MEDIA CLIPS – APRIL 19, 2015
LeMahieu's homer not enough vs. streaking Dodgers
By Ken Gurnick and Thomas Harding / MLB.com | 12:26 AM ET
LOS ANGELES -- Torrid Adrian Gonzalez drove in three runs and Howie Kendrick had a pair of doubles as the
Dodgers win streak reached six games with a 6-3 victory over the Rockies at Dodger Stadium Saturday night. More >
Zack Greinke got the win, despite being chased with a two-run homer by DJ LeMahieu with two out in the top of the
seventh inning. Since joining the Dodgers, Greinke is 6-1 against Colorado and 20-1 against the NL West, while the
Dodgers are 43-20 in his starts.
"He was typical Zack," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "He located, he changed speeds. He had a couple quick
innings in the middle that kept his pitch count down. He got sick a couple days ago and we sent him home early
yesterday."
Rockies starting pitcher Jordan Lyles was charged with four runs in six innings, walking five.
"Tonight was not good," Lyles said. "I cannot walk that many people."
In addition to LeMahieu's homer, the Rockies scored in the first inning onCharlie Blackmon's leadoff double and Troy
Tulowitzki's RBI single. But with spotty starting pitching, less-than-crisp overall play and reliever Brooks Brown giving up
two seventh-inning runs -- the first off him since last Aug. 26 -- the Rockies didn't play well enough to beat Greinke. It was
a similar story Friday in a 7-3 loss to the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw.
"We've been playing extremely well defensively and our bullpen has been lights out," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.
"It's not going to be like that 100 percent of the time. But we've got to play a little tighter to beat guys like Kershaw and
Greinke."
1
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Puig drama: Returning from a tight hamstring, Yasiel Puig flinched on a pair of check swings in the third inning, singled
to load the bases, went hard into second base trying to break up a double play, with the resulting bounced relay by
LeMahieu allowing the tiebreaking run to score. Puig also misread Gonzalez's bases-loaded fly to the warning track in the
fifth, advancing only to second and reducing a sure double into a single. When the inning ended, Gonzalez appeared to
be lecturing Puig on baserunning basics. More >
Had their shot: The Rockies' Blackmon doubled to open the game, and scored on Tulowitzki's one-out single. Greinke
hit Justin Morneau, but escaped the jam by forcing Nolan Arenado into a double-play grounder.
Putting out all fires: The Dodgers' bullpen held Colorado scoreless in the final 2 1/3 innings and has allowed only one
earned run in 17 1/3 innings this season. Joel Peralta pitched the ninth inning for his third save. His career high is six in
2011.
Glove man with a big bat: LeMahieu, who has a solid defensive reputation, awakened the Rockies by swatting a two-run
homer into the left-field bleachers with two out in the seventh. LeMahieu has hit safely in all but one of the team's first 11
games. At the time of LeMahieu's homer, the Rockies were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. More >
"I knew I was probably his last batter, and I didn't want him to leave the game having a good taste in his mouth -- that's
really all I was thinking," LeMahieu said.
QUOTABLE
"The most important inning of the game was the shutdown inning after the home run [LeMahieu] hit to pull the game within
one. To give up two is the last thing you want. It kills momentum." -- Brown after his difficult seventh inning
"I haven't seen the same amount of dew on the [dugout] railing, haven't felt the same type of moisture as the game goes
on. I don't know what it is, but the ball is carrying. I'll let you guys figure it out." -- Mattingly on the increase in home runs at
Dodger Stadium
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Lyles entered having forced ground balls for 56.8 percent of his outs, but Saturday he had more outs in the air (seven)
than on the ground (six).
Brown had held lefty hitters to a .111 batting average this year before he fell behind the switch-hitting Rollins and gave up
his leadoff double in the seventh.
2
WHAT'S NEXT
Righty Eddie Butler has struggled with walks but not with runs. He has 10 walks to six strikeouts, but is 1-0 with a 1.64
ERA and the Rockies have won both of his starts going into Sunday afternoon's series finale with the Dodgers at 1:10
p.m. PT/2:10 p.m. MT. Butler will be opposed by Brandon McCarthy, who's coming off his unusual 10-strikeout, fourhomer start in Arizona. The Dodgers are hoping for the return of Carl Crawford, who missed Saturday night's start with a
stomach illness.
3
LeMahieu off to hot start, but regrets missed opportunities
Rockies' second baseman hits homer, but commits defensive miscue
By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | April 18, 2015
LOS ANGELES -- Any successful player known for his cool-headedness has a fire that folks overlook. DJ LeMahieu used
his to burn Dodgers star pitcher Zack Greinke for a seventh-inning, two-run homer in the Rockies' 6-3 loss Saturday
night at Dodger Stadium.
"I knew I was probably his last batter, and I didn't want him to leave the game having a good taste in his mouth -- that's
really all I was thinking," said LeMahieu, who, with the homer, has hit safely in 10 of the team's 11 games.
But LeMahieu went home with the bitterness of knowing a rare miscue was potentially costly. One of the game's premier
second basemen, he bounced a throw that cost the Rockies a third-inning double play that might have made the night
easier, maybe even made victory possible.
The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out against struggling starter Jordan Lyles, who was having difficulty forcing
ground balls -- his M.O. He got one from Adrian Gonzalez, but LeMahieu bounced the relay throw and first
baseman Justin Morneau couldn't make the backhand scoop. The resulting run gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead and the
Rockies never caught them.
"We've got to play good, clean baseball to win on the road," LeMahieu said. "It helps a lot if we can get out of the inning. It
happens. You move on. Hopefully next time in that situation -- we turn that 99 out of 100 times -- so we'll get them next
time."
LeMahieu, who has a .463 batting average, wasn't the only Rockies player who left feeling he could have done a little
more to win the game. Lyles left trailing just 4-3, thanks to LeMahieu's homer, but he walked five in six innings. In the
seventh, dependable righty reliever Brooks Brown gave up the first two runs off him since Aug. 26.
Offensively, the Rockies were 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The hits were Troy Tulowitzki's first-inning RBI
single, after Charlie Blackmon's double, and LeMahieu's homer three batters after Nolan Arenado's double. Another
clutch hit or two against Greinke could have made a difference.
After winning their first six road games, the Rockies have dropped the first two at Dodger Stadium..
The Rockies are five games into a stretch of 25 games in the National League West. LeMahieu realizes he and his mates
must be consistently clutch, even if the opposing pitchers are as decorated as Clayton Kershaw and Greinke.
"We battled, we had some opportunities," LeMahieu said. "Going forward, we're going to face these guys multiple times
this year. We'll be ready."
4
Blackmon trying to go deeper into counts this season
Rockies leadoff hitter is hoping new approach will help teammates
By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | April 18, 2015
LOS ANGELES -- Rockies leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon is seeing more pitches this year, hoping it will be beneficial to
his teammates.
Through the first 10 games going into his start Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, Blackmon saw 4.13 pitches per plate
appearance, an increase over the 3.58 average he saw last year -- his first in the top spot in the order.
Blackmon entered Saturday hitting .263 with a .350 on-base percentage. The batting average was below his career pace,
but the OBP is significantly above the .335 he managed last year and his .330 career number.
"I started trying to see a few more pitches in Spring Training," Blackmon said. "I'm better deep in the count. It's better for
the team to go deeper in the count. As a leadoff hitter you give your guys more chance to see the other pitcher's arsenal,
and maybe earn a walk here or there."
Blackmon is a .330 career hitter ahead in the count and a .304 hitter with the count even. Laying off first pitches is helping.
Just 11.1 percent of first pitches to him have been strikes -- a fact likely attributable to the power he displayed last season
(19 home runs, .440 slugging percentage).
Blackmon is not bad with the count full. Friday night's full-count, two-run home run off the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw was
just his second homer at 3-2, but he's a .402 hitter with that count.
But he hits .244 with the pitcher ahead, so he must be careful not to back himself into bad counts. He is also concerned
enough about not chasing pitches that he has to battle the looking strikeout (five of his 12 this year).
Blackmon also said he reserves the right to be unpredictable. He doubled the only time he put a first pitch in play, but he
is a career .361 hitter (43-for-119) on first pitches. He figures opponents are paying attention to this year's trends.
"There will be times I'll be very aggressive to keep pitchers honest," he said. "That's by design. I don't always try to see
4.13 pitches. If I notice teams fall into a pattern one way or another, I'll come out of that and start hacking."
Worth noting
• Righty David Hale, who suffered a left oblique injury late in Spring Training, will make his first injury rehab start Monday
for Class A Modesto at home against Visalia.
5
• Kyle Kendrick pitched seven scoreless innings at Milwaukee on Opening Day but since then has walked nine and given
up 14 earned runs in 9 2/3 innings. Manager Walt Weiss said the problem is correctable.
"We saw him real good in Milwaukee and we'll see that again," Weiss said. "The command hasn't been as good as it can
be and will be. He got into some tough counts last night [when he lasted 4 2/3 innings in a 7-3 loss to the Dodgers]."
6
Colorado Rockies sport new, tougher culture
By Patrick Saunders
The Denver Post
When Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez surveyed the visiting team's clubhouse at San Francisco's AT&T Park last
week, he liked what he saw.
"There is no messing around right now, not with this group," he said. "We are here to win now. We are not here to be
patient."
Left fielder Corey Dickerson, asked about the early-season moves made by the organization, called them bold.
Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said, "I think there are tougher guys in this locker room."
Bold? Tough? Those are not words generally associated with the Rockies, long known as an organization that takes its
time making any decision, let alone a tough one.
Under the leadership of first-year general manager Jeff Bridich, however, there's been a tangible change of culture. In
short, there's no tolerance for mediocrity. If someone isn't performing, a move is made.
Huge longshots to make the playoffs, let alone post a winning record, the Rockies are off to a solid start, with a 7-3 record
heading into play Saturday night in Los Angeles.
"It's very early in the season," Bridich said. "But if that's what the players are saying, that's a great thing. If they believe in
each other and the moves we've made, then that's great.
"I think it probably says that the players are speaking with a collective mind. You don't always get that in sports."
Manager Walt Weiss has also been instrumental in helping give the team a newfound focus. Bridich has given him more
say than he had in his first two years as a manager on issues such as the roster makeup and personnel moves. Together,
Bridich and Weiss have instilled a sense of urgency. The examples are numerous.
• Veteran right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, a clubhouse favorite, was cut during spring training when it became apparent he
wasn't making the starting rotation.
• Left-handed reliever Rex Brothers was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque during spring training. A year ago, Brothers
was allowed to stay with the Rockies all season, though he compiled a 5.59 ERA in 74 appearances.
• Closer LaTroy Hawkins was demoted to a setup role, and Adam Ottavino was promoted to replace him just eight games
into the season.
• Weiss has shaken up his batting order, occasionally hitting the pitcher in the eighth slot.
• At Weiss' request, and with analytics provided by the front office, the Rockies are using defensive shifts in their infield far
more than they had ever done.
Asked about the change in culture, Weiss is cautious but admits things are evolving.
7
"People on the outside might see this as different, but it doesn't feel that different to me," he said. "But I guess when you
look at it, yes, we have pulled the trigger on some things."
Weiss said he and Bridich are definitely on the same page when identifying problems and making moves.
"When we feel strongly about something, we've done something about it, as opposed to waiting and seeing how things
unfold. But it's a collaborative effort, it's not just Jeff and me. It's the whole organization."
CarGo welcomes what he sees as a new, no-nonsense approach.
"For me, I think it's the right thing to do," he said. "In the past, the organization has been maybe too patient with players.
Maybe even too patient with me when things were not looking good for us."
Dickerson, in his second full season in the majors, credits Bridich for the sea-shift. Dickerson was a 21-year-old playing at
low Single-A Asheville in 2011 when Bridich took over as the Rockies' farm director.
"Those of us in low-A, we noticed Jeff right away," Dickerson said. "We noticed the way he moved up players in ways that
had never happened before. ... And I have already seen it in the big leagues this season. He's got a really good feel for
players, and he's a very competitive guy. He knows which guys can play the game, and he wants to win now."
If the Rockies can contend past the All-Star Game — and that remains a gigantic "if" for a team coming off a 96-loss
season — the organization's new boldness will be tested.
Would the Rockies do what it takes to add missing pieces to make a playoff run? How bold would Bridich be? Would
owner Dick Monfort be on board? That would be the real litmus test.
CarGo is hopeful the organization goes all out to do everything it can to produce a playoff team for the first time since
2009.
"This is a major-league club," he said. "The coaches, the people in the front office and the players, we should all expect
great things. Fans buy tickets and spend a lot of money to watch really good baseball and to see players execute. It's only
fair that we perform at our best."
8
Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki not worried about
"late" first home run
By Nick Groke
The Denver Post
LOS ANGELES — Troy Tulowitzki's 21 home runs in just 91 games last season ranked second on the team to Corey
Dickerson's 24.
But Tulo was a little late to the party this season. Tulowitzki on Friday notched his first home run — a line-drive solo shot
to left field off Clayton Kershaw, no less.
Tulowitzki was the seventh Rockies hitter to homer. Nolan Arenado leads the team with three.
"I can always be better," Tulowitzki said. "I'll be the first one to tell you, if I have a great week, I'm not going to be satisfied.
That's just who I am and what I do."
His slow start in the home run column is hardly an issue. What he lacks in over-the-wall power, Tulowitzki is making up for
in line drives. His seven doubles before Saturday's game led the team. He trailed only the Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez, who
doubled twice in the series opener here Friday, with eight.
Hale's rehab. David Hale, who nearly pitched himself into the Rockies' opening rotation before straining an oblique
muscle, will pitch his first rehab start Monday for the Single-A Modesto Nuts against Visalia, manager Walt Weiss said.
Axford's son out of ICU. John Axford's 2-year-old son Jameson, who is recovering from a rattlesnake bite, left the
intensive care unit for the first time in more than three weeks. He is in a Denver-area hospital. Nick Groke, The Denver
Post
9
Saunders: Crazy things happen in April in Major League Baseball
By Patrick Saunders
The Denver Post
When it comes to baseball, April tends to make fools out of a lot of us.
It's understandable. After a long winter, baseball lovers tend to overreact once the season begins. We know better, but we
just can't help ourselves.
April baseball is as crazy and unpredictable as the snowstorms and tornadoes that strike Colorado on the same day.
For instance, the defending World Series champion Giants, lacking offense, defense and focus, lost eight consecutive
games for the first time since 2007, Barry Bonds' final season. Their 3-9 record through Friday matched the worst start in
San Francisco history.
Meanwhile, the Rockies swept the Giants in San Francisco last week and opened the season 6-0 on the road for the first
time in franchise history. The Rockies went 6-39 in their final 45 road games last season. Go figure.
And one final bit of April weirdness, from esteemed ESPN baseball writer Jayson Stark: Marlins outfielder Giancarlo
Stanton, the $325 million man, finally hit a home run Thursday. Stark counted 164 players who homered before Stanton
did — including Elvis Andrus, Billy Hamilton and Jeff Francoeur.
Hundley's impact. I'm used to players praising their teammates, but I'd never seen so many players go out of their way to
compliment a player as they have Rockies catcher Nick Hundley.
"I let him call the games. He steers the ship," rookie right-hander Eddie Butler said. "But it's kind of funny, because it's like
he knows what pitch I want to throw."
That's no accident. The first thing Hundley did when he signed a two-year, $6.25 million contract with Colorado was to
begin studying his new batterymates.
"That started in the offseason, establishing relationships with the pitchers before we even got to spring training," manager
Walt Weiss said. "He did a great job of connecting with them once we were in Scottsdale and earned their trust right
away. That's critical for a pitcher and catcher."
The Catch. There have been a lot of comparisons between the catch Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado made
Tuesday night at San Francisco and the catch former Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter made against the Red Sox on July
1, 2004, at Yankee Stadium.
For the record, Arenado's was the tougher catch. His was an over-the-shoulder job, and he collided with the tarp without
warning. Then he got up and threw the ball, from his knees, from atop the tarp, attempting to complete a double play.
True, Jeter had a longer run, but he saw the stands coming after he made his catch, and then he made his dive. Plus, it
was in his home ballpark.
10
I've had Yankees fans e-mail me and say that Jeter's catch was better because it was the Yankees. One man e-mailed
me, saying, "Every game in New York is a playoff game, so Jeter did it on a bigger stage."
I say, "Gag me."
Ubaldo's beanball. I saw that former Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez, now with the Orioles, got ejected from Friday night's
game for drilling Boston's Pablo Sandoval. It brought back memories of the 2012 spring training game when Jimenez,
then with the Indians, hit Troy Tulowitzki. The two former teammates nearly came to blows, the benches emptied, and it
prompted mild-mannered Rockies manager Jim Tracy to shout: "It's the most gutless act I have seen in 35 years of
professional baseball. I have lost all respect for (Jimenez)."
For Gentleman Jim, it was a shocking outburst of anger. It caught me, Troy Renck and MLB.com's Thomas Harding
completely off guard. We held our notebooks in front of our faces because we didn't want Tracy to catch us laughing.
Good times.
Patrick Saunders: [email protected] or twitter.com/psaundersdp
Spotlight on ...
Justin Upton, left fielder, Padres
What's up: Rockies fans will get their first close look at the revamped Padres at Coors Field on Monday night. What used
to be the most anemic offense in baseball now has the potential to be one of the best. Justin Upton, the cleanup hitter,
already had three home runs entering Saturday, including a go-ahead solo shot in the bottom of the eighth inning in San
Diego's 3-2 victory over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
Background: The multitalented Upton is back in the National League West, where he began his big-league career. He
played six seasons with Arizona, making his debut at age 19, before landing with Atlanta for two seasons. The Padres
acquired Upton in a trade with Atlanta during the winter meetings when they shook up the baseball world. In the span of
24 hours, San Diego acquired its entire starting outfield: Upton, Wil Myers and Matt Kemp. Myers' three-run homer in the
seventh inning beat the Cubs 5-4 on Friday.
Saunders' take: Upton adds more punch to San Diego's lineup. He was hitting .317 entering Saturday, and he has a solid
track record against Colorado: .296 average with 20 home runs and a .949 OPS in 93 games. He has not torn up Coors
Field: .276 average, eight homers and an .839 OPS in 47 games.
The Padres' lineup is much better than it was, but I'd still give the Rockies the advantage. It's the Padres' pitching — they
added starter James Shields and closer Craig Kimbrel — that makes them true contenders in the NL West.
THREE UP
11
1. Tigers: Detroit had started 9-1 just twice since World War I: 1968 and 1984, the years of Detroit's last two World Series
titles.
2. Royals: Boys from K.C. out to prove that last season was no fluke. So far, so good.
3. Mets: Former Rockie Michael Cuddyer hitting .317 as Mets win six straight for first time since 2011.
THREE DOWN
1. Giants: Already shut out three times, their eight-game skid is their longest since June 13-22, 2007.
2. Marlins: Giancarlo Stanton finally hitting homers but says team missing "fire."
3. Mariners: Their 3-7 start was worst through the first 10 games since opening 2011 season with same record.
12
The Colorado Rockies lack a conventional leadoff man; the job remains Charlie Blackmon's to lose
By Carolyn Jelley @C_Jelley on Apr 18, 2015, 10:38p | PurpleRow.com
For the first time in his tenure with the Rockies, Walt Weiss has been flexing his managerial muscle. His meticulously
aligned batting order has proven successful in seven of the club’s first 11 games and is doing just what the skipper
intended in putting a healthy amount of runs on the board. There have been some questions about Weiss’s decision to
stick with last year’s leadoff man, Charlie Blackmon, but the answer to those questions are simple enough: he’s still the
best one for the job.
The Rockies don’t have a prototypical lead-off guy anywhere in their starting lineup. The team is, put bluntly, unusually
big. The age old idea of a quick and agile middle infielder, working low to the ground, dropping bunt singles on anyone,
doesn’t quite work with either Troy Tulowitzki or DJ LeMahieu, both of whom draw a lot off commentary on their
unconventional stature. Nolan Arenado has lightning fast hands, but he still runs like the catcher he once was.
If anyone on the roster fits that ideal bill it’s Rafeal Ynoa, a speedy smallballer who managed a .380 on-base percentage
in his stint with the Rockies last fall. The club, however, is in no hurry to trade any facet of the Coors Shield for an
uncertainty like Ynoa.
Charlie Blackmon, though built quite similarly to Tulowitzki and LeMahieu, definitely makes more sense from the leadoff
spot than either of the aforementioned players. For one, he runs better, leading the team last season with his 28 stolen
bases. His approach at the plate has matured as he’s grown into the role, and with it, his discipline. Blackmon regularly
works at bats to deep pitch counts and can capitalize on mistakes or borderline pitches just as well as he can draw a walk.
He demonstrated this last night, taking Clayton Kershaw deep on the ninth pitch of his fifth inning at bat.
Blackmon’s notable potential for power as a leadoff man accounted for the most RBIs of any leadoff hitter in the league
last year. For being an unusual fit for the job, Blackmon handled himself surprisingly well. Here’s a look at his 2014 stats
compared to those of the other NL West leadoff men.
Team
PA
AVG
OBP
BB
SO
SB
CS
Charlie Blackmon
COL
648
.288
.335
31
96
28
10
Dee Gordon
LAD
650
.289
.326
31
107
64
19
Gregor Blanco
SFG
444
.260
.333
41
77
16
5
Everth Cabrera
SDP
391
.232
.272
20
86
18
8
Ender Inciarte
AZD
447
.278
.318
25
53
19
3
13
Many would still like to see Walt Weiss opt for a change in his lineup structure this year. So let us consider the
possibilitites:
Drew Stubbs
Though not an everyday starter, Drew Stubbs is without a doubt the fastest man on the team. Stubbs swiped 20 bags last
year while only being thrown out three times. No one else on this roster matches Stubbs’s ability to leg out infield hits or
avoid getting caught up in a double play, though all of this is only possible if Stubbs can put bat to the ball. He’s off to a
rough start with the strikeouts, but this is not a new issue for Stubbs. In four full major league seasons, Stubbs has yet to
log less than 130 punch outs. In 2011, he led the National League with 205. 205! His 136 strikeouts last year -- the lowest
of his career -- were still enough to lead the team by 35. The man with the next highest mark? Why, none other than
Corey Dickerson
Dickerson seems to be the favorite among those looking for a change. An interesting idea considering his on base
percentage was considerably higher than Blackmon’s a year ago, and is on to much of the same pace again the first few
weeks of the season. But there is a learning curve to the leadoff position that’s no easy adjustment for a guy of
Dickerson’s nature. Dickerson is aggressive. He knows his strengths as a batter and doesn’t waste much time finding a
pitch to hit. If a ball is thrown within striking distance, Corey Dickerson is swinging. He certainly doesn’t come to the plate
to be satisfied with a walk. It’s early enough in his career for the lefty to learn the leadoff ropes, but why not groom
Dickerson for a future RBI-heavy third or fourth spot? Dickerson could hit upwards of 25 homeruns for the Rockies this
year, no sense in guaranteeing he’d be the only one scoring in 130 or so of his at bats.
For the sake of comparison, here’s a look at Drew Stubbs and Corey Dickerson’s 2014 numbers:
PA
AVG
OBP
BB
SO
SB
CS
Drew Stubbs
424
.298
.339
30
136
20
3
Corey Dickerson
478
.312
.364
37
101
8
7
Of all the tinkering being done with the Rockies’ lineup, Walt Weiss is probably right to stick with his All-Star center fielder
in the top spot. This is not a role that will necessarily make or break a team’s chances -- note San Francisco’s Gregor
Blanco to Arizona’s Ender Inciarte. Blackmon has been a respectable opener to the Rockies’ strong lineup to this
point. There is a lot to like about the unorthodox casting of the leadoff man; the Rockies are an unorthodox team in more
ways than just this one. So there isn’t a quintessential character for the top of the order, but power eight spots deep every
night makes it hard to wish it were any other way.
14
Revisiting the 4-player trade that sent D.J. LeMahieu from the Cubs to the Rockies
By Nick Stephens @NlckStephens on Apr 19, 2015, 9:00a | PurpleRow.com
On December 8, 2011, Troy Renck published an article detailing a trade that sent Ian Stewart and Casey Weathers to
the Chicago Cubs for Tyler Colvin and DJ LeMahieu. What most consider an under-the-radar trade, turned out to be a
big win for former GM Dan O’Dowd and the Rockies.
Renck, who covered the Rockies for the Denver Post at the time, was able to hear directly from O’Dowd himself regarding
the trade. O’Dowd’s reasoning for the trade was simple: "We're continuing to look for the right pieces." O’Dowd did find
the right piece. He found the piece to a seemingly unsolvable puzzle at second base.
Before we look at what the Rockies received, let’s take a look at what they gave up.
In 2005, Ian Stewart was ranked fourth on Baseball America’s prospect list just behind Delmon Young, Felix Hernandez,
and Joe Mauer. After an up and down career in the minors, occasionally making a few major league appearances, he
finally received the everyday job at third base in July of 2008, when Garrett Atkins moved to first base after an injury to
Todd Helton. Stewart hit the ground running and raked his way to an NL Rookie of the Month award. The Rockies thought
they had found their third baseman of the future.
Unfortunately, Stewart struggled heavily in 2011 and found himself up and down between the Rockies and the Colorado
Springs Sky Sox. After a .156 batting average over 126 at bats, the Rockies decided it was time to part ways which led to
his trade to the Chicago Cubs. Stewart last saw major league action in 2014 for the Angels, and is currently playing in
Triple A for the Washington Nationals.
Casey Weathers, who was traded alongside Stewart, was the eighth pick in the 2007 amateur draft. Weathers spent time
in Asheville and Modesto as a relief pitcher during 2007 and hit a bump in the road when he fell victim to Tommy John
surgery in 2008. Weathers returned hoping find his way to the big league roster, but he never made an appearance with
the Rockies and was sent packing to Chicago. Weathers, now in his age 30 season, is currently pitching in the High-A
Carolina league as a member of Cleveland's system.
What did the Rockies get out of this four player trade?
Tyler Colvin was the 13th overall pick for the Chicago Cubs in 2006. Colvin broke out with the MLB club in 2010, hitting
.254 with 20 home runs over 135 games. Colvin was unable to replicate his offensive production the following year, as he
hit .150 over 222 at bats, which eventually led to his trade to Denver.
Colvin, like most hitters, thrived in Coors Field. In his first year with the Rockies he had a slash line of .338/.380/.652; he
hit nine triples and 11 home runs in his games in Denver. Colvin struggled on the road, with an OPS of just .687. But after
a 2 fWAR season, the Rockies seemed to have found a serviceable outfielder to go along with Dexter Fowler and Carlos
Gonzalez.
15
Just like his second year in Chicago, Colvin struggled in his second season with Colorado, and he eventually found
himself outrighted from the Rockies’ roster after an up and down year between Colorado Springs and the MLB club.
The other player the Rockies received was infielder DJ LeMahieu. LeMahieu was a second round pick in the 2009 draft by
the Chicago Cubs. At first glance, LeMahieu looked like he would be a solid utility infielder for the Rockies. After spending
some time in Colorado Springs, LeMahieu made the call up to the Rockies and finished the season with the big league
club after an injury to utility infielder Jonathan Herrera. LeMahieu hit .297 over 247 at bats that season for the Rockies.
LeMahieu started out 2013 at Triple-A Colorado Springs, as Josh Rutledge was given the Opening Day second base job.
After Rutledge failed to meet the Rockies' expectations, LeMahieu took over the role as the starting second baseman and
never looked back. LeMahieu hit .280 over 404 at bats and provided stellar defense not seen from the Rockies since Clint
Barmes was the regular starting second baseman.
LeMahieu was the starting second baseman in 2014 and provided decent offense from the eight spot. But the thing that
sets LeMahieu apart is his defense. LeMahieu took home his first Gold Glove award in 2014.
For the second year in a row, LeMahieu was the Rockies Opening Day second baseman, and is currently off to a
scorching hot start in 2015, having 18 hits over the first ten games.
Taking a look at this trade from a sabermetric perspective, the players the Rockies acquired in this trade provided an
fWAR of 3.1, compared to a total of 0.1 for the Cubs. Even just giving this trade the eye test, the Rockies won this trade
by a longshot. They traded a prospect bust and poor minor league relief pitcher for a Gold Glove second baseman and
didn’t lose much from Colvin who provided a solid year of offense in the Rockies lineup. Regardless of how you view Dan
O’Dowd, you’ve got to give him props for this trade.
16
Matzek Lends Hand To Fellow Rockies’ Pick
April 18, 2015 by Jack Etkin | Baseball America
Tyler Matzek and Justin Solomon were both drafted by the Rockies. But only an unexpected gesture by Matzek brought
the two of them to spring training together.
The Rockies lefthander enabled Solomon—who has leukemia—his mother, Jennifer, and his best friend, Brady
Colebrook, to visit Colorado’s spring training in Scottsdale, Ariz., this year.
Matzek picked up all the expenses for their four-night, five-day stay. Upon arriving, the three were whisked in a town car
from the Phoenix airport to the Rockies’ team hotel where two rooms were waiting along with their rental car. They hurried
to Salt River Field at Talking Stick in time to see Matzek start. After the game, Matzek sent a text, inviting the group to
dinner. And that’s when Matzek met his visitors—for the first time.
“We were taken aback, and thought it was amazing that he and his wife, Lauren, did everything they did to get us out
there,” Jennifer said. “To pay for our hotel and our rental car and our flights, but then to spend time with us outside of the
games and the ballfield was just more than we would have imagined.”
Matzek and his wife took the group to dinner three times during their stay and even took them to a shooting range after
Matzek asked Justin about his interests.
“He took a vested interest in Justin,” Jennifer said. “He just went above and beyond … Lauren was as kind and generous
as he was. I felt like I was with family.”
Justin, whose leukemia is in remission and who traveled to spring training nearly seven months after a kidney transplant,
called Matzek “just an awesome, down-to-earth, real cool dude that you could have a conversation with for hours.”
For his part, Matzek said he was surprised and caught off guard by Justin’s spirit.
“He’s been through so much,” Matzek said. “To see a kid who’s been through two, three years of hell—he’s just so upbeat
and happy and making jokes. He’s surprisingly happy for his situation. It’s amazing. It just makes you sit back and think,
‘Wow, how can I ever have a bad day?’ ”
Justin, 20, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in July 2011. He had played second base at Piedra Vista
High in Farmington, N.M., and the following June, shortly after his graduation, the Rockies drafted him in the 35th round at
the urging of area scout Chris Forbes.
Now the Rockies’ assistant player development director, Forbes had been diagnosed in December 1999 with chronic
myeloid leukemia. He ended up developing a secondary leukemia and finally went into remission in April 2008.
“For me, it was a no-brainer (to draft Justin),” Forbes said. “It didn’t take too much convincing of (scouting director Bill
Schmidt) of why I wanted to do it, especially with my history. My motivation was as an organization, we have a chance to
make an impact on this kid’s life. He’s forever going to be the 35th-rounder that year. Now you’re bringing a kid into the
Rockies’ family, which I don’t take lightly.”
The timing for that pick-me-up draft of Justin was ideal. He had a bone marrow transplant in Houston in January 2012.
After drafting Justin, Forbes talked about having him visit Coors Field, but he was too sick. In subsequent years, the
possibility of Justin visiting spring training was discussed. But until this year, he was never well enough.
On the day Justin was diagnosed, Jennifer, unable to respond to every text, e-mail or phone message, started a
Facebook page: Prayers for Justin Solomon. A couple years ago, Lauren Matzek said she saw the page, showed it to
17
Tyler and mentioned that Justin, too, had been drafted by the Rockies. The Rockies took Matzek 11th overall in the 2009
draft and signed him for a then franchise-record $3.9 million.
A picture Jennifer posted of Justin doing pushups on a doctor’s examining table was particularly poignant to the Matzeks.
It reminded them of their late friend Paul Bargas, who died of cancer. Both Tyler and Jennifer were in Bargas’ wedding.
The Rockies drafted Bargas, a lefthanded pitcher, out of UC Riverside in the 13th round in 2009 and traded him to the
Twins after the 2010 season. He was unable to play in 2011, because he was sick and going through treatment. Bargas
was 23 when he died in June 2012.
The Matzeks continued to follow Justin’s progress and setbacks on Facebook. And Matzek said, “I always had the idea in
the back of my head like it’d be nice to do something cool for him.”
But just when that might happen was very uncertain.
“He was so sick,” Jennifer said. “This was a kid, you couldn’t stop him before. And from the moment he was diagnosed
with cancer, he had every complication. We almost lost him several times.”
After being on dialysis for a year and a half, initially three times a week in a hospital and then at home, a kidney transplant
was discussed. Justin and Jennifer were living in North Carolina, where she is from, so Justin could receive treatment at
the Duke Medical Center. Jennifer said doctors there would not agree to a kidney transplant, because they didn’t think
Justin would live through it.
In inimitable fashion, Justin asked his mother to find a hospital that would do the transplant. “Justin said, ‘Mom, haven’t
you ever heard the term: You have to risk it for the biscuit?’ Which I had never heard.”
Jennifer’s research led them to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago where last year on Aug. 29, Justin underwent
a kidney transplant. Jennifer was the donor.
“Being on dialysis, I couldn’t take it anymore,” Justin said. “I had no energy. I felt like crap all the time. Something had to
change.”
Understandably, Justin said he would get depressed at times about being sick for so long. And then something might
happen that Justin termed “kind of like a reboot and just lift my spirits.” All of which made his experience at spring training
“probably the biggest reboot I’ve ever had. It’ll last me a good while.”
Jennifer “wasn’t overly familiar” with Matzek when he reached out to her through Facebook in November about getting
Justin to spring training.
“He told me who he was and what he was hoping to do,” Jennifer said. “He said it was all-expenses paid. I really wasn’t
sure; it was just a too-good-to-be-true type thing.”
She said she thought about it, became sidetracked and didn’t respond right away to Matzek. He messaged her again,
provided his phone number and Jennifer called him. Matzek reiterated his offer.
“Justin for the first time in three years—he had done a 180, and he was just doing remarkably well,” Jennifer said. “And I
thought, ‘Gosh, this would be such a blessing and dream come true if he could get out there and do this.’ ”
Before telling Justin of Matzek’s invitation, Jennifer, guided by past history, had to be sure Justin was physically going to
be able to make the trip. So she waited.
“We had this pattern for so long of him being OK and then getting sick and being in a hospital for months at a time,”
Jennifer said. “I just didn’t know how it was going to go. It was a day-to-day thing. But he had done so well from August
immediately after his transplant until January that I felt it was a good time to tell him.”
18
Matzek invited Justin to bring his best friend Colebrook along. They are roommates in Provo, Utah, where Colebrook lives
and where Justin moved in mid-February. Colebrook and Justin were baseball teammates in high school. And now,
thanks to Matzek, they got repeated glimpses of a workplace that seemed beyond belief.
“Brady said several times when we were going to the baseball fields, ‘That’d be so cool just to hang out with your friends
all day playing the sport that you love,’ ” Justin said. ” ‘That’d be the best job in the world.’ ”
In Justin’s case, he did more than just visit the ballpark. Forbes invited him to attend some morning meetings with the
minor league field staff. And he arranged for Justin to have a locker in the minor league coaches locker room. Justin’s
locker, complete with a nameplate, was filled with Rockies gear, as well as a Rockies equipment bag to carry everything
home. Justin said that minor league equipment manager Jerry Bass, known to all as Bass Man, routinely stopped by to
ask Justin if all the sizes were right and if he needed everything.
“I was really blown away how they treated me,” Justin said. “I wasn’t some stranger who was going to be there four days
and be gone. I felt like part of the family.”
Before Justin arrived, Forbes had gathered all the Rockies minor leaguers on the field and told them a guest coach would
be visiting. Coach Solly, Forbes called him. Then Forbes told the young players Justin’s story.
Sure enough, when he arrived a few days later, Forbes took Justin out to the minor league fields, welcomed him to camp
and introduced him to the assembled players. Watching nearby was Jennifer, not quite believing her son was again in a
baseball uniform.
“It was just overpowering to see him out there,” she said.
One minor league player, whose mother had leukemia and a bone marrow transplant the same year Justin did, sat down
with Justin at lunch and shared that experience and asked Justin if was going to take some hacks. But he stayed away
from the batting cages and never tried to play catch. A lot of hemorrhaging in his eyes has cost Justin about half of what
once was 20/20 vision.
“The blood vessels in my eyes burst,” he said, “and the new once are not strong enough, I guess. So they constantly
bleed. It just makes it like a little blurry.”
Forbes and player development director Zach Wilson, aware the most unpleasant time of spring training was approaching,
joked they would let Justin handle the releases. He was around the Rockies offices enough that as his visit was nearing
an end, Justin recalled one club employee said, “See you next year.”
It could happen. Matzek told Justin he wanted him to return and not to think this visit was a one-time happening.
“I definitely don’t want to just say goodbye to the guy,” Matzek said. “He’s one of those kids you just want to hang out with.
He was a really cool kid, and I can definitely see a friendship growing between the two of us. Him and Brady.”
Jennifer said the visit energized, refreshed and “just completely rejuvenated” her son. Justin undergoes an infusion every
couple of weeks to help his body accept the kidney she donated. And because his immune system is so suppressed, he is
more susceptible to illness and takes longer to recover.
But he has come far. A year before his visit to spring training, Jennifer said Justin was “very, very, very sick,” and she
would have laughed in disbelief at the mention of him traveling to the Rockies’ camp and for a few days happily being in a
cocoon of baseball.
“Having an experience like that is something that he can carry with him and go back to,” Jennifer said, “and remember
how he felt when he was there on the field and in the stadium watching them and even hanging out with these guys. But it
still is hard to a degree, because he misses it so much. To his core, he loves baseball.”
19