Tucson – Spring training officially has become “Groundhog Day.” The bus rides across the Arizona desert, practices and daily repetition are growing tiresome.
“I wish this had ended two weeks ago,” Rockies first baseman Todd Helton said the other day.
He can afford to be a short- timer. Other position players, however, still need the daily grind.
“We’ve still got work in front of us,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “All of these guys, with the exception of Helton, need at- bats. They are second- or third- year players. By no means do we need to step off the gas.”
After going 3-for-3 with a double Saturday in the Rockies’ 3-2 Cactus League victory over Texas, Helton is hitting .400. He is 6-for-6 in his past two games with four extra-base hits.
But clean-up hitter Matt Holliday, for instance, is working overtime to get ready for the April 3 regular-season opener against Arizona. Holliday got a little rusty playing a limited role for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. After going 1-for-4 against the Rangers, Holliday is hitting just .231. Friday, when the bulk of the Rockies’ starters traveled to Scottsdale, Ariz., to play San Francisco, Holliday stayed back in Tucson and had six at-bats during a minor-league game Friday. While many of the Rockies’ starters won’t bus to Phoenix today to play Oakland, Holliday will make the trip.
Hurdle said a number of other starters must sharpen their skills as well, including right fielder Brad Hawpe (.333), catcher Yorvit Torrealba (.211) and shortstop Clint Barmes (.220).
Asencio delivers
If those Rockies battling for the fifth-starter spot were to peek over their shoulders, they would see right-hander Miguel Asencio gaining on them.
He started Saturday against the Rangers and threw five impressive innings, allowing just one run on two hits, striking out three and walking two.
“He’s made his presence felt here, there’s no doubt about it,” Hurdle said.
The Rockies want to get Asencio plenty of work, so he’s slated to begin the season with Triple-A Colorado Springs.
“He just needs to keep pitching,” Hurdle said. “We have to get him in the regular rotation and there are guys ahead of him.”
Once a hot prospect, Asencio, a 25-year-old from the Dominican Republic, is attempting a comeback from elbow surgeries that limited him to 16 professional appearances the past three seasons. The 78 pitches he threw Saturday were his most in three years.
Once clocked in the mid-90s, his pitches have crept back up to the 91-92 mph zone. Saturday, he threw mostly two-seam fastballs, but mixed in a few sliders and changeups.
“I was thinking groundball, groundball, groundball,” Asencio said. “I felt good, even in that last inning. I just want to pitch wherever they want me.”
Footnotes
Right-handed pitcher Keiichi Yabu, assigned to the Rockies’ minor-league camp last week, reported for duty Friday. He has a clause in his contract that would have allowed him to request his release if he’s not on the 40-man roster on or before March 31. … Colorado pitchers held Texas to four hits in a game that lasted just 2 hours, 15 minutes. … After seeing his 12-game hitting streak end Friday, Luis Gonzalez got back on track Saturday with a double, his seventh of the spring. … Right-hander Josh Fogg, in the mix for the fifth-starter job, is scheduled to start against Oakland today. The A’s will go with righty Dan Haren.
