Dan O’Dowd didn’t do cartwheels when the Rockies went 5-1 on their first road trip of the season.
Nor is the general manager seeking therapy after watching the Rockies hit just .267 and post a 2-5 record at Coors Field before Tuesday night’s game against San Diego.
All O’Dowd knows for sure is the Rockies must meet their potential to be a competitive ballclub.
“It’s still very early, but I do know that this team has to show up every night,” O’Dowd said. “It’s not just the hitting. We haven’t played well at home in a lot of areas. But I’d be more anxious about the poor home start if I didn’t believe we have talent.”
After seeing the Rockies score just two runs in the first two games of the series against the Padres, manager Clint Hurdle tinkered with the lineup Tuesday night. He sat struggling leadoff hitter Cory Sullivan, replacing him with Choo Freeman in center field. Shortstop Clint Barmes, usually the No. 2 hitter, led off. Second baseman Luis Gonzalez, hitting .130, batted in the second spot.
Sullivan wielded one of the club’s hottest bats on the road trip, but he has cooled drastically, batting 3-for-22 in his past five games as his average dropped from .371 to .281.
“It’s a good time to see if I can get refocused and reset,” Sullivan said. “I think right now I’m just trying to do too much.”
Kim down, Dohmann up
Normally, a trip to the disabled list is a bad thing, but in the case of struggling right-handed reliever Sun-Woo Kim, it’s probably the best thing. Kim went on the DL with a bruised right shin, the result of a line drive off his leg Friday against Philadelphia. The club activated Scott Doh- mann, who returns after a nasty viral infection.
“I woke up the next day and my shin was swollen, and the next day, I couldn’t push off it,” Kim said, adding he’s likely to pitch a rehab assignment for Triple-A Colorado Springs a week from today at Tucson.
While the Rockies’ bullpen has been solid, Kim has struggled, allowing 11 runs in five innings. It has been a tough spring. He played sparingly for Korea during the World Baseball Classic and suffered through a stomach illness. Late in spring training, he tweaked his hamstring.
“More than anyone else, the tournament hurt him,” pitching coach Bob Apodaca said.
Footnote
Utilityman Eli Marrero, sizzling on the road trip, is finally ready to play again. A viral infection knocked him out of action for five games and landed him in the hospital. “I couldn’t have played the last few days,” Marrero said. “It was a bad time to get sick, but hopefully I can get going again.”
