San Diego – Outfielder wasn’t worried about his future when he arrived in spring training. With Dustan Mohr the club’s top offseason signing, Hawpe’s roster spot was potentially threatened.
When he walked into the clubhouse Monday, the rookie was greeted with questions not about playing, but where he was hitting.
He was moved to the fifth spot, displacing , after quietly establishing himself as the club’s second most productive hitter.
“Like I said when the season started, if I hit I will play, if not I will be on the bench,” said Hawpe, whose fifth-spot assignment may not be temporary according to manager Clint Hurdle. “I am trying to drive the ball as hard as I can. Placing it somewhere has never been my forte.”
Hawpe looked overmatched last year. With a quicker approach that allows him to turn on fastballs and better recognize off-speed pitches, Hawpe is batting .386 with four homers and 14 RBIs.
His success has been a pleasant surprise when juxtaposed by the jarring starts of , and Holliday.
Even after Helton’s home run Monday night, the two sluggers have combined for two home runs in 173 at-bats.
“Todd may never have another month where he hits .270,” Holliday said.
“The lineup change is more about what Hawpe is doing than what I am not. I obviously would like to have more home runs and doubles, but it’s early and I haven’t found a good groove yet.”
In search of relief
The Rockies recently scouted the New York Yankees, knowing they are prepared to trade or cut a veteran reliever when Tanyon Sturtze comes off the disabled list this week.
Either right-hander Steve Karsay or Felix Rodriguez is expected to be released, with left-hander Paul Quantrill a longshot as a roster casualty.
The Rockies weren’t impressed enough to consider a trade, one that would only be possible if the Yankees ate nearly the entire salary.
While monitoring New York’s situation, the Rockies continued discussions with free agent Dan Miceli, but were unable to strike a deal.
“He has other teams interested but we want to see if we can get something done with the Rockies first,” agent Tom O’Connell said.
Don’t walk this way
For all the complaints about the Coors Field music, perhaps it’s fitting the Rockies’ pitching staff has adopted Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” as its unofficial theme.
A league-high 117 free passes and 13 hit batsmen have sprayed graffiti across their stat sheet.
Monday, Hurdle called the pitchers into his office – they sat huddled on the floor – for the first of their new monthly reviews.
It wasn’t kind, with Hurdle laying out how he would attack each of them as an opposing hitting coach.
“He basically said that if he was facing us he would be more careful because we aren’t throwing enough strikes,” starter said.
“We need to be more aggressive and attack the zone.”
The pitchers were told the following areas must improve: retiring leadoff hitters, increasing first-pitch strikes, eliminating two-out walks and pitch efficiency, with the goal to put away hitters in four pitches or less.
“Right now the pitch counts are up, we are putting runners in scoring position and turning lineups around,” pitching coach Bob Apodaca said.
“We have to get a lot better.”
