed days later by embarrassing ruination, and Dexter Fowler on base more as leadoff man, plus more successful pickups at third base for the hurl to Todd Helton at first, and Jason Giambi in more games with a better ratio of home runs per at-bats.

Okay, how can the above-cited examples of consistency come about? How does a team’s potential stretch long, and sustain? Easy to say and difficult to execute is that coaches must insure that all player flaws are noted and examined to the nth degree, that the more trusted of identified solutions are applied correctly after testing, from something as simple as a batter wearing new contact lenses to changes in a batter's stance as he faces left handed pitchers, to the complexities of a pitcher’s choice between fastball, cutter, slider or curve. Then players have to train to the max under coach supervision surely a lot harder than in any year before.

In sum, and more than just intimated by Tracy this week, the Rockies won’t get to rock until coach-player teaming can rock---for teams excluded from this year's post-season, the 2012 calendar is in the express mail, and the clocks are ticking loud as can be.

END/ml