WARNING: This blog is about the Colorado Rockies. You can move on. For the 5 of you who care about the Rockies, you must know alot about baseball. The Rockies are the most underrated team in baseball. You probably don't know this(I didn't until I looked it up), but the Rockies are 67-63, tied for 3rd place in the N.L. West with the Dodgers who spend tons of money in the offseason. Why is this great season overlooked? Well, they play in Colorado, they have no superstars, and they never make any big moves. But this team has a solid core of young, fresh, faces and wise veterans to guide the way to the N.L. WC Race. I don't think this team is making the playoffs. But you have to give them credit, they have done a great job starting over and building a good baseball team.

Pitching- This team traded away Jason Jennings during the offseason. It looked like a bad move. Now the Rockies are looking very smart. Jennings has been a nightmare and he is out for the rest of the season. Brian Fuentes is a very underrated closer. Not automatic, but still quite good. , Aaron Cook, one of the games best sinkerballers, has an ERA of 4.12, great for someone in Coors Field. Jeff Francis is 13-6, Jeremy Affeldt(a once horrible bust for the Royals) has an ERA of 3.28 in 60 games, LaTroy Hawkins has an ERA of 3.48(Thats right, THE Latroy Hawkins), and the team has been putting together good pitching match-ups and winning the games they should win. And then some. Earlier this year, they swept the Yanks AND Mets. And the pitching was great. It had to be to hold those line-ups.

Batting- We all know about Todd Helton , but he is having a disappointing year as his career continues to decline. It's the other guys that have stepped up and done their jobs. Brad Hawpe has 23 HRs, Garrett Atkins is hvaing a down year but he is still a cornerstone of this team with 18 HRs and 87 RBIs,Matt Holliday is having an MVP year, Kaz Matsui has come out of nowhere and saved his career currently hitting .291, Troy Tulowitzki is one of the most underrated players in baseball because not only can he swing the bat well(.296, 18 HRs) but he is fantastic as defense, and Willy Taveras(one of the guys they got for Jennings) is hitting .311 and has gave the team some much needed speed. And they have the young prospect Ian Stewart, who is the future of this team.

What Else This Team Needs- Obviously, this team could use some more power and a little help in the bullpen. I'm not sure if the Rockies have alot of money or not, but if they don't they havn't spent that much. I've guessed they learned from their past experiences(Mike Hampton, anyone?). This team could use a catcher. I know they have Yorvit Torrealba, who they love, but they could use some experience and stability at that position. That would be great for the young pitchers. Speaking of pitching, gotta get some set-up man. Dan Wheeler would have been a good guy, but I don't think the Astros would want anything else to do with the Rockies after the Jennings Deal. This team should get vet or 2, some bullpen help, and then let it all blend(and for the young guys to fully develop) and this team can be really good. The fact that they are over .500 in a really tough division says something about this team. Also says something about Clint Hurdle, who was on the hot seat before the season. But he has done a great job of providing a spark in this team and some energy that this organization has not seen in a long time.

That was my little blog on the Rockies. I'm done.