Dodgers use wild pitches for 10th straight win | MLB.com

Cody Bellinger doing it all; Adam Ottavino, well, freakish appearance.

“People always talk about hitting is contagious, winning is contagious,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “There is certainly a vibe or mentally that we’re going to win each day; regardless of who takes the mound or what circumstance, we’re not going to get down.”

Have the Rockies Found Answers at Altitude? | FanGraphs Baseball

Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out life will throw you a curveball.

JetHawks’ Rodgers extends hit streak to 20 | MiLB.com News

He’s playing in a bandbox but what he’s doing is still pretty impressive.

LoDo: A renaissance owed to Coors Field, urban pioneers and smart politics

The role played by Coors Field in the rebirth of Lower Downtown Denver.

Rockies: Kid’s Stuff Paying Off – Inside the Seams

On rookie Rockies.

LaTroy Hawkins says Tommy Kahnle “one of the worst teammates I’ve ever had in my life.”

Former major league reliever LaTroy Hawkins pitched for a lot of teams, two of which were the Twins and Rockies. As it happened, the Twins were in town to visit the Rockies. Hawkins, now a member of the Twins’ broadcast team, told a story on air about he and former teammate Tommy Kahnle got into a fight back in 2014 when the latter was a rookie. Hawkins’ partner, Dick Bremer, tried to create a way for him to sugarcoat what he said, but Hawkins didn’t bite, calling Kahnle “one of the worst teammates I’ve ever had in my life.”

LaTroy Hawkins on Tommy Kahnle: "One of the worst teammates I've ever had in my life, and I've had a lot of teammates" pic.twitter.com/n7vLXc5RBe

— MLB Insider Dinger (@atf13atf) May 17, 2017

Behind closer Greg Holland, the Rockies’ rebuilt bullpen is thriving—even at Coors Field

Holland is exceeding expectations.

In-Market Streaming Of Mariners, Astros, Pirates, And Rockies Games Arrives Via ROOT Sports

Fans of the Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Colorado Rockies can now watching games in-market as the AT-&T Sports Network-owned ROOT SPORTS family of regoinal sports networks announced today that digital streaming is now available. The deal that was announced in March, along with NESN airing Red Sox games, hit a technical snag with authentication services had the networks targeting May as the roll-out, and today, that came to fruition.

The deal between ROOT Sports and MLB Advanced Media will come with no additional cost to authenticated pay TV subscribers of ROOT SPORTS distribution partners.

All games on the networks will be made available to distributors’ authenticated customers and MLBAM will authenticate ROOT SPORTS viewers on MLB.com, team websites and MLB At Bat, as ROOT SPORTS continues to develop a platform of their own to deliver the games to viewers.

Are the Rockies and Diamondbacks about to take over the NL West? | FOX Sports

As the Giants surely can attest, baseball – like life – changes every day.

Early on Sunday, a few hours before Miller’s start, I asked Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo his biggest concern.

He did not hesitate with his reply.

“The fear of injury,” Lovullo said. “The depth in an organization is always a concern. Our health is of utmost importance for us to maintain what we’re doing.”

The loss of Miller for an extended period would diminish the excitement over the early performance of the DBacks’ rotation, which ranks sixth in the NL in ERA. Left-hander Patrick Corbin, in particular, looks ready to fulfill the top-of-the-rotation potential he showed in 2013, before he underwent Tommy John surgery.

How the Rockies rebuilt baseball’s worst bullpen into one of the best – The Denver Post

“Greg Holland and Mike Dunn have been fabulous for the mentality of the bullpen,” first-year Rockies manager Bud Black said. “They have made a marked difference with the professionalism of that group. There’s no doubt they have set the standard.”

Greg Holland latest success from Tommy John | MLB.com

Last year alone, there were at least 190 pitchers in the big leagues who had returned from Tommy John surgery, according to the tracking of Jon Roegle, who has detailed 1,364 players who have undergone the surgery, beginning with Tommy John himself in 1974.

That included several who pitched well enough that they were traded in season to contenders, including Rich Hill from the Rays to the Dodgers, Mark Melancon from the Pirates to the Nationals and Matt Moore from the Rays to the Giants.

Over the course of the 2016 season, the Reds used 13 pitchers who had undergone Tommy John surgery, followed by the A’s with 11 and the Royals and Tigers with 10 apiece.
Holland and starting pitcher Lance Lynn of the Cardinals are the new guys on the list this season.

Ringolsby: Rox bullpen coming to rescue now | MLB.com

And he is enjoying being a part of a bullpen that has so many interchangeable parts.

“[Friday] we knew it was going to be Estevez, Oberg and myself, but we didn’t know who’d pitch the ninth,” said McGee. “It depended on when the left-handed bats were coming up.”

That, he said, is what makes it so much fun to think of what might be in the next six months.

“[The front office] has put a great bullpen together,” McGee said. “We have depth. Think about it. We have no Holland, no Dunn and no Ottavino [on Friday], and we win a 2-1 game with the bullpen working three innings. It’s a good feeling.”

It is, as Black admitted, a sign of the ever-changing times of the game.

Rockies strike deal “in the 11th hour” to keep Coors Field as long-term home

“This was difficult and long, but we’re going to have baseball in Colorado for three more decades,” said Matt Sugar, spokesman for the district. “The greatest benefit will be that the taxpayer won’t have to pay a dime.”

Major League Baseball approved the deal Wednesday morning. Coors Field, the third-oldest stadium in the National League, will remain the Rockies’ home through 2047, when the stadium will turn 53 years old.

The Rockies get it right. Coors is a gem.

Is Trevor Story ready to fill Troy Tulowitzki’s big shoes with the Rockies?

Replacing the best shortstop in the history of the franchise isn’t easy.

Tracy Ringolsby: Rockies must turn to Plan B | MLB.com

Best laid plans…

Rockies Ian Desmond fractures left hand | MLB.com

The Ian Desmond Era will be delayed.

Rockies’ Chad Bettis will undergo additional chemotherapy after cancer spread

Colorado Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis’ testicular cancer has spread, and he will be starting chemotherapy in the near future, according to an update that he posted today. A biopsy ordered during his most recent check-up revealed the spread.

Dammit.

David Dahl injury: Rockies outfielder has stress reaction of rib

This is new.

Asked specifically if Dahl would be healthy enough to see game action during spring training, Black answered: “Yeah, I do. I can’t put a date on it, but I do anticipate him hopefully getting in a game here.”

According to the Princeton University Athletic Medicine website, “A rib stress injury can be described as a rib stress ‘reaction’ or can lead to a rib stress ‘fracture’ if not managed or treated correctly from the start of symptoms.”

According to the website, the difference between a “reaction” and a stress fracture is a matter of degree: “Both suggest a disruption of bone metabolism. Stress fractures can be described as an area in the bone that has become weakened and microscopic cracks have gradually formed because the bone is repeatedly loaded and stressed. A stress fracture to the rib is rare, but can be seen in athletes with significant demands of repetitive upper extremity activities, such as rowers.”

With Each Hit, Rockies’ D.J. LeMahieu Shows Cubs’ Epstein What He Gave Up On - The New York Times

“Sometimes, you show up somewhere and you can make a mistake in your first off-season by not being as familiar as you should be with a player, because you haven’t seen him yourself in person,” Epstein said.

Can Bud Black break the curse of Coors Field for Colorado Rockies pitchers?

Backing those words with their checkbook will be important as well.

Against that daunting backdrop, Black and Bridich agree that an aggressive mindset is vital in slaying the Coors Field monster.

“On top of talent, we need mentally tough SOBs,’’ Black said. “We have to find and draft guys who are resilient, who’ll bounce back from a tough outing where it might get chaotic in Coors and their ERA takes a hit. It might get a little bit unsightly when it pops up on the scoreboard or on TV. We have to have guys who will overlook that individual line—who truly don’t care about that.’‘

Ten Bold Predictions for the Coming Season

2. The Rockies will finally have the pitching to make the postseason.
At the top of the rotation, the Rockies may have one of their best pitchers ever this year. Jon Gray was already pretty good (15th in K-BB% last year), and then he learned how to throw his slider two ways, and then he started throwing the curveball more, and now he has a new changeup grip. He’s exciting as a young ace with velocity, an elite slider, and the makeup to continue striving for a better, more complete arsenal.

But this is more about the lesser-known names behind Gray. Tyler Anderson doesn’t have a ton of pitches, but his cutter/four-seam/change combo has proven itself to be major-league worthy at least. Chad Bettis only has average velocity, but his four-pitch combo has kept hitters off balance enough to call him a viable starter, as well. Tyler Chatwood may only have the two fastballs and a slider, but he throws the curve sometimes, and his sinker is all world. All three are adept at getting ground balls, and the rotation just put up their second-best rate since they started tracking that number.

Jon Gray believes he can become best pitcher in Rockies history

The question posed to Jon Gray was simple and direct: Do you think you have a chance to be the best pitcher in Rockies history?

His answer was measured and thoughtful.

“I think I can definitely accomplish that, because I don’t fear Coors Field at all,” Gray said last week as spring training opened. “I know I can go in there and give it everything I have and get the win.”

Rockies’ new color of purple drawing mixed reviews in clubhouse – The Denver Post

Now it’s actually purple.

Colorado Rockies look to 2017 and beyond | MLB.com

The recent home-field success of Bettis, Gray and Anderson are why the Rockies feel comfortable with a rotation built around those three, plus Chatwood, who was inconsistent in his return from Tommy John surgery a year ago, but will be a full year removed from his return, and is 14-12 in his career at Coors Field compared to 18-19 elsewhere.

Greg Holland’s baseball fate closely tied to Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster

Where a player signs isn’t always completely about the money.