Some Rockies-centric Links & Observations (3.7.23)

Here’s what I’m reading this week.

Mar 7

This is Rockies Pitch, a biweekly newsletter about the Colorado Rockies. Please consider subscribing and sharing this link with a friend.

I’m going to do something a little different today. Yes, there will be links, but I wanted to comment on a few things that don’t seem like full-newsletter material but merit mentioning.

★★★

Just when you thought the Rockies had pretty much set their roster, they announced two signings over the weekend. The first, lefty reliever Brad Hand, made sense given the announcement that Lucas Gilbreath would probably undergo Tommy John surgery. (Read more about the Hand signing here.)

The second, however, was a bit more opaque:

Thomas Harding @harding_at_mlb

Confirmed with new #Rockies non-roster signing Mike Moustakas what I reported in my first tweet. It is DH-1B-3B, the positions he has played most and is most comfortable, but not 2B.

Thomas Harding @harding_at_mlb

#Rockies have reached a non-roster agreement with DH-3B-1B Mike Moustakas, who was released by the #Reds in January.

They signed Mike “Moose” Moustakas, who has struggled with injuries the last two seasons and was worth -0.5 fWAR both seasons? Yes. Apparently, the Rockies are not sure they can trust Elehuris Montero or Nolan Jones at third, so they’ve brought in a seasoned veteran. As Moustakas told Thomas Harding, “I finally feel good." Comments like this one do not inspire confidence.

Then again, perhaps the Rockies just want some left-handed depth, and there are no bad minor-league contracts. (Read Harding’s article on the signing here.)

★★★

Zac Veen leads Spring Training in stolen bases with seven. (Behind him with five is Atlanta’s Justin Dean.) On Saturday, when he stole second and then third in short order, I was tweeting for Purple Row, and it was impossible to keep up with him — that’s how fast he was working.

Brenton Doyle has stolen three, which ties him for fifth. In short, the kids are running, and they are fun.

★★★

Given that Kris Bryant appeared in only 42 games in 2022, it was easy to forget he had even signed a contract with the Rockies. However, in 16 plate appearances, he has already hit three home runs.

In interviews, Bryant has stressed how important it was for him to have a normal offseason, and there is an appreciable difference this season. He may make the Rockies better than they really are.

★★★

Last week, I published a review in PitcherList of Joe Kelly’s new book, A Damn Near Perfect Game: Reclaiming America’s Pastime.

There were a few passages that didn’t make the review but seemed relevant to Rockies fans.

There were other teams trying to do what the Dodgers were doing when it came to information and approach, but it sure seemed like Los Angeles was a few steps ahead of the rest of the pack. For me it was: This is the pitch you should throw, where you should throw it, when you should throw it, and here are the hitters you will be throwing it to. There were other layers of suggestions and observations; for example, they identified that my triple-digit fastball was getting hit so often because I was throwing it with one finger instead of two. To say all of it was eye-opening is an understatement.

In other words, the Dodgers have synthesized information and shared it with players to minimize their choices so that they are in a position to focus on execution.

This contrasts rather sharply with this passage from a Danielle Allentuck piece on Ryan Feltner with a focus on the pitcher’s tendency to “overthink things.”

"From a coaching standpoint, we tell players that all the time: don't overanalyze things. You get paralysis by analysis," manager Bud Black said. "There's got to be clarity for him. There has to be an instinct of competing with a clear mind and calmness. You can't coach that. You talk about that for sure and you give advice, but ultimately it's up to the player to be able to handle that and get there."

The Dodgers, I suspect wouldn’t put Feltner in the position of going from “calculus to caveman” (the article’s title) because they would help him focus on relevant information. (Turns out, having a larger analytics department can help with that kind of thing.)

Here’s the second passage from Kelly’s book taken from a conversation with Commissioner Rob Manfred:

Me: Yup. We aren’t playing a game called baseball anymore. We’re playing a game called run prevention. We’re not playing to win, we’re playing to limit runs. I think that screwed up what should have been an entertaining evolution of the game.

Given the Rockies’ utter lack of offense in recent years, this seems meaningful. Manny Randhawa contends that the Rockies’ best way forward is to focus on power and hitting: Out-slug the other team, like the Blake Street Bombers did.

It’s easy to see how a run-prevention philosophy has come back to hurt an offense-deprived Rockies team.

★★★

And now to this week’s links.

MLB Pipeline has released their updated list of the Rockies’ Top 30 Prospects.
The Spokane Indians are going to be fun, writes Kenneth Weber for Purple Row.
Karl Kauffmann may have had a tough game against the Reds last night, but there’s much for Rockies fans to be excited about according to Keven Henry.
This is a pretty terrific piece from David Waldstein on the Czech baseball team that will be playing in the World Baseball Classic.
Ryan Vilade and his family are committed to growing the game.
Joe Posnanski wrote for Esquire about the “plan to save baseball.”
The World Baseball Classic starts today, and Zac Kram has a nice primer.
No, baseball parks do not sell fewer concession when teams play shorter games. J.J. Cooper of Baseball America explains.
Since it’s Women’s History Month, so it’s worth reiterating this.